Saturday, July 31, 2021

War Cry Of ‘Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad’ Renamed As ‘Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind’: How Indian Ulema Address The Resurgence Of Afghan Taliban?

Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad—Urdu Mouthpiece Of The Afghan Taliban And AQIS Which Has Previously Been Refuted Point By Point By New Age Islam Scholars— Was Recently Renamed As “Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind”

Main Points:

1.    There are continuous suggestions from several Indian commentators to engage and dialogue with the Afghan Taliban after their resurgence in their traditional strongholds.

2.    Dialogue with terrorist ideologues may not be a bad idea but such an outreach should be backed by an assessment on the new dynamics and ground realities.

3.    Afghan Taliban remains unchanged and unreformed, as far as its ideological modus operandi is concerned.

4.    It gives an indication that now after an apparently successful jihad by the Afghan Taliban and AQIS against the American forces in Afghanistan, India is the priority theatre for their onslaughts.

5.    Favourable sentiments among a section of Indian Ulema towards the resurgence of Afghan Taliban do not augur well.

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New Age Islam Correspondent

31 July 2021

There are continuous suggestions from several Indian commentators to give ‘peace overtures’ to the Afghan Taliban after their resurgence in their traditional strongholds. Some of these commentators have even urged New Delhi not to perceive the Taliban as a Pakistan-sponsored terror instrument, and engage and dialogue with it to pursue its own interests. According to media reports on June 9, some Indian officials in Doha tried to outreach Taliban factions that are perceived as being “nationalist” or outside the sphere of influence of Pakistan. Peace talks or dialogue even with terrorist ideologues is sometimes sought after. But such an outreach should be backed by an assessment on their ground activities, changes and dynamics. Whether the nice pieces of suggestion for India to engage with Afghan Taliban are insightful or untenable can be gauged by the fact that the Taliban remains unchanged and unreformed, as far as its ideological modus operandi is concerned. 

Take a look at the recently published jihadist literature of the Afghan Taliban in Urdu and you will stop misreading the situation. Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad—an Urdu magazine of the Afghan Taliban and AQIS which has previously been refuted point by point by New Age Islam scholars— was recently renamed as “Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind” ostensibly after the U.S.-Taliban deal. Now its focus is, as a line with the name of the magazine reads in Urdu, to call for supremacy of the religion [Deen] in the subcontinent and the world over”.

 


At the very outset, the cover-pages of Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind’s latest editions (from January to April, 2021) signify the shift in jihadist focus from Af-Pak region to Indian subcontinent, especially the Kashmir region. The January 2021 issue of the magazine which was released with a striking cover give an injunction to fight against the Mushrikin (polytheists) of India, quoting a hadith report from Musnad Ahmad which, in a nutshell, says: “In this [Islamic] Ummah, forces will be sent to Sindh and Hind [who will wage a jihad and thus, in return, will ensure their deliverance from the hellfire”.

 


If you go through the content of this issue and read between the lines, it gives an indication that now after an apparently successful jihad by the Afghan Taliban and AQIS against the American forces in Afghanistan, India is the priority theatre for their ideological and operational onslaughts.

Another striking cover-page of the magazine’s recent edition (February to April, 2021) blatantly reads: “From Dhaka to Delhi, and Srinagar to Islamabad; all believers firmly affirm that they will not bow down to anyone except Allah”. It published some provocative articles titled, “Indian influence in the Bangladeshi Army” written by some Muhammad Misbah Bangali, and “Jihad-e-Kashmir” written by Adil Ahmad Lone who used to regularly write in Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad by the pen name, Ikrama Shopiani who was recently killed in an encounter according to the magazine.

 


