Yearly Festival of Charitable Islamic Society for Supporting Al-Aqsa Held [Archives:2001/46/Reportage]

Abduh Moqbil Al-Sabri
Yemen Times
Under the auspices of the President of the Republic, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and under the motto of “Intifada is a Vain Glory in a Time of Brokenness,” the Charitable Islamic Society for Supporting Al-Aqsa held its annual festival on November 6, 2001 in the Cultural Center of Sana’a. The festival was attended by the Honorary President of the Society, the Speaker of the Parliament, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein Al-Ahmar, the Palestinian Ambassador, Yahya Rabah, Abdulmajeed Al-Zandani, and large audiences.
The Palestinian Ambassador, Yahya Rabah, delivered a speech focusing on the endless support of the society. He said that some people tried to join the society to the so-called provocation and partisanship at the expense of the Palestinian people. He spoke highly of the exerted efforts played by the Society and its financial capacity to support the Palestinian people. He stressed out that the assistance indeed reaches the whole Palestine. Yemen is one of the first countries to assist the Palestinians in the occupied territories thanks to the collective and cooperative work played by the Yemenis.
Then, the Secretary General of the Society, Ali Moqbil, highly praised the heroic actions performed daily by the Palestinians against the Israeli occupant.
He called upon all unions, peoples’ organizations and people in the Arab world to support the Palestinians and its national authority headed by the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Peoples’ committees should be established in all Arab countries to collect donations that will ensure Intifada’s continuation against the Zionist occupation. The blessing Al-Aqsa has been the symbol of Muslims for hundreds of years when it was won after Al-Yarmook Battle. Muslims scattered around and then reunited to restore and liberate Al-Aqsa from armies led by Herakl. Muslims could therefore rescue the Blessing Mosque from colonizers and invaders. Salah Al-Deen was able to reunite the Islam nation and formed a unified army to restore Bait Al-Maqdes. Only the Al-Aqsa issue unites the Arab leaders from Amman to Cairo, via Doha, under the same roof to defend their lands against the occupants. He added that this critical issue has revived the memories of Arabs and reminded them of their brothers in Palestine. It tells them that there are aggressors who terrorize its inhabitants and who usurp their rights day and night. Only the Palestinian issue is of interest for the Arabic channels and men of letters as a way to awake their memories and write about this tangled issue. He added, “The Palestinian issue and the Intifada bring into life the Arab solidarity which was on the brink of ruin and danger. The Cairo Summit has come out with a wise decision to stop normalization with Israeli.”
The Palestinians have fought hard and sacrificed their souls, only to see many of them killed on the broad daylight. In addition, Palestine is now a land of injured people, killed infants, partial and total handicap, devastation of houses, and other uncountable infringements committed against the defenseless and powerless Palestinians. As retaliation against this courageous population, the occupant uses all different kinds of weapons, including light ammunitions, plastic bullets, tear bombs, and other heavy equipment.
He went on saying that all donations reach the Palestinians. “Your donations reach all the Palestinian cities. The Security Officer in the Embassy and a representative from Gaza has visited us and have assured us of the safe arrival of the donations for a total of USD 155 million collected in 2000 an USD 170 million in 2001. The president has provided us with a series of comprehensive papers which comprises documents, video tapes and photos proving that the donations indeed reached the Palestinians,” he confirmed.
The Chairman of the Society insisted that the donations to the Palestinian people will continue and that the Yemeni government will do its best to assist the Intifada.
The Honorary President of the Society, Sheikh Abdullah bin Al-Hussein Al-Ahmar, has given so far YR 1 million. The Iranian Ambassador and Abduh Al-Majeed each donated YR 100,000. Other benefactors offered what they could to assist their brothers in Palestine.
At the end of the festival, the Honorary President of the Society, Sheikh Abdullah bin Al-Hussein Al-Ahmar, delivered a speech focusing on the atrocities and aggressions committed against the Palestinians. He indicated that Israelis have been seeking to stop all-out assistance to Palestinians under the pretext of assistance to terrorists.
He replied, “We don’t know what is terrorism, whether those who usurp their rights on the lands, or those who kill innocents.”
He stressed on that only by Intifada and Jihad the legal right of the Palestinians could be restored.

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