Voice of British Muslim Women

Sameea Jonnud, Aldershot

Christmas is approaching and here in the UK the shops are full of festive colours, gift ideas and party food. Houses have been decorated for days with twinkling lights and inflatable snowmen. On the television we can see the Covid inquiry which has been investigating the top politicians’ behaviour and choices during the pandemic. A quite normal start to December by all accounts, life carrying on.

Except it isn’t.

In Gaza the bombings have continued with the death toll mounting. Thousands of men, women and children, dozens of journalists and United Nations workers. 18,000 Palestinians killed in just two months. This week I saw a report on Al Jazeera news network saying 50 people had been killed overnight, a death toll which ordinarily should lead news bulletins in the West but has become so normal that it doesn’t warrant much mention.

Throughout October, news channels as well as social media, covered what was going on in Gaza, albeit with a perspective skewed towards the Israeli point of view. The ‘humanitarian’ pause allowed them to lessen coverage and it has remained this way even after the bombings restarted and death toll began to rise once again. There are many still speaking up for justice, marching for peace, highlighting what is happening in Gaza every day using social media. But, while the bombardment has continued, the voices have lessened.

It’s not easy waking up to stories and pictures of death and destruction. There are only so many images of dead children or crying mothers we can take before it becomes too much for us. We tell ourselves that what we feel is nothing to what the people of Gaza are going through, but time passes, our day to day lives go on and Gaza becomes a backdrop to our lives, at times a distant one. Is this a reason why people stop talking about the continuing injustice and brutality? Why they continue with their lives, posting photographs of events and parties, food and clothes. The news channels aren’t headlining Gaza so things must be better.

That’s less painful than thinking they just don’t care anymore.

We have prayed every single day for an end to this bombardment, for innocent civilians to stop being killed. We have raised our voices and made our opinions known to those in power. And now is not the time to become complacent.

His Holiness Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his Helper, has been speaking about Palestine regularly and told us in his Friday Sermon of 8th December,

“…frequently raise this issue with politicians at local levels to stop the injustice and raise their voices for this. And spread this message in your localities – that there should be concerted efforts to end the injustices.”

Our voices must not stop seeking justice, rather they should be amplified to reach those in power and the wider community. The suffering people of Gaza have only our voices to speak for them across the world.