Significantly, the Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind frequently quotes the writings and letters of Syed Ahmad Shaheed—the 18th century pan-Islamist ideologue from Raebareli known for his jihad movement, Tahrik-e-Balakot. Syed Ahmad Raebarelwi (not to be confused with A’ala Hazrat Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi) is equally venerated by Ahl-e-Hadith and Deobandis in India and Pakistan. Hagiographical books such as Tarikh-e-Dawat-o-Azeemat (a history of Islamic Da’wah and expeditions in India) which glorify Syed Ahmad as ‘Shaheed’ (martyr) are part of the extra-curricular self-study texts in several leading madrasas like Darul Uloom Nadwa in Lucknow. Syed Ahmed ‘Shaheed’ is projected in Urdu Islamic literature as someone waged his Mujahideen movement in India to fight the British imperialism. “Mauj-e-Kausar”, a textbook on the modern history of Indian Muslims’ religious and intellectual achievements, written by Shaikh Muhammad Ikram and studied in several madrasas and Islamic studies departments of central universities, has precisely done that. But an objective study of the Mujahidin movement and literature of Syed Ahmad ‘Shaheed’ reveals that he worked to establish an Islamic state in the subcontinent and waged a militant jihad against non-Muslims. All in all, he was an exponent of Wahhabi puritanism in India and was the first Islamist ideologue to justify violence against the Sikhs. Along with Syed Ahmed ‘Shaheed’, Shah Waliullah and Shah Ismael Dehlawi have also been invoked in several previous issues of the Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind such as the July 2020 issue of the magazine which targets Jama Masjid in its coverage in order to draw attention of the readers to the ‘lost glory’ and the past grandeur of Islam and people of Islam—Ahl-e-Islam—in India. It recalls the history of Delhi as the sanctuary of thousands of ulema and Mujahidin such as Shah Abdul Azeez and Shah Ismael. 

 


Notably, Shah Ismail of Delhi proved to be the chief proponent of the anti-Shirk movement spearheaded by Muhammad Ibn Abul Wahab from Najd of the Arabian Peninsula. Much in the same way as Abul Wahab Najdi wrote his book “Kitab al-Tawhid”, Maulana Shah Ismail penned the book titled, Taqwiat-ul-Iman (strengthening the Islamic faith). His books promoted the same line of thinking that was laid out in the writings of Ibn Abdul Wahab including Majmu’a Al-Fatawa which declared all non-Wahhabi Muslims as mushrik (polytheists) and thus justified the killing of the then Indian Muslims along with the Hindus. Until today, Afghan Taliban of the Deobandi orientation consider both Shah Ismail Dehlwi and Syed Ahmad Raebarelwi as their theological mentors and sources (marj’a). It’s more ironical that these jihadist ideologues and their writings are still going unchallenged in our Indian madrasas. They have become an inseparable part of the text books under the subject of Aqaid (beliefs) in Deobandi seminaries.

Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind not just promotes the writings of 18th century Islamist ideologues but more of the radical thoughts of the modern jihadist masterminds. The magazine also runs a website DawateJihad.com which promotes dangerous publications and books written by Al-Qaeda’s founding members and Afghan Taliban’s chief clerics including Abdullah Azzam, Mulla Akhtar Mansoor, Maulana Waliur Rahman Mahsood and Ustad Usama Mahmood etc. In an Urdu booklet titled, Islam Tera Des Hai written by Ustad Usama Mahmood which was also presented in a podcast in Urdu & Bangla—it is reiterated:

 ہمیں یاد رکھنا چاہیے کہ اسلام اور شرک ایک دوسرے کی ضد ہیں۔ اسلام انسانوں کے رب کی طرف سے دیا ہوا عظیم نور ہے جبکہ شرک اندھیرا اورنری جاہلیت ہے۔ ہم ہاتھ پر ہاتھ دھرے بیٹھ کر’ ہندو مسلم بھائی بھائی‘ کے سفید جھوٹ اور مذہبی رواداری کے فریب پر اعتماد نہیں کر سکتے

ہمیں یہ حقیقت تسلیم کرنی ہوگی کہ مشرک ہندو کبھی بھی مسلمانوں کےخیر خواہ نہیں ہوسکتے ہیں ۔ اللہ کی کتاب بتاتی ہے کہ یہود کے بعد مسلمانوں کے بدترین دشمن یہی مشرکین ہیں۔

(“We must remember that Islam and polytheism are contradictory to each other. Islam is the great light given by the Lord of mankind, while polytheism is nothing but darkness and ignorance. We cannot sit quietly relying on the white lies of 'Hindu-Muslim brotherhood’ and the deception of 'religious tolerance' [in India]…."We have to accept the fact that polytheistic Hindus can never be benevolent to Muslims. The Book of Allah states that after the Jews, polytheists are the worst enemies of Muslims).

Then the booklet quotes some verses from Qur’an to buttress this point, and reproduces an “advice for Mujahideen around the world and especially in Pakistan and Kashmir” in which Mujhadidin are asked to stick to the principles of Shariah, and not attack mosques and innocent civilians, which it says gives opportunity to Indian and Western media to defame jihad.

