Over 1,200 British Muslim organisations have signed a letter condemning Israeli attacks on Palestinians and Al Aqsa Mosque, and have urged the UK government and international community to urgently pressure Israel to cease its violence.
The organisations also supported the Palestinians right to resist illegal occupation.
Here is the full statement below:
We, the undersigned, representatives of the Muslim Community in the UK, strongly condemn the recent attacks by Israel and its Israeli Defense Force (IDF) against the Palestinian population both in Sheikh Jarrah and Al Aqsa Mosque.
The IDF continues to behave with impunity using violence against Muslims who wish to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque. The most recent incursions into Al Aqsa Mosque, which is the third holiest site for almost 2 billion Muslims across the world during the holy month of Ramadhan, resulted in over 300 Palestinians being injured. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, more than 228 people were hospitalised, many with wounds to their face and eyes from the IDF’s use of stun guns and grenade fragments on an unarmed civilian population.
East Jerusalem, according to international law, is recognised as ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory’ yet Israel continues to defy international law by repeatedly harassing the Palestinian population. There are currently 19 families who are threatened with evictions in Sheikh Jarrah. Many of these families lost their homes in 1948 and moved to homes in Sheikh Jarrah, which were built for them by UNWRA.
This breach of international law cannot continue unchecked. We demand that the International Community including our Government led by Boris Johnson condemn without reservation, the actions by the State of Israel. In 2018, Israel received 21 out of 27 UN condemnations for violating the basic human rights of Palestinians. There is no other country in the world that acts with such belligerence than the State of Israel against an unarmed civilian population, which it continues to occupy in breach of UN Resolutions.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
Israel must without qualification immediately cease all of its violent actions against an unarmed civilian population and its illegal annexation of Palestinian property. The Palestinian people have the right to protest against the evictions from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel uses the confiscated land to make way for illegal Israeli settlements. The Palestinians and Al Aqsa Mosque should not be targeted in retaliation for the Palestinian right to protest against systematic Israeli discrimination. These human rights abuses rooted in Islamophobia, illegal seizure of land, unarmed killings and harassment of the Palestinian people must end now.
We will continue to raise our voices against the persecution of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. We will support the Palestinians in their legal and moral right to resist the illegal occupation. The Palestinians have the right to live as equals with dignity, to have access to clean water, jobs, education, health, free movement in the Palestinian Occupied Territory and the right to practice their faith freely. We ask our brothers and sisters, Muslims and non-Muslims across the UK to advocate for the rights of Palestinians and to stand with them against their illegal occupation.
At the time of writing, horrific images could be seen of the carpet bombing of a densely populated area, leaving at least 197 Palestinians, including 58 children and 34 women dead by the indiscriminate Israeli bombing of the Gaza strip. The number of injured now amounts to 1,235 Palestinians. The UK media need to be reminded that Israel attempted to evict people from Sheikh Jarrah and when Palestinians protested against these illegal evictions, the Israelis attacked Al Aqsa Mosque whilst Palestinians were praying during the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. This was in retaliation for the protests, continuing Israel’s long history of collective punishment of the Palestinians.
The occupied can never be equal to the occupier. This is not a war of equals; these are murderous crimes against humanity. The occupation must be brought to an end. The world cannot continue to sit idly by whilst an oppressive occupier continues its decades long occupation in breach of UN resolutions.
London Muslim Community Forum
Muslim Voice for Peace
Finsbury Park Mosque, London
Al Manaar Mosque, London
Mohammed Shafiq, CEO, Ramadhan Foundation
Imran Shah, Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK)
Shoaib Malik, Muslim Action Forum
Imam Muhammad Qasim Qadri, Jami Masjid Ghawth A’azam Muslim Foundation, Nottingham
Imam Khalid Hussain Ashrafi, Jamia Sufia, Leicester
Shaykh Muhammad Umar, Chairman, Ramadhan Foundation
Imam Hafiz Muhammad Mahroof, Warrington Islamic Association
Allama Zafar Mahmood Farashwi, Al Jamia Al-Karimia, Manchester
Imam Mahin Sayied, Warrington Islamic Centre
Hafiz Muhammad Ali, Warrington Islamic Centre
Hafiz Zahid Ali Khan, Warrington Islamic Centre
East London Mosque
Quwwat-Ul-Islam Masjid, Newham, London
Masjid E Tauheed, Manor Park, London
Al-Hira Educational Centre, London
Federation of Redbridge Muslim Organisations (FORMO), London (20 organisations)
Markaz ud Dawat ul Irshad, East Ham
General Secretary, Mohammed Ilyas, Waltham Forest Islamic Association
Abdul Aziz Chisti, General Secretary, Markazi Jamaat e AhleSunnah (UK and Europe) (1,000 organisations)
Hafiz Husnat Qadri, Daruloom Qadria Jilania
Haji Mohammad Sadiq, Chairman, the Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent
Parents United, Redbridge
Association of Muslim Lawyers
Worthing Islamic Social and Welfare Society, West Sussex
Imamia Mission East London (UK)
Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Shia (Europe) (59 organisations)
Newham Muslim Alliance, London (45 organisations)
Luton Council of Mosques (LCM) (25 Mosques)
Sunni Council of Mosques (SCM), Luton (11 Mosques)
Newham North Islamic Association, London
UKIM Masjid Ibrahim & Islamic Centre, Plaistow
Al Noor Foundation
Aisha Ali-Khan, Women United
Ebu Bekir Tezgel, Senior Imam of Azizye Mosque
Shahjalal Mosque Manor Park Islamic Cultural Centre, London
Ghulam Minhas, Trustee, Anjuman E Islamia Newham
Masjid-E-Umer, Walthamstow, London
Muslim Engineers Network
Masjid e Quba, London
North London Muslim Community Centre
Madina Masjid, E5, London
Munaf Zeena, Muslim Jewish Forum
Forest Gate Mosque, Newham, London
Darul Jannah Trust and Stratford Muslim Centre, Newham, London
Central Park Education & Welfare, Newham, London
Masjid Alnoor, Barking, London
East End Islamic Centre, Newham, London
Masjid Ul Hidayat, Manor Park, Newham, London
Indian Muslim Federation (IMF), Newham, London
Masjid al Hikmah, Upton Park, Newham, London
Masjid Al-Humera, London
Leytonstone Islamic Association
Indian Muslim Federation (IMF) UK
Voice for Newham, London.
