Arab Muslims

Israel is the name of the country created by Christianized Western imperialist powers on May 14, 1948, for their erstwhile enemy number one, Jews. But it is a very common name among Muslims, who have high regard for this six-letter word. This is obviously because of another name of Yaqub (Jacob), a Prophet revered by all three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jews are also known as Bani (Bene) Israel as they are descendants of his 12 sons. Similarly, Musa (Moses) is the greatest prophet of Jewish tradition. Yet Mousa (also spelled as Musa) Abu Marzouk is a top Hamas leader. Mind it, his parents named him Mousa though he was born in 1951 which is three years after the creation of Israel. In the same way, Isa (Jesus Christ) is a very common name in Muslim society. Among females, Mariam or Maria (same as Mary) are household names in this community. Curiously there is an Indian-origin Muslim doctor living in England having Israel Mujahid as his name. If translated it means struggling for the cause of Israel. He too was born a few years after the creation of Israel. While naming him his parents had the heroic struggle of Prophet Yaqub in mind and not the Zionist state. The Jews and Christians too are well aware of the hardship and testing time Yaqub and his son Yusuf (Joseph) had to face. Muslims are more liberal These examples only suggest how liberal Muslims are in naming their children. At the same time, it needs to be mentioned that while Jews and Christians are followers of Moses and Christ respectively, it isan integral part of the teachings of Islam to have full faith in the Prophets of all the religions of the world. So, Muslims are bound to pay respect to all of them. The Quran has in great detail discussed the life and teachings of almost all the Biblical Prophets and the hurdles they encountered during preaching. In contrast, Christians and Jews do not name their children as Ahmed or Mohammed as they do not regard him as Prophet. Racial supremacy The problem with Jews is that they consider themselves as Chosen People of God. They contemptuously call all the non-Jews, especially Christians, as Gentile. They have in the past paid a heavy price for possessing this superiority complex, yet many Jews have not abandoned this belief. For example, the main reason for the massacre of six million Jews at the hands of Nazis in Germany and occupied territories is that the latter would themselves boast about their Aryan supremacy. So, they were in no way ready to accept the fact that Jews are a superior race. To indirectly defend the Nazi action some apologists would argue that they carried out the barbaric killing because the Jews backstabbed the Germans during World War-I and that they did not take part in it. The actual reason was racial-cum-religious as the perpetrators were all Christians. The tragedy is that neo-Nazi movements are gaining ground all over Europe and in the United States, where passion against migrants and Blacks is increasing. Ironically, the ruling establishment of Israel has not learned any lesson from the Holocaust or the hunting down of Jews in Russia and East Europe in the late 19th century. Israeli politicians, army, and media persons often address Palestinians as beasts and human animals; though some sensible Jews both within the country and living in the West have raised voices against the mistreatment of Arabs. Israel had a good relationship with the then-white apartheid regimes in South Africa (till 1994) and Rhodesia, called Zimbabwe till 1979, though sometimes Tel Aviv would as a token gesture criticize their policy of racial discrimination. The white-dominated United States, United Kingdom, and France were the only three other countries of the world that had the same friendly policy, though they all claimed to be democracies. When the Black majority governments came to power in these two African countries they openly sympathized with the Palestinian cause. Recently, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, hosted the BRICS Extraordinary Summit on the Palestine-Israel crisis. Al-Aqsa Masjid Today members of the ruling Israeli establishment are staking claim over the Al-Aqsa Masjid complex, though they are well aware that during the rule of pagan Romans and later Christians (between 324 and 638 AD) they were not even allowed to come anywhere near Jerusalem. Their witch-hunting and ethnic cleansing were a common phenomenon. It was only after the Muslim conquest of this city during the rule Of Caliph Umar that they were allowed to re-settle in Jerusalem. They enjoyed full independence and held high posts during the Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman dynasties. These and other Muslim rulers showed generosity notwithstanding the fact that ideologically they are different. Realizing the shared history of the Muslim-Jew relationship and the nasty game played by the Western powers in the last couple of centuries, several Jewish intellectuals and common people are still showing some sympathy towards the Palestinian cause, though they are strongly denouncing the Hamas attack. But the problem is that the whole process of history cannot be rolled back. The real creators, the Christian Zionists, would not allow this issue to be solved.

Arab Muslims

Israel and Musa are common names among Muslims

Maher Zain’s heartfelt Naat takes internet by storm in Ramzan

Watch: Ram Charan calls Los Angeles as ‘Mecca of Cinema’

UNGA votes to upgrade Palestine’s membership to special status, bypassing US veto

Over 4.44 lakh employees cast votes in Andhra Pradesh

‘Baigan ku bolo’: Owaisi retorts after PM Modi’s remarks in Dakani

Ajit never did caste politics `despite being with Sharad Pawar’: Raj Thackeray

Sack Brij Bhushan, withdraw his son’s ticket: Jairam Ramesh to BJP