In this context, one would recall the Indo-Afghan Ulema’s first Islamic summit which was held in New Delhi’s India Islamic Cultural Centre last in December, 2020 with the efforts of the Afghan Embassy in India. A group of six Afghan Ulema interacted with the Ulema of Deoband and other experts of Islamic Sharia in India. The aim of the conference was to strengthen religious dialogue and cultural ties between the two countries’ Ulema and encourage them to discuss the Islamic doctrines being misused, especially in Afghanistan. Nearly all Islamic scholars from Indian and Afghanistan in this conference declared war in Afghanistan un-Islamic and theologically unjustifiable and forbidden according to the Sharia. But what do the Indian Ulema think about the resurgence of Afghan Taliban now?

Recently a number of Indian Ulema and Imams expressed concerns over the rise of Afghan Taliban on social media. Of course, some of them lamented the Taliban’s violation of Islamic laws particularly regarding women and modern education. But they were also rejected by another set of Ulema, predominantly Deobandis and comparatively larger in number and with more sizeable following than those who decried the Taliban’s terror activities.

An alumnus of Darul Uloom Deoband and senior Urdu journalist, Wadood Sajid Qasmi wrote an article condemning the rocket attack in Kabul during Eid ul-Adha prayers. Though he did not condemn Taliban head-on and merely hinted at an ideological change within the Taliban which he deemed as a threat, a large number of Ulema and Islamist intellectuals in India and in the diaspora rebuffed his note of caution. Wadood Sajid’s piece was criticised by several influential Ulema mostly young graduates from Ahl-e-Hadith and Deobandi schools. For instance—Maulana Yasir Nadeem-ul-Wajidi, alumnus of Darul Uloom Deoband who also runs an online Darul Uloom and is based in Chicago, wrote a rebuttal to Wadood Sajid. Indian Ulema like Wajidi consider Taliban only Talaba (madrasa students), not terrorists or extremists and accuse the Aalims like Wadood Sajid of deviating from the right path. Another young Deobandi cleric, Obaid-Tariq Jamshedpuri writes: “Basically there are two types of Jihad: Intellectual Jihad and Physical Jihad. Ulema are doing Intellectual Jihad and Mujahidin the Physical. Both are doing their own duties”.

Though Sufi and Shia Ulema in the Indian subcontinent have traditionally rebuffed Taliban because of its systematic attacks on their mosques and Sufi shrines, some favourable sentiments among a section of Indian Ulema towards the resurgence of Afghan Taliban—based on the deep sectarian divides among them—do not augur well.

Related Articles:

‘Azan: A Call to Jihad - On the Road to Khilafah’: A Comprehensive and Conclusive Refutation by an authoritative Quranic exegete"

Takfirism Violates Islam: Refutation Of Taliban Magazine Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad’s Article Titled ‘Kufr And Apostasy United Against Islamic Mujahedeen’ - Part 1

Violent Takfirism Greatly Violates Islam: Refutation Of Talibani Magazine Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad’s Article Titled “Kufr And Apostasy United Against Islamic Mujahedeen” Part 2

Refutation Of Taliban Magazine Nawa-E-Afghan Jihad’s Article Titled 'Kufr And Apostasy United Against Islamic Mujahedeen' - Part 3: Dr. Tahir Ul Qadri's Fatwa On Killing Of Innocent Muslims And Non-Muslims

What ISIS Really Wants– Point by Point Refutation of Most of the Key Assumptions, Statements, Quotations and Charges Made in Graeme Wood’s Essay

Refutation Of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's Fatwa Appearing In English Translation In New Age Islam Website Supporting Wanton Killing Of Innocent Civilians Under Special Circumstances And Thus Justifying The 9/11 Attacks - Part-1

Refutation of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's fatwa appearing in Taliban website Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad supporting wanton killing of innocent civilians and thus justifying the 9/11 attacks - Part-2

Refutation of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's Fatwa Supporting Wanton Killing Of Innocent Civilians - Part-3

Refutation Of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's Fatwa Appearing In English Translation In New Age Islam Website Supporting Wanton Killing Of Innocent Civilians Under Special Circumstances And Thus Justifying The 9/11 Attacks - Part-4.

