KUALA LUMPUR – The ongoing conflict in Gaza should not be viewed solely as an Islamic issue, as it is fundamentally a nationalist struggle, said think tank Asia Middle East Centre for Research and Dialogue (Amec) director Muslim Imran.
Muslim, a Palestinian himself, expressed gratitude towards Muslims who support the Palestinian cause as part of their religious duty amidst Israel’s continued attacks, which have resulted in 40,000 deaths, including 15,000 children.
However, he urged Malaysian Muslims to avoid monopolising the cause and excluding people of other faiths from participating in the discourse.
“In Malaysia, the Palestinian issue is often framed within a very religious context, which is incorrect.
“We don’t want Muslims to push away people from other religions and prevent them from engaging with our cause since Palestinians include Christians, Jews, and even Baha’is.
“The struggle for Palestine is for Christians, atheists, and anyone else. You just have to be human,” Muslim told Scoop.
Muslim warned that perceiving the Palestinian struggle as solely an Islamic issue could oversimplify the conflict’s complexity and support Islamophobic narratives propagated by Israel.
While Israel faces significant international criticism for its brutal military campaign in besieged Gaza, the Palestinian resistance has also been condemned for its attacks on October 7 2023.
Accused of targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has been labelled by Western nations and human rights groups as a radical Islamic terrorist organisation.
Muslim dismissed this condemnation as Western propaganda, asserting that while Hamas pursues its political goals through military means, it is wrong to characterise the group’s ideology as radically Islamist, as they are moderate nationalists.
For Muslim, Hamas is akin to other armed anti-colonialist resistance movements such as South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, also known as the Viet Cong, and even American groups that fought against British colonialism.
Muslim explained that Hamas, like other resistance groups, collaborates with various armed and non-militant movements, including Christian members with nationalist, communist, and liberal ideologies.
“Hamas is committed to Palestinian emancipation and freedom. They appointed Christian ministers after the 2006 elections and supported Christian legislative candidates.
“It is embarrassing that some pro-Israeli countries designated Hamas as a radical Islamic terrorist movement like Islamic State (IS). Ideologically, Hamas is a moderate nationalistic Islamic group.
“Hamas believes in democracy and practices it. Militarily, there are other Palestinian factions involved that coordinate with Hamas,” he explained.
Muslim’s comments align with statements previously made by Palestinian Ambassador Walid Abu Ali, who described the root of the current conflict as political rather than religious.
A representative of Palestine’s Fatah administration, Walid noted that Israeli weapons do not differentiate Palestinians by religion or political faction.
On Wednesday, several Palestinian groups, previously political rivals, signed a unity deal in Beijing. Hamas, Fatah, and 12 other factions agreed on joint governance of Gaza to maintain Palestinian control over the territory once Israel’s war on the enclave concludes. – July 25, 2024