What is happening in Palestine and around Al-Aqsa is once again becoming one of the most important issues for Muslims around the world. Of course, this also applies to their Russian-speaking part. However, the speculations of pro-Kremlin «Muslim bloggers» who try to divert our attention from the events in Ukraine to the events in Palestine should be rejected. They are taking advantage of the fact that Muslims are concerned only with the latter, which, unlike the former, does not receive enough attention in the world.
Let’s start with the fact that there are objective and subjective reasons for the difference in media attention to what is happening in Ukraine and Palestine today, which should be understood. First of all, if in Al-Aqsa and Palestine there are clashes with bloodshed, in Ukraine there is a mass slaughter. If we add up the casualties on both sides of the Ukrainian-Russian war, including the civilian population, it turns out that in less than two months of war, over or already more than FIFTY THOUSAND PEOPLE have died. Every human death is a tragedy, and Muslim deaths have a special significance for us. But it is clear why the world pays more attention to events where tens of thousands die rather than tens, and where entire cities with their peaceful inhabitants are wiped off the face of the earth. Or where there is outright genocide, with thousands of tortured victims, rather than just the street-police violence that happens regularly.
Second, it is pointless to deny the obvious — the global media space is largely shaped by the global West. And Israel, which is heavily integrated into it and has the support of the global Jewish lobby, will have an advantage over the Palestinians. But it is not only, and perhaps not even so much, about the «Jew-Muslim» opposition, as some believe. There was a time when Zionists who fought against the British in Mandate Palestine were considered terrorists. And by the way, at that time, Stalin supported the Zionists, hoping that since they opposed the British and had socialist views, Israel would become a stronghold of the communist camp against the West in the Middle East. At that time, many Muslim countries joined the Western camp against communism: Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Gulf States — all of them were allies of the global West. And Israel could have been their enemy and an ally of the USSR.
But at the last moment, the creators of Israel managed to change sides and make a deal with the Americans, with whom, unlike the British, they had no military conflict. And in retaliation, the USSR began to support Arab socialist regimes and Palestinian forces that positioned themselves as socialist. So Israel managed to get on board the Western ship, while the Palestinians ended up outside.
Today, of course, much has changed since then. And Putin’s Russia, unlike the USSR, is by no means an enemy of Israel, even at the official level. And despite the sympathies of many in Ukraine for Israel and in Israel for Ukraine, in reality Israel has excellent relations with Putin’s Russia and cooperates with it in many areas. Moreover, many Zionists, both in Israel and abroad, such as Satanovsky or Kedmi, do not hide their hatred of Ukraine. Not everything is easy regarding Israel and within the West itself — many in Europe and America demand that it abandon the occupation of Palestine, the construction of settlements on its territory, etc. And Muslims who influence decisions in world politics should use this to support the Palestinians and at the same time support them in their resistance.
And now the main political question for us, Muslims in the post-Soviet space, including the territory of the present «RF» (Russian Federation). Will our complete shift to the Palestinian agenda and leaving the Ukrainian issue behind contribute to the solution of the Palestinian problem? The answer is obvious: not only will it not contribute to it now, but it will not allow us to contribute to it in the future.
As for the present, we can give moral support to our brothers there through dua (prayer) or material support through donations to various charitable foundations (as is the case in today’s Russia). But politically, the problems in the Middle East region will be solved primarily by those who are there — both the Palestinians and the Israelis (both Jews and Arabs), as well as the neighboring countries. Accordingly, from the Muslim side, the main responsibility for supporting the Palestinian cause lies with the neighboring Arab countries and Turkey, of which neither we nor the overwhelming majority of our readers are citizens.
As Muslims in today’s Russia, how could we influence the situation in Palestine in the future, not only morally and materially, but also politically? We could, if we were not foot soldiers of Putin, whom the empire throws as cannon fodder for purposes alien to Muslims, but subjects of international relations, who at least have a voice in international affairs.
Chechnya and Dagestan, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan could have had such a voice and influence as independent Muslim countries. But even if Russia were the state described in its constitution — federal and democratic, with civil and political rights and freedoms — Muslim regions and communities could have used these rights to influence its internal and external policies.
But today the opposite is happening — Muslims in Russia are completely powerless, and the Kremlin is using them to make Muslims in other countries, including Ukraine, powerless. And therefore our ability to influence what is happening in Palestine depends much more on the outcome of the war in Ukraine than on slogans and flash mobs in support of it from our side now.
At the moment, we have no way to politically influence what is happening in Palestine. And for this possibility to appear in the future, it is necessary for the Kremlin empire to collapse and for the Muslims in today’s Russia to transform themselves from Putin’s foot soldiers into independent subjects of international politics. And for this to happen, what is happening now in and around Ukraine is of paramount importance. InshaAllah, this is what we will be guided by as we cover these events.