Refutation of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's Fatwa Supporting Wanton Killing of Innocent Civilians –Part 5

Refutation of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's Fatwa Supporting Wanton Killing of Innocent Civilians-Part 6

Refutation of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's Fatwa Supporting Wanton Killing of Innocent Civilians – Part 7

 Summing Up: Refutation of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Abeeri's Fatwa Supporting Wanton Killing of Innocent Civilians under Special Circumstances and Thus Justifying the 9/11 Attacks – Part 8

URL: https://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/nawae-afghan-jihad-ghazwa-hind-/d/125159

 

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Pakistan Shifts LeT to Afghanistan as Part of Strategic Depth against Indian Interests

 Taliban Maintains Good Relations with All Terrorist Outfits

Main Points:

1. LeT threatens India's assets in Afghanistan.

2. Pakistan always uses LeT against India.

3. India's $3 billion worth investments are at stake.

4. India has built roads, dams, infrastructure, schools and colleges in Afghanistan.

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New Age Islam Staff Writer

31 July 2021



As the US and NATO forces are pulling out of Afghanistan, the country is fast moving towards a civil strife and a state of anarchy. The vacuum created by the US pull out has provided considerable space to non-state actors and terrorist groups in Afghanistan. The ISIS and Al Qaida have already made their presence felt with attacks on civilians particularly on Shias in Kabul in May this year.

Now the Afghan government has made another disclosure that has caused a great concern to India. Two days ago, the Afghanistan government informed India that Pakistan has shifted Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad to Afghanistan. Earlier Afghanistan's National Security Council spokesperson Javid Faisal had said that Taliban maintains a good relationship with the ISIS, Al Qaida-K and LeT. This is against the conditions of the peace agreement between the US and Taliban. Taliban had promised that it will not allow terrorist groups to operate in Afghanistan. But according to the Afghan sources, Pakistan had started shifting terrorist groups operating in Pakistan to Afghanistan a year ago.

The Taliban will go to any extent in trying to dislodge the Afghan government and so it will acquire all the physical and logistic support from all the terrorist groups active in the region. On the other hand, Pakistan's main target will be diplomatic and trade interests of India in the country. This is the reason, Pakistan has pushed LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad into Afghan imbroglio.

India has provided assistance to Afghan government in rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure and in the last 20 years India invested $3 billion in building roads, infrastructure, dams, schools, colleges and hospitals under the protective presence of the NATO. India had also strengthened centuries old cultural ties with the Afghan people. All this was an eyesore for Pakistan. Therefore, as soon as the situation changed, it found an opportunity to try and break this relationship. It has fielded LeT in Afghanistan as part of its strategic depth. The Jaish-e-Mohammad and LeT will not only fight against the Afghan government forces shoulder to shoulder with Taliban but will also conduct terrorist attacks at Indian projects and Indian workers. Sensing this the Indian government has already issued an advisory to the Indians working and staying there to take utmost security measures.

This game played by Pakistan will only cause instability in the region as Afghanistan will again become a hotbed of terrorist activities. It will not be easy for Taliban to dislodge the democratic government of Afghanistan and capture power. The country is going to witness a long civil strife in which terrorist organisations will only play a destructive and destabilising role. By depending and relying on terrorist organisations like Jaish and LeT, Pakistan will gain nothing. On the contrary, it will lose. It is in the Grey List of FATF and will remain so for aiding and harbouring terrorist organisations. It funds and gives protection to LeT to use it against India as it did in Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Now it has pushed LeT into Afghanistan to use it against Indian assets in Afghanistan.

India needs to be on vigil and tighten its security at its borders and chalk out diplomatic and defence strategy to protect India's assets in Afghanistan and to thwart any conspiracy of the LeT-Jaish-Taliban-Al Qaida-ISIS combine in India and particularly in Kashmir.

URL:  https://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/lashkar-taiba-afghanistan-indian/d/125158


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In Bangladesh, Urdu Language and Literature Survive Only In ‘Bihari’ Refugee Camps

 Urdu Speaking Refugees Live With the Stigma of Being Supporters of Pakistan

Main Points:

1. Urdu poets and writers of refugee camps have kept Urdu alive.

2. Urdu poets have to live in 8×8 feet rooms with family.

3. Mushairas and Qawwalis are regularly held in the camps.

4. Bangla writers like Asad Chowdhury and Shamsul Haque have supported Urdu writers.

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New Age Islam Staff Writer

31 July 2021



With the formation of Bangladesh in 1971, Urdu language at once became the language of the 'collaborators'. Known as 'Biharis', the Urdu speaking Muslims of Bangladesh have since been living with the stigma of supporting Pakistani aggression against the Bengali speaking majority community of Bangladesh. These Urdu speaking Muslims who are about 2,50,000 live in 116 settlements across Bangladesh. The largest Bihari refugee camp called Geneva Camp is in Dhaka where about 100,000 Biharis live in 8×8 feet homes.

