By Kouthar Sambo

Thousands of protesters gathered yesterday to showcase their support for our besieged Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine. The protest and iftar, which was organized by the Al Quds Foundation and the Muslim Judicial Council at Three Anchor Bay, aims to solidify the solidarity for the Palestinian struggle on an international level.

First Deputy President of the Muslim Judicial Council, Moulana Abdul Khaliq Ebrahim Allie, says that it is unjust to call the Palestinian struggle a “conflict” since it is an illegal occupation by the Israelis.

“It is a human rights issue because their rights have been violated. That is beside the fact that they’ve been uprooted. They are forcefully removed from the places where they’ve lived. The Masjid Al-Aqsa Al-Mubarak sanctity has been violated. Shouldn’t you be able to gather and mobilize our community? And that is precisely what we have done here, Alghamduliah,” expressed Moulana.

“This is an occupation – lands have been stolen from the people, and the Palestinians are standing for what is rightfully theirs. But it demands that the international community, be raising their objection to this brutality, “he added.

Thousands of Palestinians observed Palestinian Prisoner’s Day today, 17th April. This comes as oppressed Palestinians reflect on the violent, inhumane attacks and arrests by the occupation forces, leaving dozens separated from their families while being incarcerated in an Israeli prison.

“Established by the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in 1974, as a national tribute to honour thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons and to support their legitimate right to freedom,” explained Ahmed Abufoul, Palestinian International lawyer, legal researcher, and advocacy officer at Al-Haq, a Ramallah-based Palestinian human rights organization.

“Over the past decade, the Israeli Apartheid regime detained over 800 000 Palestinians, including children and women. Currently, the Israeli Apartheid regime illegally detained 4 800 Palestinians, including 29 women, and 170 children. In Addition, 967 Palestinians are currently detained under the Israeli Apartheid illegal policy of administrative detention,” Abufoul reiterated and further added that this is the highest number in the past 11 years. The data has been obtained in a statement from the State of Palestine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

To this day, Palestinians who manage to live through this ordeal, continue to share their experience of the torture and wounds being sustained in the interrogation rooms, along with the emotional and mental scars imprinted on them.

The Israeli occupation detention system is a main part of its collection of colonial tools to intimidate and persecute the Palestinian people. It is utilized to serve different objectives. Primarily to, directly and indirectly, force the Palestinian people to leave their land to expedite the process of mass displacement, land confiscation, and annexation,” Abufoul elaborated.

Photo: VOCfm