PH Muslims carry thoughts about Palestine amid Eid feast

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The plight of Palestinians, who are caught in the middle of escalating violence between the terror group Hamas and Israel, is casting a shadow of concern over the celebration of Eid’l Fitr among local Muslim leaders in subdued settings put in place by COVID-19 restrictions.

As they observed the feast that marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan, several Bangsamoro leaders let out messages of solidarity to Palestinians.

Deputy Speaker and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman admitted that it was with a heavy heart that he celebrated Eid with the fate of Palestinians in his mind, too.

“I see the sufferings of our fellow Muslims in Palestine, how they were attacked during Ramadan in an unimaginable way,” Hataman said. “Palestinians are humans, too,” he said.

Hataman condemned the Israeli air raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque, beginning just days before Eid that resulted in scores of Muslims wounded.

“You do not bring weapons to bear on holy ground against people who are vulnerable, unarmed, and focused on their prayers. To do so is simply evil,” Hataman said. “These people were not combatants,” he said.

Hataman said the violence in the Gaza Strip, the home of Palestinians, “makes it even more difficult to celebrate one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar than it already is with the pandemic in full swing.”

“We pray for peace and for justice,” he added.

On the eve of Eid, lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, interior and local government minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), posted on social media a message expressing hope that “the Palestinian people be protected by Allah and granted victory.”

“May we all live in a more peaceful and caring world,” Sinarimbo added.

“Our salutations to the Muslim Ummah. Palestine and Marawi in my heart and mind! Allaho Akhbar! (God is great),” wrote Maranao activist Drieza Lininding, chair of the Moro Consensus Group.

TSB