Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu fellow supporters of Palestine!
As many of you are aware, the Palestinians have been going through countless tests and trials, especially since the events of October 7th occured. This website is a resource for those who wish to learn more about the Palestinians' history or find out how to support them. Please share this website with others and spread the word about what's really happening in Palestine. Thank you so much for your support!
Why should you support Palestine over Israel? Didn't they both kill people? These are questions you may come across when meeting people who don't want to decide whether to support Palestine or Israel.
The reality is, Israel is in Palestinian territory illegally. Prior to 1948, Britain was colonizing Palestine. All of a sudden, it decided to give Palestinian land to a group of Jews that the Palestinians let in Palestine because they had nowhere else to go. Britain did this without asking the Palestinians, who were the first ones living there.
When the British left, the Israelis still remained, taking more and more land until all that was left for the Palestinians was a strip of land called the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The Israelis have been treating the Palestinians horribly, harrassing them through various means. They bomb their houses without any regret, steal their natural resources, and restrict their water and electricity.
You should support the Palestinians because the Holy Land belongs to the people of Palestine. It was unjustly taken from them by people who wrongly believed that they were entitled to it.
Source: The Palestine Academy
Muslims, Jews, and Christians were peacefully living together in Palestine, which was part of the Ottoman Empire. Back in 1896, Theodor Herzl introduced Zionism in Europe. Its goal was to create an independent Jewish state on Palestinian land. Following this event, European Jews started traveling to and settling in Palesine.
After World War I, the Ottoman Empire fell and the British took over Palestine. In the Balfour Declaration, Britain declares its support for making a Jewish state in Palestine. More Jews migrate to Palestine, causing pressure between the native Palestinians and the settlers.
The UK leaves the situation regarding Palestine and the illegal Jewish state. The United Nations (UN) decided on a plan to divide Palestinian land into two states: Arab-Palestine (43.5%) and Jewish-Israel (56.5%). Jerusalem came under the UN's control as an international zone. The Jews agreed to the plan and declared themselves to be the State of Israel on May 15th, 1948. The Zionists brutally kicked out more than 750,000 Palestinians and stole their land, making them refugees in what is known as The Nakba, or The Catastrophe.
Arab countries near Palestine oppose the making of Israel, and the first Arab-Israeli War ensues. Jordan takes control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, Egypt occupies Gaza, and Israel gets 78% of Palestine.
During the Six-Day War, the nearby Arab countries and Israel fight. In the aftermath, all of Palestine comes under Israel's control. Israelis began to settle in Gaza and the West Bank as the Palestinians fought for freedom, resulting in the founding of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
After years of fighting, the PLO accepts the dividing of the land between Palestine and Israel. Even more settlers go into Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, an act internationally considered illegal. This leads to the first intifada, or uprising, as well as the creation of H*m*s, a movement dedicated to fighting against the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
The PLO and Israel sign the first Oslo Accord in 1993, and the second one in 1995. These lead to the division of the West Bank into three portions: Palestinian territory, Israeli territory, and land controlled by both Palestine and Israel. The land controlled by Israel alone is the area with the most of the West Bank's water, minerals, and agricultural land, so Palestinians have little access to them. In 2000, the Second Intifada occurs, causing Israel to build separation walls and construct checkpoints to restrict the Palestinians' efforts. In 2005, Israel leaves Gaza but still constructs illegal settlements in the West Bank. H*m*s attains power in Gaza, and seeing the Palestinian Authority as too secular, splits from it. The West Bank and Gaza fall under different leaders. In 2017, when violence breaks out in Gaza, Israel forces a blockade, restricting air, land, or sea movement in Gaza.
Israel has assaulted Gaza in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021. In 2022, at least 220 Palestinians were killed, included 48 children. Israel also carried out many violent attacks and raids in Jenin in 2023. On October 7th, 2023, H*m*s launched its biggest attack on Israel, Operation Al Aqsa Flood, resulting in Israel declaring war on the Palestinians. This has led to the killing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Source: TRT World: Brief History of Israel-Palestine Conflict
Right now, the people of Palestine are in desperate need of our support. Even though we may not be able to physically go and help them, we can still donate to organizations that can.
These are credible organizations that deliver aid to our Palestinian brothers and sisters:
Donating to Palesine through these organizations will provide the Palestinians with food, clean water, healthcare, and many other resources, so please remember to donate generously.
Due to the arrests from recent Palestinian protests, it is quite dangerous to protest for Palestine. If you decide to do so, please be careful.
Here are some other ways to stand up for Palestinians:
Many people around the world have decided to buy from Palestinian businesses to support the Palestinians. Unfortunately, some people have decided to scam them by making websites that appear to sell products from Palestine, but actually sell counterfeit ones. It's very important to be careful about where you buy products from so that you don't give away your money to the wrong people.
If you visit a stall or store in an Islamic Center, it may have products directly from Palestine that you can buy.
For example, MCA (Muslim Community Association) has a bookstore that sells Palestinian kefiyyahs and oil.
Muslims call upon God whenever they are going through tests in life. They ask for many things, such as easing the struggles of the Palestianians. For Muslims, these supplications (called duas) are a great way of helping the Palestinians.
Here are five duas that you can make to support the people of Palestine:
Source: Yaqeen Institute: 5 Du'as You Can Make For Palestine | Dr. Omar Suleiman and Dr. Tahir Wyatt
Unfortunately, there are many products and companies that use some of their profit to fund Israel, who then harm the Palestinians. By boycotting these companies, we reduce the amount of aid that gets sent to Israel. Since there are so many supporters, you can start by boycotting the most avoidable products, and then refrain from buying products from other companies.
Some of the major supporters include:
Source: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) - Palestinian-led movement
There is an app available on Google Play and the App Store called No Thanks. Created by Ahmed Bashbash, this app scans the barcode of a product and then informs you if the product is from a company that supports Israel. It also allows you to type the name of the product brand in a search bar to identify whether it supports Israel or not.
To view the app's details, click one of these links:
There is a lot of bias in the mainstream media. Sources such as CNN or Fox News downplay the plight of the Palestinians and make Israel appear to be the victim of the genocide. They also ignore serious events that happen in Palestine, bringing up irrelevant events as their main headline. This has caused the credibility of these channels to go down.
However, there are sources of media that accurately portray the genocide by showing the world how Israel treats Palestine compared to how Palestine treated them.
Here are the sources: