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2 Shawwal 1446 AH - March 31 2025 Issue # 13, Newsletter #2077



Scroll down for report on "Columbia University Faculty Unions' Federal Lawsuit" by Sr. Aisha and "a Hadith of the Prophet (SAW) on Forgiving" by Sr. Yasmin and a Remembrance of Abeer al-Janabi by Josie Wade


Israel Kills Children on Eid ul-Fitr
By Nadrat Siddique

After unilaterally violating the ceasefire agreement on March 18, the Israeli government continued to demonstrate that it is the epitome of evil. On Sunday, Eid ul-Fitr in Gaza, Israel gifted death to at least 85 Palestinian innocents. Middle East Eye reported that Palestinian children, dressed in new Eid clothing, were killed when bombs were dropped on their homes at 2:00 AM. (March 31, 2025)

According to Marwan al-Homs, Gaza field hospitals director, the majority of those killed were women and children. Israel has killed at least 322 children since it broke the ceasefire.

On the second day of Eid, Israel enacted a forced evacuation order on Rafah. Instead of celebrating the Eid, Palestinians left, some on foot and some by car, for the al-Mawasi area, a so-called "safe zone" near Khan Younis. But, that "safe zone," too, has come under regular fire by the Israeli Occupation Force. (Al-Jazeera, March 31, 2025)

All of this was eerily reminiscent of Eid Day 2024, with tens of thousands of Palestinians losing their lives to American-made munitions, while the world sat idly by.

Meanwhile Arab rulers celebrated Eid with their usual sybaritic feasts, idly watching as Palestinians remained hungry, prevented even from celebrating Eid in the rubble which used to be their homes.




World News

Gaza
Israel Bombs Gaza's Only Cancer Treatment Site

March 21, 2025 - The Israeli Occupation Force blew up the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Netzarim. Although in-operational for more than a year, it was the only hospital capable of treating cancer patients. Israel claimed it was being used as a terrorist stronghold. The Turkish government contributed $34 million towards building the hospital. Turkey condemned the demolition, saying, "We urge the international community to take firm and effective steps against Israel's unlawful attacks and systematic state terrorism." It was not clear which "international community" Turkey awaits.

Israel Kills Red Crescent Medics

March 31, 2025 - Israel killed eight Palestinian medics, six Civil Defense first responders, and a UN official in Southern Gaza. This was despite the fact that they wore clearly identifying emblems. Their ambulances, also clearly marked, were crushed. The Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) then dumped the fifteen bodies into a mass grave. When efforts to recover the bodies was under way, the IOF set up hurdles. As a result, the bodies were recovered more than a week later. The Red Cross expressed outrage. The Palestine Red Cresent Society said, "[Israel's] targeting of Red Crescent medics despite the protected status of their mission and the Red Crescent emblem can only be considered a war crime punishable under international humanitarian law." (BBC News, March 31, 2025)

Tel Aviv

UAE Hosts "Iftar" for Zionists, While Israel Willfully Starves Palestinians

March 14, 2025 - In the midst of the genocide, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted Israeli public figures at its embassy in Tel Aviv. Knesset speaker Amir Ohana, Israeli National Security advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, Ra'am chair Mansour Abbas, and other Israeli Knesset representatives attended a Ramadan banquet arranged by UAE ambassador Mohammed Al-Khaja. (Times of Israel, March 14, 2025) The UAE has a Hebrew language Facebook page, and news of the iftar was further reported there.

Last year, when Israel held its annual "iftar," Ambassador Al-Khaja attended the event. Social media photos showed him seated immediately next to Israeli President Isaac Herzog. At that point, over 33,000 Palestinians had been killed by Israel.

The UAE seems to have embraced Muslim Zionism, and evidently the mass slaughter and starvation of Palestinians means nothing to them. One wonders what manner of fast El-Khaja and his ilk are opening at these "iftars."




South Africa

White Supremacists Expel South African Ambassador

March 15, 2025 - The South African ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled from the US due to South Africa's support for Palestine. The expulsion followed an executive order issued last month by President Trump, cutting all aid to South Africa, on the grounds that South Africa was supporting Hamas and Iran, while also discriminating against White Afrikaners. (CNN, March 23, 2025)

The South African ambassador found out he was being discharged in a social media post on X, by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The ambassador and his wife returned to South Africa on March 23, where they were greeted by large crowds at the Cape Town International Airport. The crowd praised the ambassador, singing songs for him. Many of them waved Palestinian flags and chanted "Free Palestine!"

After the executive order barring aid to South Africa was issued, South African President Ramaphosa said, "We are, as South Africans, a resilient people, and we will not be bullied."

Editor's note: Both the expulsion of the ambassador and the cutting of aid can be seen as attempts to force South Africa to withdraw its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. May Allah give the South Africans the strength and resilience to continue to stand firm with the Palestinians and with all oppressed people.




