The Dilemma for Muslims in the West

It’s been a sobering wake-up call for most of us who have never witnessed destruction of this kind before. It’s been a chilling experience witnessing genocide in real time. Not knowing what’s worse, watching a mother screaming, holding her dead child to her chest, or watching a dirt covered, bloodied child calling out for its parents, unaware that they are dead, while everyone else is.

Most of us have lived under a false sense of humanity. Believing that massacres, genocides, ethnic cleansing are all dark sides of human history. Believing that now we are refined, civilized, and adhere to ethical principles. No longer capable of evil, and if we came across evil, we would surely unite and stand up to it. Then bombs started dropping on Gaza.

Day one turned into day one hundred. The death toll went from a thousand, to ten, twenty, thirty thousand with another ten said to be under the rubble. As we watch helplessly whilst being gaslit by heads of states, news presenters and political commentators alike. 

This time it feels different though. There have been no neutrals, there can’t be, and everyone has been forced to get off the fence and pick their sides. So what do you do, when you support Palestine, and the country you live in, supports their genocide?

In modern history, very few issues have caused as deep-rooted divisions as today’s genocide. Regardless of the age-old narrative, Muslims and Arabs have managed to integrate into Western societies, respecting the values of where they live without letting go of their native cultures.

This ‘war’, however, has caused a real internal conflict amongst the Muslims living in the West and has led to some difficult questions and life decisions to be made. 

“How can I live in a country which is complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Arabs?” explains Abdul Rahman, a Saudi citizen with a close affinity with the northern English city of Newcastle. “Even if the people are good, I cannot pay taxes to the government who will use the money I make, to murder and expel Palestinians from their land. I prefer to live anywhere in the Muslim world, in the Arab world, where I can contribute to my people… Where I apply my knowledge, skills, experience to my own society and contribute to make us stronger and united.”

It’s a dignified approach which is principled and with merit, however Abdul Rahman’s ability to reject the West is fairly feasible. He’s been raised in Saudi Arabia, knows the language, the culture, has friends and family and has the possibility of staying there for as long as he wants, however for some it’s not that simple.

Mohammad is a Palestinian American who has his own take on it. “I have uncles who have been in the states for over 30 years, they’ve built their lives, their businesses out here, leaving everything isn’t that simple, and to go where? They’d love to return to their home land, but it just isn’t possible. What about my cousins, who were born here, have lived here their entire lives? They are Americans. We have already been made to leave once, we cannot leave again.”

“In fact, staying here is extremely important. I remember when 9/11 happened, the event decimated the Arab American community. People were afraid to admit their ethnicity. When asked our names we would reply with an anglicized version. I know of hijab-wearing sisters who took their hijabs off out of fear of the backlash the Arabs suffered, but this time it’s different. Arabs are standing strong. As a community, we are standing our ground. We are Arabs and we are proud of who we are, where we come from and we stand with Palestine unapologetically.”

“Never before have you seen so many non-Arabs and non-Muslims stand up for Palestinians. Every Western country has witnessed wave after wave of pro-Palestine protests attended by all races and religions, and a big part of that is because we are present throughout the world. It’s easy to not care about those you know nothing about, but when you know us personally, when you have attended the same school as us, worked with us, become friends with us, then you know what the media portrays us as are lies.”

The presence of the Arab and Muslim community in the West isn’t just important because they act as a representation, but also because they influence politics Muhammad adds, “ruling parties throughout the world have been forced into a real political crisis, and though some have stood tall, the majority, particularly in the West have crumbled. No matter what the governments of American, Britain, France, Germany, and other Western nations try to do to placate us, no matter what damage control PR they will try and use in the attempt to make us believe they are with us, they have already shown their hand. The Arabs will never forget how they supported the genocide of our people, and they will pay a price for that in the next elections and every election after that.” 

Whilst Arabs and Muslims the world over argue within themselves about what they should do, what is the best way and most effective way to stand with the Palestinians, the thoughts of the Palestinians themselves are the most revealing. The largest city of the West Bank, Al Khalil (also known as Hebron) is just 80 kilometers from Gaza. The economic hub of the West Bank has helplessly watched the atrocities of Gaza whilst suffering its own martyrs, arrests, raids and a financial strangulation which is grinding life to a halt. 

Yet still in the face of all these hardships, when questioned what the Arabs and Muslims in the West should do, the answers are surprising. A Khalili called Osama breaks it down, “it depends on if you want to see it in the political way or in a personal way. Politically, our own Arab governments have turned their backs on Palestinians. Forget the Arab governments, our own, Palestinian Authority has sold us out, so what difference does it make if you pay your taxes to the Americans or to the Arabs, all of it is spent to destroy us, they are different heads of the same dragon.”

“However, if you look at it from a personal point of view, you do what is best for you and your family. What did our governments do for us, what opportunities did they provide for us to progress and succeed. You go to Europe and they help you, they give you a platform, they give you a chance. So as a Muslim, how can we ask others to sacrifice opportunities given to them by Allah just because of our suffering.”

“When the people are with us, we feel it, whether they support us through social media, donations, boycotting or their prayers, we appreciate it all, but before all of that we have Allah. We are the people He has written about, the people of Al-Aqsa so Alhamdulillah for everything we have and we are happy for the people who can make the most of the opportunity Allah gives to them, wherever in the world it may be.” 

As humanity is being slaughtered in Gaza, with Israel being the murderer and the world’s leaders being the pallbearers, it’s the Palestinians who are keeping it alive. Through their resistance, heart, morality, dignity and purity, they are once again teaching the world what it means to be a human.