Over the past couple of weeks, I have posted many pictures, comments, etc.on Facebook about the horrific events taking place in Gaza. Over the coming weeks, I will probably continue to post them. Why? Because I want you to be uncomfortable. I want you to feel the pain in your hearts. I want you to admit that this is happening.

There are many posts that I did not share that showed family members learning that their entire families have been killed, posts of mothers and fathers praying over their dead children, posts of bodies ripped open, intestines strewn about the ground, dismembered body parts of young children, etc.

I know that many people do not want to see these posts, either because they find them too disturbing, or because they simply do not care to recognize the truth of what is happening. Many people are so wrapped up in their own lives that they turn their backs to anything that is “uncomfortable.”

Turning our backs doesn’t stop the bombing. Turning our backs only emphasizes support for what is happening. Turning our backs, remaining silent, denying the truth, not wanting to recognize and admit, not wanting to be pained by others suffering does not equal empathy, understanding, mercy, justice, and love for humanity.

I understand that many people want to log into Facebook, to visit a favorite blog, to see what’s happening on Twitter,  and expect see happy posts about friends and family. We all want to see fun posts, new baby pictures, vacation pictures, wedding pictures, cute animals, funny memes, etc. We all want to take some time away from real world, real-time.

I GET IT.

BUT I WON”T TURN MY BACK TO INJUSTICE, TO OPPRESSION, TO TERRORISM, TO GENOCIDE!

Take your few minutes to see some cute pictures, to read a story about something fun, read a post that shows some form of kindness and compassion, about love. But, don’t forget, don’t deny, don’t turn away.

Don’t stay comfortable.

WE need to recognize what is happening while our babies are being born in hospitals with more than adequate medical care (and are not being bombed), while we vacation and post beautiful pictures of sites we visited, as we cross state borders FREELY and without assault to take family vacations, as we place our heads on our pillows in the comfort of our homes without fear of being killed as we sleep, when we wake up and start a new day, going about our business without being shot at as we search for family members whose homes were bombed overnight.

Young man shot by Israeli sniper while searching for family:

26 members of one family, 18 children all killed in one strike:

As a Muslim, my community, my Ummah, spans the globe and I hear from friends/friends of friends on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis about what is going on in Palestine. We want the rest of the world to understand, to acknowledge, to be as horrified and disgusted as we are about what is taking place in Gaza. War crimes, genocide!

Palestine, 1948 & 2014:

 

This is a FACT.

The media typically does not relay the truth, the media shares only what the governments want us to see.

Governments that are supporting this massacre.

The media has corrupted so many of us, those of us who have stopped using our own brains and are letting government, media, and prejudice control our minds.

Don’t be blinded.

Use your God-given brains to understand.

See with your God-given eyes what is happening.

Feel with your God-given hearts.

Right now, Palestine is being openly terrorized as the ENTIRE WORLD sits back and allows this to happen.

If you can do nothing else, please pray for the people of Palestine. If you can do nothing else, at least educate yourselves on what is happening there. Please, don’t continue to deny what is happening or deny who is the REAL offender/oppressor/terrorist.

Today, hug your children, your moms and dads, your brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, your loved ones. Pray for those who are suffering and be thankful to God that you can rest your head on your pillow without hearing missiles overhead, without waking to find that your family or your neighbors did not wake up. Pray that you do not become of the oppressed by denying the truth.

Right now, drop to your knees and put your foreheads to the ground and pray.

Shed yourselves of misguidance, misunderstandings, untruths!

Shed yourself of the illusion of comfort!

Don’t turn your backs.

Turning your backs = denial and apathy!

Do you really want to align yourself with apathy? With injustice and oppression?

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Allow yourself to be “uncomfortable.” Allow yourself to feel the pain of injustice.

Silence = support of the offender.

Silence = apathy

Silence only allows for continued injustice.

Silence only allows for further misunderstandings and continued oppression for years to come.

Don’t pass your silence on to coming generations.

Allow yourself to be uncomfortable!

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May God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful, the Most Just, protect those who are suffering under oppression throughout the world. May God ease the suffering of families who have lost their sons, daughters, mothers and fathers. Ameen.

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“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.” (Quran 5:32)

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