The Afternoon When We Sat Down For Gazas Children - Our personal experiences ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday 2nd of August was the 26th Day of the Israelis Relentless pounding of Gaza under their euphemistically labelled Protective Edge campaign. All these while, my contribution to helping the Gazans were my solat hajat and constant doa to Allah SWT that He save the innocent souls in GAZA and destroy the Israeli army (Much that he destroyed the Ahzab army during the time of the Prophet), some donations and linking to news reports from around the world to my Facebook account, Fullstop. Can I do a bit more? I wondered. The answer came a few days back through the whatsapp accounts that two organisations ViVA PAlestina and Aqsa Sharif were going to organise a rally called SAVE THE CHILDREN OF GAZA .at the Merdeka Square on Saturday afternoon starting at 3 pm. True to form it was the wife who remembered all these details and Saturday morning saw us preparing our kit to go to the rally. I got my John Garang Walking Stick, back brace and MBT walking Shoes ( My Slipped Disc is acting up you see), my Crocodile Dundee hat (thats my fishing hat) and sunblock ( to protect my fair complexion). The wife assured me it was going to be a peaceful rally, stationary and yes there was a police permit for it. (I am in no condition to run in case any rioting or violence broke out and two years away from retirement, I would hate to lose my pension). She got an oversized Chinese Farmer Straw hat as protection from the sun , two palestinian scarfs one each, a tiny bottle of water and umbrella. Trained to look at bigger issues and not at trivial matters, I forgot about the water and was going to regret that oversight later that afternoon. So after Zuhr prayers off we went with my youngest son acting as chauffer and at around 2.45 pm we arrived at the Merdeka Square. The padang was not full to my dissapointment maybe 1/3 full. Looking around we didnt see any FRU (Water cannon trucks, batons and wooden shields and the like) and there was only a handfull of rather friendly looking policemen and women milling around. Perhaps the FRUs were still on Hari Raya holiday so I was doubly reassured. Some MaT Saleh and Chinese Tourists were also there taking photos of the crowd and waiting expectantly to see what will happen next. We met a few friends and colleagues some coming from a long way such as JB, Penang and Ipoh just to attend the estimated 1 1/2 hrs event. We saw and met people from all walks of life and religions coming just to express their support. we gained strength from these. We Malaysians wanting to come together regardless of our faiths and beliefs to express our outrage at the carnage happening in GAZA. Almost right on time, the event started. The EMCEE was a lady by the name of Dr Hameedah (Who is she? I asked my wife. Member of Sisters in Islam was her reply. Yeah well this is a silly time to pick fights with someone you disagree with in some other aspects of life so go with the flow I thought). The medical staff advise all of you to drink more water due to the heat was the constant reminder from the organisers. Yeah well many of us, (me included) didnt bring any water so I tumpang my wifes water as well as my old friend Prof Zainal Yusof from UTHM sitting on my left with his family. The rally started by a big procession of Big Bikers who passed along the road adjoining Padang Merdeka with engines roaring. Giant flags of Palestine moved from front to back of the vast crowd by eager hands. Where is the umbrella? I asked my wife. Gave it to a family who had little children who were hot She answered. Later she gave the water bottle to a family sitting behind whose son was complaining of the heat and wanted some water. Oh Well this discomfort is nothing compared to the suffering in Gaza, I thought. In front of us sitting to my left was a young Chinese couple ( he was sporting a Mohican haircut- honestly) and to our right was a group of Indian Muslims wearing sarongs and some Islamic wordings on their forehead. Not sure whether they are students, factory employees or Mamak Restaurant workers taking the time off. We later saw I would say a familiar looking old balding man making his way slowly at the front being greeted and greeting people. He looked like Tan Sri Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar I thought (confirmed as true later on by a friend). Luckily he was the only politician we saw at the rally and thank god, no politician (I am beginning to hate that word) was given the opportunity to address the crowd, now burgeoning as more and more people started to arrive and join the already swelling crowd. By now the padang was almost full and we were asked to get up and move right to the left of the field to make sure the latercomers can get onto the field. Later on we were to met more Chinese families and groups, some Eurasians and/or Mat Sallehs and Indians who joined the majority Malay Muslim crowd many of whom brought their families to the rally. Estimates of attendance ranged from 10 000 to 50 000 but I couldnt tell for sure. I dont make it a habit to attend rallies so I dont know but for sure the whole padang was full. Whatever it is, despite the short notice and relative lack of publicity had yielded a sizable attendance (which showed again the influence and might of social media). To be sure most of the crowd were Muslims but a good number were non-Muslims. I wondered what motivated them to come to express their support for Gazans whom they have never met nor share any common religious beliefs unlike us Malays? Imagine me being asked to attend a mainly Christian rally to express my support say for the Ukrainians being massacred by the Russians. Would I go? Would any of you Muslim friends go in support ? I am not sure I can answer that truthfully but the fact of the matter is that these people gave up their precious holiday time to sit down under a