Photo by [The State Press]
Johannesburg – In times of conflict, the first casualty is invariably the truth. Regrettably, this proverb resonates painfully in the ongoing war in occupied Palestine.
With over two million Palestinians enduring constant bombardment, destruction, and deprivation at the hands of the Israeli government and forces, misinformation and propaganda increasingly obscures the veracity of information.
To this extent, Western leaders claimed to have witnessed images depicting resistance fighters engaged in gruesome acts against children. Allegations that many international journalists and news agencies have debunked due to a lack of corroborating evidence. Even Israeli military officials themselves have been unable to verify such claims.
Nevertheless, despite this knowledge, disinformation about the war’s specifics persists across various media and social platforms, seemingly aimed at concealing the war crimes perpetrated by Israeli occupiers against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
In a bid to counter the upsurge of misleading information about the conflict in occupied Palestine, Moulana Ibrahim Bismillah, Principal of the Florida Islamic School, emphasised that the Association of Muslim Schools (AMS) has recognised the need to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinian people and provide accurate and truthful information to South African school students.
“Most of the people that are suffering in [Palestine] are the children, and the important thing [regarding the Palestinian cause] is to put learners in perspective … So when we encourage them to make dua (pray), their dua’s are a bit more sincere.”
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Understanding the Humanitarian Issue in Palestine
A prevailing misunderstanding concerning the Palestinian cause is that the conflict in the region primarily revolves around religious divisions. This oversimplified perspective often overlooks the fundamental aspirations of the Palestinian people.
While religious identity does hold significance, the core of the Palestinian struggle revolves around the pursuit of self-determination, land rights, and sovereignty, all of which have been fiercely contested by the Israeli government. This very point Moulana Ibrahim aims to convey to students, is that opposing the Israeli regime’s acts of brutality transcends religious boundaries.
The atrocities and genocide committed against Palestinians represent a humanitarian issue. By raising awareness and educating students, he hopes to empower them to recognise and oppose human rights violations worldwide, irrespective of their geographical, ethnic, or religious affiliations.
“Even if you exclude the [faith] part from the people of Gaza and just look at the atrocities that are happening [not only to them but] towards any human being, you know this is not acceptable … Our Learners should understand that even though this is happening in Gaza, it shouldn’t happen in any other part of the world. Whether those people are Muslims or non-Muslims, we should still have that same worry and concern for them.”
