A story of Olives and Cactus:
“Wherever you see cactus, know there was a Palestinian village in that place ” . That’s what they tell you if you ever visit the West Bank. Israel has been removing, bulldozing , erasing villages and cities for decades to terraform the land . But the problem is , Cactus keeps growing back . No matter how they try to destroy the land and the soil and build their settlements , cactus keep coming back.
A friend of mine just came back from there carrying a gift for me : Locally squeezed olive oil from a her village in the West Bank . “Forget the commercial stuff you buy from stores. We squeeze oil in our own villages.”
They squeeze the olives on the stone mills, use clean dedicated straw bags to squeeze it on the extruding machines . Same process that has been done for 100,200, 400 maybe 600 years . As old as these trees. You take a product of the land , squeeze it to its limits and you get that pure green gold.
A healing potion of life .
“Just put some oil” is the answer for everything in Palestine. Hungry ? Add oil. A bit sick ? Rub oil. Want to feel better about the world? Oil as old as the earth is there for you. They are not just olive trees. They are family . They are there to feed you , heal you and take care of you. How can you uproot a member of the family and call this land yours ? I have no idea . The trees don’t agree with that . And cactus definitely don’t agree with that. Maybe we got it all wrong! Maybe olive trees are not just an extension of Palestinian heritage. Maybe, Palestinians themselves are an extension of the land . They are like the trees . You can beat them , you can pressure them , you can squeeze them and push them beyond any human limits. But they don’t die . Like crushed olives that produce green gold. And from death, a million lives will be born. And their pain will eventually be the healing potion for all of us.
And if you try to uproot them , they won’t go away . You think they will. But they come back. Like cactus . To defy you , to stand up for you , take your abuse and prick you back. They are there , to stay . Forever
What is being perpetrated by the vicious Zionist occupation in Gaza, in the form of intense bombing, killing, cutting off electricity and internet, destroying all aspects of life, and blocking information about the scale of massacres and war crimes taking place, constitutes blind terrorism and a blatant violation of legal and humanitarian conventions and norms. The world must condemn and take decisive action to stop this at once. History will never forgive those who failed to defend innocent Palestinians or supported this continued Zionist terrorism. It is the duty of the Arab and Islamic nations, along with all free people of the world, to unite and find an immediate solution and rescue the oppressed Palestinian people, who are facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
5,000.
A deadly new threshold reached in Gaza. In just 2 weeks, Israel has now murdered 5,087 Palestinians, 2,055 of whom are children, and 1,119 of whom are women.
Last night was the deadliest night yet with looming ground invasion and essential supplies still cut.
Why Al-Aqsa, Why Jerusalem?
“- This is not any ordinary land. This is a blessed sanctified land, that Allah Himself sanctified.
- This is the land that Allah mentioned in the Quran.
- This is the land on which the second Masjid on Earth was built.
- This is the Masjid in which one Prayer is equal to 250 Prayers.
- This is the land from which the Messenger ﷺ was taken up to the Heavens to meet Allah.
- This is the land on which the Messenger ﷺ lead ALL the Prophets in Prayer.
- This is the land we faced in Prayer for 16 months before turning towards the Kaabah.
- This is the land on which the Angels of Allah have spread their wings over until today.
- This is the land on which the Prophet ﷺ took the cup of milk, as a result, his Ummah were guided to the right path. Otherwise, had he taken the cup of wine, the entire Ummah would have gone astray.
- This is the land on which Isa In Maryam عليه السلام will kill the biggest Fitnah on Earth, the Dajaal.
- This is the land on which (the Prophet ﷺ said) the best of the inhabitants of Earth will reside where Prophet Ibrahim migrated (I.e. Jerūs@lem).
- This is the land on which the Prophet Musa عليه السلام requested Allah to let him die close to it, so much so that he would be just a distance of a stone's throw away from it.
We seek closeness to Allah by loving this land.
Betrayal of this land is a betrayal of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, and it's forbidden for a believer to betray Allah and His Messenger.
So now inform me, how exactly does the enemy of Allah assume that we will give up on this land???
When the believers say they will die protecting this land, they mean it for all the above reasons.”