hot hot sun together with fellow Malay Muslims to scream and shout their outrage at the injustice and genocide being waged on the poor Gazans by Israel. Whatever the current political turmoil happenings and religious intolerance issues perpetuated by a minority, which seems to envelope the whole Malaysian society compounded by weak political leadership, there is still HOPE for the country. When there occurs oppression, denial of human rights, injustice and non respect for human dignity, you can count on the majority of Malaysians to stand up (or in our case sit down) and show our opposition. That made me very happy and proud. At that moment I was very proud and privilidged to be a Malaysian! Yes it is true. You Gazans and your children are not alone. We Malaysians are solidly behind you! Many speakers rose to address the crowd starting with Datuk Dr Musa Nordin of Viva Palestina sporting a bright green T-Shirt and a mop of white hair. Dr Hafizi of Aqsa Sharif, a representative of the council of Christian Youth Associations, Afdlin Shauki, Ella and a host of other speakers including two representatives of Gazans ( a man and woman). Cant remember too much what they spoke cos all I remembered were the chanting of Gaza Gaza and Hancur hancur Israel. Anyway Afdilin recounted on his visit to Gaza early this year and saw a child that looked like his own. His son lives in peace whereas that child lives in a war zone. He said that we can get even with Israel. How?? He uttered the magic word BOYCOTT The crowd loved the chant BOYCOTT. The Gazan Lady, a Phd Student at one of our IPTs, spoke about the hazard of being a mother in Gaza, with constant bombardment and not having a place to hide from the bombs and rockets. She talked about the rescuers pulling a baby out of the rubble. She had been found still suckling from the breast of her dead mother. Mothers were shielding their children from shrapnel with their bodies. Israel are not just targetting Hamas; they are also targetting old men, women, children and babies regardless as if by doing so they can exterminate these Gazans from the surface of the earth with the rest of the world helplessly standing by. That really got to me. Time just flew by and at the end a singer with a guitar sang the poignant song composed by an American by the name of Michael Heart and I reproduced the lyrics as belows A blinding flash of white light Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight People running for cover Not knowing whether theyre dead or alive They came with their tanks and their planes With ravaging fiery flames And nothing remains Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze We will not go down In the night, without a fight You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools But our spirit will never die We will not go down In Gaza tonight Women and children alike Murdered and massacred night after night While the so-called leaders of countries afar Debated on whos wrong or right But their powerless words were in vain And the bombs fell down like acid rain But through the tears and the blood and the pain You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze We will not go down In the night, without a fight You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools But our spirit will never die We will not go down In Gaza tonight We all sang along with this haunting and sad melody. The peaceful rally ended with a simulation of a massacre in which all of us were supposed to fall and lie on our backs upon listening to a tape of machine gun fire. Everyone complied but although it seemed a game for us that day but in Gaza, the real-life scene is repeated time and time again with real dead bodies, torn limbs and spouting blood. Just as we concluded, the azan for Asar rang out and we made our way back to the Masjid Negara for prayers. The rally ended as it has started- PEACEFULLY A few take home messages for me and the wife: 1) Gaza is a global humanitarian and human rights issue and not just a local confrontation between Arabs and Israel. Non- Muslims must and should support the just cause of the GAZANs and their children 2) Malaysians have a great emphathy for the oppressed and strong consideration for justice that transcends race and religion. There is great hope for this great country of ours. 3) Continue to Pray, Donate and BOYCOTT if you cannot do anything else. Israel ONLY understands the language of dollars and cents. Their humanity and compassion has long been consummed in the gas chambers of Auschiwtz 4) To cynics, that rally might not have made a dent in the brutal Israeli military campaign so why waste our time? I suddenly remembered the hadith When any one of you sees anything that is mungkar (of by Allah), let him change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his tongue. And if he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his heart, though that is the weakest (kind of) faith. [Hadith related by Muslim] Yeap, on that Saturday afternoon we certainly may not have achieved Key Amal Indicator no 1 (by our hands) but we certainly achieved our key Amal Indicator no 2 (by our tongues). By sitting down on that Merdeka Padang that very hot afternoon, we sent out a message to the world that Malaysians will never tolerate any form of injustice or inhumanity to any tribe or race and we stand united in this stand now and forever! GAZA and its children are forever in our hearts and mind. The more the Israelis kill these helpless people, the more our love, compassion, care and support will grow and we will continue to support to the children of GAZA. Netanyahu- this is our message!! Takbir! Allahu Akbar! I guess for me and my wife, it was an effort well worth undertaking and we hope Allah swt will accept this small effort from us. Amen PS BTW my wife got her umbrella back.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 05:01:33 +0000
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