Light for Gaza is a Challenge Against Israeli War Crimes
Feb 13th, 2009 by kawther.salam
In a huge humanitarian celebration in support of Gaza, the Palestinians, the Arabs, the Turkish, the Serbian and many other Austrian Muslim organizations and communities raised their voice loudly in support of Gaza in the big Charity event, “Light for Gaza”, which was held at the Austria center in Vienna. Over 4.000 participants attended the event to give humanitarian donations in support of the stricken Gaza population, and to declare loudly that that the Israeli occupation will never break the resilience and the spirit of challenge of the Palestinian people’s struggle against their criminal and genocidal occupation. 1.4 Million Euro were raised by the the audience by the end of this charitable event.
The charity event in support of the victims in Gaza was held on 7 February 2009. The goal of the event was to raise financial assistance in order to contribute in the process of reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. The organizers of the event had three objectives, namely to build a medical center and fully equip it, to rebuilding one of the destroyed mosques in Gaza, and to rebuild destroyed schools.
From Palestine, Sheikh Raed Fathi from Um Al-Fahm attends the charitable event. At the same time, the Israeli war criminals prevented Sheikh Raed Salah from attending the event. The Israeli criminals are also targeting Raed Salah, a Muslim leader of the Israeli Arabs, because of his support for the Palestinian rights to end the murderous Israeli occupation and to building their independent state. Raed Salah was jailed by the Israeli Police during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, and he was under house arrest after his release. Raed Salah was arrested several times because he tried to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque for prayers.
From Turkey, Mustafa Jihad participated in the charity, and from the West Bank, priest Dr. Atallah Hanna, head of the Orthodox Christian community in Nablus addressed the attendants via video link.
Mr. Abdullah Adel, the Secretary-General of the Festival “Light for Gaza” noted to the correlate of the scenes in the Gaza Strip, he said that “The spectacle of the victims and body parts, accompanied by a scene of steadfastness and fidelity to freedom confirmed the emphasizes the inseparability of the Palestinian citizen in Gaza will not break. He added, despite the ferocity of horror of the Israeli bombing and the massacres and horrific violations of the International and the humanitarian laws, the Palestinians confirms keeping to their rights, and believing in justice of their cause.”
Sheikh Mohammed Turhan, the President of the Islamic Turkish Union, appealed to the “vigilant human conscience” of the audience. He said in his address “stop the blockade on Gaza, stop the collective punishment against the Gaza Strip, and let Gaza live and breathe.”
The Sheikh Turhan stated that the event “Light for Gaza” carries two messages. “The first one shows that there are consciences alive in the world and that we all become the mouthpiece of the Gaza Strip, by heart and mind. The second message is we all have a duty to give money for the construction and reconstruction of Gaza”.
Sheikh Adnan Ibrahim, the Imam of Al-Shura mosque in Vienna, started his speech with greetings to the free voices and the awakening conscience of the world, which has been shown in huge demonstrations in support for Gaza and against the Israeli aggression. These demonstrations are awakening the conscience of the world.
The Sheikh Ibrahim, also greeted the “the courage of the liberal Jews around the world who have confirmed with their interventions the fact that the Judaic religion is a spiritual and peaceful view which sees that stealing the lands of others is a sin, and that the displacement and slaughter of their owners is a crime.”
The Palestinian Sheikh Raed Fathy from Umm al-Fahm who attended the charitable event, gave a speech in which he reaffirmed the solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. He said that the Palestinians deserve a free future, “a future without occupation, a future in which the Palestinians regain their stolen land”.
The Al-Nur artistic group from Palestine also joined the audience of the charity event . They presented emotive songs which moved the emotions of the audience, what gained them strong applauses at the end of each.
The charitable event “Light for Gaza” was organized by the platform “4Gaza“, a cooperation of many Muslim associations and communities from all of Austria. As a Palestinian, I would like to express my gratitude to everybody who showed their solidarity with the people of Gaza by attending to the event, or with their generous donations.
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