After the independence of Bangladesh, Urdu became an outsider here. Urdu schools were closed, Urdu as an optional subject in higher studies was dropped and Urdu journals and newspapers had to be closed. In this situation, it was very difficult for the Urdu speaking community to live with their identity in Bangladesh. However, as the times passed, wounds started healing and the hostility of the majority community receded and liberal Bangla writers like Asad Chowdhury helped in bridging the gap by translating the Urdu poems of Urdu writers into Bangla.

Since the mother tongue of these inmates is Urdu, these camps are also the centres of Urdu language and literature in Bangladesh. Urdu literary and cultural activities are held regularly here. Most of the Urdu poets, story writers and lyricists of Urdu of Bangladesh live in these camps and have kept their language and cultural heritage alive in a hostile country.

Mushairas, programmes of Qawwali and Tarannum (Musical programmes) are held in these camps in which singers and poets from the camps across the country participate. Shamim Zamanvi, Qasim Anis, Qamruzzaman Talib Kabir, Arman Shamsi, Enayatullah Siddiqui, Jameel Akhtar, Syed Afzal Hussain, Syed Fatema Islam Rosy, Anwarul Haque, Nazar Neyazi, Syed Faiyaz Hussain, Riaz Rafique, Mamoon Siddiqi, Shawkat Noor, Salahuddin Amer, Qurban Ali are some of the poets who are the voices and representatives of Urdu language and literature in Bangladesh. The themes of their poetry are the muserable life of refugee camps, inequality and the pain of being away from one's homeland apart from the common joys and sorrows of life.

There are some literary and cultural organisations like Bazm-e-Iqbal, Halqa-e-Ahbab and Bangla-Urdu Sahitya Foundation. The latter works as a bridge between Urdu and Bangla literature. It publishes translations of Urdu poms into Bangla. It also publishes a magazine called Awaz. The Bangla writed Asad Chowdhury has been playing an important role in patronising Urdu language and literature in Bangladesh.

Asad Chowdhury, ex-Director of Bangla Academy also published an anthology of translations of 100 Urdu poems titled 'Barir Kachhe Arshinagar'.

Urdu literary magazines like Khayal, Paigham and Mahawl have been published from time to time.

Shamim Zamanwi who is originally from Uttar Pradesh in India is very active and is the Vice President of Bangla-Urdu Sahitya Foundation.

The partition took place due to the political ambitions of some politicians but it was given the colour of a linguistic conflict. In this conflict, Urdu became the victim.

Though Urdu is taught in Dhaka University and Rajshahi University in Bangladesh, there are no prospects of development of Urdu language in the country as the language has no state patronage and no scope of Urdu learning. Therefore, the Urdu poets and writers feel that Urdu does not have a bright future in Bangladesh.

URL:    https://www.newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/bangladesh-urdu-bihari-refugee/d/125157


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Nakba Is Embedded In the Collective Palestinian Memory as an Un-healing Wound

 

By Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam

31 July 2021

Nakba and Palestinian Plight

Main Points:

1.    The culture of impunity that state of Israel enjoys that is responsible for the failure of all peace process initiatives.

2.    The Nakba has become a permanent condition felt by one generation after another.

3.    The wars are also employed to displace millions of Palestinians like 1967 Arab Israel war, and even the sacred city of Jerusalem has been colonized.

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Understanding the Nakba: An Insight into the plight of Palestinians

By Nasim Ahmed

London, Palestinian Return Centre, 2012

Pp202. ISBN: N.B

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The Palestinian issue is a legacy of the British colonialism. In the contemporary history it is one of the oldest running conflicts and is a testimony of the failure of United Nations as an international body whose aim is to resolve the political disputes and conflicts. The Palestinian conflict continues to rage and devour on the blood of innocents while the big powers are supporting the Israel at the expense of Palestinian natives. The initiation of this conflict goes back to what Palestinians remember and commemorate every year as Nakba (the Day of catastrophe) i.e. 15th May, 1948 when the state of Israel was created after displacing and exodus of the Palestinians from their lands. The book under review tries to revisit the Nakba tragedy and depicts how Nakba still is a reality for Palestinians and how they relive and go through the Nakbas all their lives. Through the lens of Nakba the young author Nasim Ahmed tries to revisit, relook and rethink about the Nakba and the place it holds in the lives, struggle, resistance and future of the Palestinians.

