THE Coalition of Muslim Organisations (CMO) in Oyo State has called on the United Nations (UN) to prevail on Israel to cease destructive attacks on Palestine and give peace a chance.
This call formed part of the declaration presented by Professor Modiu Durowoju who led a solidarity rally for Palestine last Saturday at the Iwo Road intersection in Ibadan.
The rally, coordinated by the Alhaji Dawood Afolabi-led Oyo State chapter of the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO), had in attendance leaders and members of various Islamic organisations such as the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), The Muslim Congress (TMC), Organisation of Thadomunul Muslimeen (OTM), Jannata Islamiyya Association of Nigeria and the Federation of Ahlus-Sunnah in Nigeria (FASON).
Professor Durowoju explained that the CMO’s declaration was sequel to deliberations and study of the ongoing war in Palestine.
He then urged the United Nations to lead efforts at creating humanitarian corridors to ensure that aid and relief packages get into Gaza and other places and lifting of the siege of Gaza as part of a ceasefire and peace process.
The CMO, according to Professor Durowoju, also wants the International Criminal Court (ICC) to begin the prosecution of “war crimes committed by Israel” during the ongoing war and previous violations of extant international laws such as failure to protect the people under its occupation as written in the Geneva Convention.
He said the organisation demanded from the international community, led by the United Nations, the retrieval of the peace process “from the monopoly of the United States which has become part of the Israeli occupation machinery.”
The don said: “We call on the Arab League, the African Union and other regional governments to exert pressure that will change the apartheid character of the Zionist state of Israel and make it conform to international laws and norms.”
In a remark during the peaceful rally, the Chief Imam of the Organisation of Thadomunul Muslimeen (OTM) Mosque, Adogba, Ibadan, Alhaji Abdul-Kabeer Muhammadul-awal, said the gathering aligned with global advocacy for the protection of human rights and freedom for the oppressed as taught in Islam.
According to Imam Muhammadul-awal, it is imperative for Muslims to support the struggle for the liberation of Palestine.
In a keynote address, the Grand Mufti, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), Sheikh Dhikrullah Shafi’, called on Arab nations to cut diplomatic ties with Israel and support Palestine with allied forces and open their borders for easy passage of food, water, drugs and other aids for the oppressed women and children in Gaza.
“Israel came into being 75 years ago. Before 1948, there was no nation called Israel; it is a product of the United States’ connivance with the United Nations, following the Berlin Conference and aftermath of the Second World War.”
A lecturer at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Osun State University, Okuku campus, Dr Usamat Olalere, appealed to the United Nations to implement the two-state resolution on Palestine to ensure peace.
The Dawah Missioner for Jannata Islamiyya Association of Nigeria, Oyo state chapter, Ustaz Luqman Gbadamosi, called on Muslims to boycott all Israeli products to weaken their financial power to prosecute the ongoing war against the Palestinians.
The Ameer, Federation of Ahlus-Sunnah in Nigeria (FASON), Sheikh Tajudeen Al-Adabi, represented by the Ameer Sunnah, Ijebu-Igbo, Ustaz Miftaudeen Hamzat, prayed for victory for Palestine, affirming that “the oppressed will be victorious as divinely ordained.”
The Chief Missioner, Muslim Community of Oyo State (MUSCOYS), Dr Dawood Amoo-Alaga, pointed out that Islam is a global faith which teaches that suffering or injury to one affects other faithful.
Highlights of the peaceful rally included recitations from the Holy Qur’an, rendition of poetry for the triumph of Palestine, prayers for peace in Palestine and Nigeria and a procession to the OTM Mosque in Adogba.
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