United States

Massive Quds Day Protests Held in New York

A massive, vibrant pro-Palestine protest marking Yom al-Quds (Quds Day) was held in New York. The event is traditionally held on the last Friday of Ramadan, known as Juma'ah tul-Wida. Since its inception by Imam Khomeini, the event has encompassed an increasingly broad coalition of groups. This year, it was co-sponsored by the Palestine Youth Movement, the Palestinian Feminist Collective, Neturai Karta, Code Pink, Medical Students for Justice in Palestine, Writers Against the War on Gaza, and many others. The march gathered in the very high visibility area of Times Square, and marched through downtown Manhattan.

Parallel marches were held in Toronto, London, Johannesburg, and in numerous cities across Iran.




War Crimes in Iraq

They Raped a Child, Murdered Her Family, and Walked Free — Because She Was Iraqi

By Josie G. Wade

On March 12, 2006, five U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division — Steven Green, Paul Cortez, James Barker, Jesse Spielman, and Bryan Howard — drank whiskey, plotted a massacre, and descended on the home of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. They shot her father, mother, and 6-year-old sister execution-style. Then, as her baby sister's body cooled on the floor, they took turns raping Abeer. When they were done, Green shot her in the face and set her corpse on fire.

This wasn't "war." This was pure evil — a calculated, sadistic ritual of imperial violence. Abeer had endured weeks of sexual harassment from these soldiers at their checkpoint. They leered at her, fantasized about her, and finally decided she was theirs to destroy. The U.S. military called it "collateral damage" until a whistleblower forced the truth out.

But the horror doesn't end there.

Green, the ringleader, was discharged before the crime was exposed — free to roam the U.S. until arrested. He got life in prison but died in 2014, escaping true accountability. Cortez, Barker, and Spielman — the rapists — were sentenced to 90-110 years but became eligible for parole after just 10 years. Howard, the lookout, served 27 months. Meanwhile, Abeer's family lies in unmarked graves, their home reduced to ash.

The U.S. media buried her story. Politicians shrugged. The military closed ranks. To America, Abeer was not a child. She was a nameless, brown-skinned casualty — disposable in the grand colonial project.

This is what occupation breeds. This is what happens when soldiers are taught that "the enemy" is less than human. This is the rot festering beneath the lie of "liberation."

Abeer's blood soaks the hands of every politician who glorifies war, every general who shields war criminals, and every citizen who looks away. Her scream echoes in Gaza, in Afghanistan, in every village crushed under empire's boot.

We failed her. But we don't get to forget.

Josie Wade is a former US military service member, and an active part of the movement to stop the genocide of Palestinians.




Columbia University Faculty Unions' Federal Lawsuit

By Sis. 'Aisha
Jamaat al-Muslimeen New York City

On Wednesday (3/26/25), a small band of Columbia University professors announced that their faculty unions had filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for freezing the university's access to the $400 million in federal funding.
The professors said that most of the $400 million funds medical research for diseases, such as Alzheimer's and cancer. Their press conference was held in front of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, a teaching hospital for Cornell and Columbia medical students.

Part of Columbia's federal funding also funds the salaries for jobs in its research departments. Without funding, the university would have to lay people off, which would further undermine its research projects. The union calls Trump's funding freeze dangerous and unlawful.

Some faculty have criticized Columbia's submission to the Trump Administration's demands, which include adopting its definition of "antisemitism" and prohibiting protests on its campus. Marcel Agueros, an Astronomy professor, warned that Columbia's clampdown on protests would spread to other universities. He said no thinker "would be protected."

The same Columbia University complying with the Trump Administration's bully tactics is the same university responsible for displacing Harlem residents to build dormitories. Last week, the university took steps to work with Trump to obtain the $400 million in federal funding designated for the university.

Source: NY1.com




Guidance from Sis. Yasmin

Prophet (SAW): "O Allah You are Forgiving, You Love Forgiveness, So Forgive Me

PROPHET* ﷺ~*O ALLAH YOU ARE FORGIVING YOU LOVE FORGIVENESS SO FORGIVE ME*~{'DUA' FOR LAYLATUL-QADR}~
`A`ishah (Radhiallahu `Anha) said that she asked

Allah's Messenger
(Sallallahu `Alayhi wa Sallam)
'O Messenger of Allah,
If I knew which night is 'Laylat -ul- Qadr'
what should I say during it' ?
And he (Sallallahu `Alayhi wa Sallam) instructed her to say ---

اللْهُمّ¤ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْو¤ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
'Allahumma Innaka `Affuwwun Tuhibbul `Afwa fa`fu `Annee'.
'Dua' ---

{ Source :Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and At-Tirmidhi }

2025-04-02 Wed 12:53:03 GMT/UTC/Zulu

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