Hundreds of Muslims and Palestine supporters marched around the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday calling for peace between Israel and Hamas as both sides continue their attacks against each other.
The march was organised by the Islamic Missionaries Guild of T&T led by Imtiaz Mohammed. In his speech, Mohammed recalled the history of the conflict beginning when the Zionist Jews fled Europe and were given refuge in Palestine.
“Do you support the actions of Hamas? Do you recognise Hamas? Those are the kind of questions that you get from the media. Let me answer that question, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” Mohammed told the crowd who gathered at Queen’s Park West.
Mohammed said the real purpose of the event was not to say whether or not there was support for Hamas but rather the solidarity for Palestinians, which was responded to with shouts of “Takbir” and “Allahu Akbar.”
Abraar Alli of the Islamic Scholars Network told those who gathered that the march was about defending what is right, even if it would mean standing against oneself, as mandated by the Quran.
“We are straightforward as truth-bearing people. We are representing the believers. We stand up to whatever is wrong, we will say it is wrong. We will always let the truth be the guiding staff,” Alli said.
On October 7 in a surprise attack, Hamas bombed Israel as decades-long tension between the two continued. The attack was seen as an act of war by Israel who responded in kind and closed off access to water and electricity to Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank.
As they marched, the supporters shouted “Free, free Palestine” and “Palestine will be free”.
From strollers to walking canes, those in support held signs that read “Exist. Resist. Return”, “Trinidad Stands with Palestine”, “This is not war this is genocide” and “End the illegal occupation of Palestine, Trinidad for Palestine.”
During the march, Guardian Media spoke to activist Fuad Abu Bakr, who called for an immediate intervention to stop the bloodshed.
“In all justice and fairness there is proportionality, and the retaliation for the attack by Hamas has gone way beyond what is proportionate and fair,” he said.
He added that the marches in other countries including the US, Germany and England in support of Palestine must be taken into consideration as the world is crying out for justice for Palestinians. He said the statements from Caricom leaders fell short of condemning the actions of Israel who he said have “advantaged” Palestine.
“I pray that the Caribbean leaders coming out of a history of slavery and indentureship where we know what is advantage and where we know what it is to be advantaged, I pray that they find the strength, the testicular fortitude to stand up and speak out and force the issue as much as possible. Maybe small islands like we can lead the way in bringing justice and preserving hundreds of thousands of lives,” Abu Bakr said.
