Now we challenge each other with Islamization and reactionism!
A decision issued by the head of the Public Prosecution in the West Bank, Alaa Al-Tamimi, to punish anyone proven to break the fast openly during Ramadan, sparked controversy and questions;
Is this the Palestine we dreamed of? Is this the country for which tens of thousands of its sons struggled and were martyred?
Al-Tamimi confirmed - according to Palestinian media - that anyone caught breaking the fast openly without regard for the feelings of fasting people will be punished with one month in prison, noting that the decision will be applied in all West Bank cities.
This reactionary decision is a slap in the face of everyone who believed in and fought for a democratic Palestine and a state whose citizens enjoy basic human rights according to its constitution, foremost of which is freedom of religion and belief. It is a slap to everyone who dreamed that Palestine would be a shining beacon in the East of reactionism and Islamization, an East of violating fundamental citizen rights. This decision is a setback for all who fought for a Palestine different from its Arab sister states.
With this decision, the people of the Ramallah Authority proved to be a carbon copy of their brothers in Arab regimes... There is no difference between regimes in the Arab world except in the level of failure and trampling on the human values of their citizens. They compete among themselves over who is more reactionary and who is more failed.
Palestine, after more than a quarter century of Oslo Authority rule, has proven to everyone near and far that it differs from its Arab sister states only by its resilient, struggling people yearning for freedom despite occupation and despite the oppression and brutality of those close to power.
Palestine is an entity governed and run daily by favoritism, bribery, and corruption like its Arab sister states. Palestine is ruled by a political elite that has become distant from the people and their concerns, as far as the earth is from Mars. A political leadership that cares only about securing its crumbling, divided throne by employing political money and the game of the state and its components in an already occupied Palestine... just like its Arab sister states.
In Palestine, there is high unemployment, severe poverty, and extreme wealth, with no one asking about the poor or the reasons for their increasing suffering day by day, nor does anyone question the fat whales, the influential and privileged, about the source of their wealth. In Palestine, trampling on the rights of the ordinary citizen is normal, just as it is in Arab countries.
Returning to the venerable law 'to preserve the feelings of fasting people'; I ask, is everyone equal before the law in Palestine? Who protects the feelings of members of other sects? Who protects the feelings of those who do not follow any religion? Does this law apply during the fasting period of our Christian brethren before Easter? Or does Palestine prefer the fasting Muslim over his fasting Christian brother?
Applying this unjust law against a large segment of our Palestinian people is not only a violation of the constitution that guarantees freedom of religion and belief for all citizens, but also a failed attempt by the Palestinian Authority to circumvent human feelings. The law came as an attempt by the Ramallah Authority to compete with Hamas and its followers, who have tried since the founding of the parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, to tame the people according to their interpretation and understanding of the true religion. This law does not differ in its application from Hamas's failed laws banning girls from wearing jeans and women from smoking hookah publicly... Hamas authority and Ramallah authority are two sides of the same coin... Our Palestinian people are aware and awake and know how to distinguish between the original and the counterfeit.
Who said that God Almighty assigned the task of punishing those who violate His laws to any creature? Read what our Lord said in His wise book:
'And those who believe and do righteous deeds and believe in what has been sent down upon Muhammad - and it is the truth from their Lord - He will remove from them their misdeeds and amend their condition.' (Muhammad, 2)
He judges, forgives, and is capable of knowing what is in the hearts. Our Lord is neither weak nor powerless for any authority to assist Him in punishing those who disobey His command. Whoever believes he is God's lawyer on earth and His agent is an atheist himself and denies God's power, majesty, and glory.
I repeat and say that the morals in the pillars of Islam, as acknowledged by the jurists and those surrounding them of opportunistic Islamists, are absent. Worship does not advance or delay people; this is not to belittle worship, but worship is a direct relationship between the human and his Creator. Worship does not support us; worship is personal. But Islamic laws and values are social.
Whether one fasts in Ramadan or not, what concern is society's? Worship is to please God, not to please a ruler or authority.
The near-complete silence of democratic opposition forces regarding the announcement to begin implementing this unjust law against citizens is conclusive evidence that these political forces are also concerned with preserving their current privileges, like the authority people, and the ordinary citizen has become their last priority. Who said silence about such a law will prevent the authority from enacting other laws concerning citizens' privacy and personal freedom? Silence means implicit approval or helplessness!
After the Palestinian Authority's severe political failure over the past quarter-century and economic failure on all levels, this law marks the beginning of social failure and chaos.
Palestine, where to? A question for all of us—politicians, elites, and citizens—to stand and think together about where we are heading with our national project?