In her Foreword to the book, Rachael M Rudolph, Managing Editor, Encompassing Crescent, while depicting the essence of Nakba very well states that “The Nakba, however, is not just one event that has shaped the lives of so many. It is an ongoing event that transcends time and space and encompasses every breath taken, every life lost, and every moment of being. The Nakba is not just about 1948, 1967 or other periods where there were campaigns of expulsion, ethnic cleansing, murder, occupation and oppression of Palestinians. Rather, it is about the injustice that has plagued humanity for decades. This injustice has been preserved by an international system dominated for far too long by states who are representative of the political and economic elites and not those-the ordinary man, women and child-they are supposed to represent. The voice of voiceless remains silent in the policy making apparatus of a system, of a community that is supposed to stand for justice and defend the rights of the oppressed from their oppressors, but instead upholds the rights of the oppressor”.

In his Introduction, Nasim Ahmed while deliberating about the relationship of Nakba with Palestinians writes, “No single word can echo the suffering felt by individual Palestinians whose life is overshadowed by the Nakba. The Nakba has become a permanent condition felt by one generation after another. After the first mass expulsion, Palestinians endured the most sophisticated engineering of their destruction as a nation and a people. They have been made refugees and forced to endure ethnic cleansing, occupation, violent expulsion and wars. Palestinians suffer injustices at the hands of an apartheid regime which has arrested their lives and destiny” (P-12). The book is divided in three parts and each part deals with different aspect and impact of Nakba.

Nasim goes to the genesis of Nakba’s history and tries to argue that understanding the Zionist component and involvement is must in understanding the phenomena of Nakba. He then goes on to relate the various tools that have been utilized to manufacture truth that is one of the basic purposes of writing history. He then relates the media bias while reporting Palestine, and depicts how Dalet Plan was implemented as a master plan to rid Palestine of its indigenous population. Nasim acknowledges the fact that none can stay neutral in a conflict like that of Palestine, but the myths invented need to be answered and lies need to be rebutted with irrevocable proofs. The myths like the Nakba was a result of the rejection of U.N partition plan by the Palestinians, or there were no Palestinians and those who were living in Palestine were all recent migrants, hence it was not an exodus of an indigenous population but further migration of a nomadic people. But Nasim is happy that new scholarship on Palestine is challenging these myths and doctored history.

Nasim while highlighting the differences between cultural, religious and political Zionists writes, “Cultural Zionists wished to resolve the ‘problem of Judaism in the modern world and not the ‘problem of the Jews’. In their view, the survival of Judaism and the Jewish people was threatened less by anti-Semitism than by an increasing secular civilization that rendered them anachronisms. The real danger was not the Gentiles icy rejection but rather, their seductive embrace” (P-43-44).

Nasim then goes on to analyze how the population transfer and exodus of Palestinians is used as a strategy to displace Palestinians and make way for the new migrant Jews. The wars are also employed to displace millions of Palestinians like 1967 Arab Israel war, and even the sacred city of Jerusalem has been colonized. The Palestinians are seen as a demographic problem that needs to be removed from their native place. Even the Israel’s legal structure reinforces and encourages the expulsion of Palestinians. By the way Israel has no written constitution. Nasim writes, “Unlike Afghanistan or any other conflict, the on going displacement of Palestinian refugees is not a by product of war” (P-49). This statement can be agreed and both disagreed, unlike Afghanistan which was occupied in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks Palestine is under occupation since 1948 and war and military power is still used to displace the Palestinians and deprive them of their homeland.

The various fundamental features of Nakba has been delineated too, that includes the permanent plight of the Palestinian refugees, Israel’s undermining the United Nations recommendations and resolutions is a clear depiction of its defying the organization that Israel owes its birth to. The U.S support of Israel and its policy of using veto against any such Security Council resolution that goes against the interests of Israel. The culture of impunity that state of Israel enjoys that is responsible for the failure of all peace process initiatives. Despite the international consensus on the illegality of the Israel’s annexations, it still doesn’t behave in a civilized and democratic manner, though it brags and boasts about being the solitary democracy in the whole of Middle East. It still employs high handed tactics and terrorist measures while dealing with the Palestinians.

Overall the book is a very nice read for anyone interested in Palestine issue and the role of Nakba as the author very well conceptualizes the Nakba, that isn’t too academic nor too easy but one can understand the book quite well if one has preliminary knowledge of politics and Palestine issue. The author needs to be congratulated for this endeavor. It is a good addition to the Palestinian studies.

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M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir

URL:  https://www.newageislam.com/books-documents/nakba-palestine-palestinian/d/125156


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