By Ibrahim Usman
“The issue of Palestine or Quds is not an issue of a nation-state, between the Palestinian nation, whose state is usurped and an Israeli state, which is illegally created in Palestine. It is not also an issue of Arabs and non-Arabs, neither is it an issue between East and West, between Muslims and Christians, or between Muslims themselves (Shi’a and Sunnah).
This is an issue of conscience, of what is right and what is wrong; what is truth and what is falsehood; what justice is and what is injustice; who are oppressed and who are the oppressors”.
This were the opening remarks by Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Allama Sayyed Ibraheem Zakzaky at the first annual conference on Quds Day, which was held at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja on Sunday.
The conference, attended by eminent scholars, academicians, rights activists and prominent personalities was organized by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria as part of series of four-day events marking the first anniversary of Quds Day killings in Zaria.
Allama Zakzaky said, failure to view the issue of Quds and Palestine would lead to misinterpretation and misrepresentation of what is happening in Palestine.
He recalled the massacre of over 400 Iranian pilgrims by Saudi security forces in the sanctity of holy Qa’abah in 1987 for organizing peaceful Quds Day procession during hajj.
According to him, the cruelty in the house of God was bin the orders of Israel and US who feared that conveying the message of Quds during hajj would bring an end to their so-called civilization and dominance.
“So you can see that they did not take the issue of Quds lightly. They do not see it as an issue between two religions, tribe or race. They view it as a determining factor on whether their so-called civilization will prevail or not. They view it as the second rise of Islamic religion”.
He pointed out that, to stop this they used force as their only weapon, saying brutality and savagery is the work and preoccupation of wild beasts. “I don’t believe the west have civilization. They only boast of savagery and brutality, far above animals”.
The Leader added that such savagery and brutality could not stop the message of Quds spreading even in Palestine and Saudi Arabia, where extreme brutality was being meted on those who carry the Quds message.
He lamented that, in Nigeria the Quds message is branded as an exclusive issue of Shi’a or sect, even though “there was never a time we referred ourselves as being a sect! How can an issue of expressing solidarity with a justified human cause like that of Palestine and Palestinians be associated with a school of thought? Are you not human? he queried.
“A right thinking human soul should ask itself; Are you in support of colonization, apartheid, occupation or suppression and devilish act? This is what Israel represent?”
Allama Zakzaky further stated that, last year during the Quds Day procession in Zaria the oppressors proved to the world that the issue was not an issue of race, religion or a particular entity, as agents of Israel attacked it as it had exactly been doing over the years in Palestine.
He said, peaceful protesters in Zaria received the same merciless treatment with the people of Palestine and Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan by the agents of Zionists who were reported to have used Israeli-made bullets and killed 34 people and wounded over a hundred. “The video clip of the Zaria Quds Day massacre can be mistaken with massacre taking place in Palestine. Except for the skin colour of the people involved, it is exactly the same vicious treatment meted on us here in Nigeria. in fact, Israelis were reported to have been seen sighted in vehicles during the offensive, giving orders and shooting. From the accounts of those take as captives to the barracks, a white-skinned came out from a tinted vehicle, filmed the dead and injured, took some notes and went away”.
He said, Israeli is killing in Palestine and everywhere, whoever said Quds must be liberated. “If this is the case, then the issue of Quds cannot be an exclusively preserve of a particular school of thought, race, religion or region”.
His Eminence Sayyed Zakzaky cited the hadith of the Holy Prophet (S) which said whoever does not show concern for the affairs of his fellow Muslims is not of them, or is not a Muslim to buttress point of the necessity of identifying with the plight and cause of the Palestinians.
According to him, it was the same hadith Imam Khomaini read out to a delegation of Muslim scholars from Lebanon who visited him, which late gave rise to the creation of Hizbullah. “I always say, Imam Khomaini was the founder of Hizbullah, for it was this hadith he read out, which later impacted and gave rise to this resistance group against Israeli aggression on Palestinians. This changed the equation”.
He lamented that, there was no stooges of the highest order being dictated by Israel and the West, more than Nigerian leaders, especially the recent past Nigerian leaders. “In Nigeria it is easy to siphon wealth and resources without the least resistance by those at the helm of affairs, at the same time easily succumb to commit atrocities on behalf of their foreign masters”.
“I have said it several times, and I will say it again. There is nothing like Boko Haram. Boko Haram is none other than the government of Nigeria under Goodluck Ebele Jonathan! The military that tortured our children at the barracks during the Zaria massacre confessed to them that they were the ones killing people in Borno and Maiduguri, and ate human flesh cooked and raw! These people are more than wild beasts; wild beats are more civilized.”
Allama Zakzaky said, like the Boko Harama Israel formed terrorist a terrorist group and mischievously called it Islamic State (IS), “we will rather call it Israeli State (IS) or Israeli State of Iraq (OR Lebanon)- ISIL, or whatever, but never an Islamic State!”
He stated that, it was no secret that ISIS, Alqaeda and Al-Shabab are all creation of Mossad and CIA, heavily and armed and funded by them just like the Boko Haram in Nigeria.
He said, part of their nefarious activities in Nigeria was setting bombs along routes of prominent personalities like Shaikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, Genera Muhammadu Buhari, then presidential aspirant and himself during his frequent visits to Hussainiyyah in Zaria.
“Associating these terrorist acts and suicide bombings to Muslims is ridiculing Muslims and Islam. But we have seen Boko Haram with our own eyes during Quds Day last year in Zaria, in their full gear and uniform”.
Allama Zakzaky concluded by saying, all the machinations against the Islamic Movement have failed and will continue to fail woefully: “They have failed. We are the destroyers of governments (that dares attack us). The more you attack us, the stronger we become! The last government perished because of what it did to us last year on Quds Day! It was because of what they did that gave rise to what is happening today. Insha Allah what they are fearing, willone day come to pass. Insha Allah, one day we will pray in Masjidul al-Aqsa”