by Walid
In October 1990, a post arrived on soc.religion.islam under the subject line "For Those Who Have Hearts." It was a firsthand account by a Canadian Muslim who had visited Occupied Palestine that August, reproduced with permission from the Pillar, a magazine published by the Muslim Youth and Students Association of Manitoba. The author identified himself only as Walid.
The piece is a spiritual testimony — a witness report in the tradition of Islamic testimony (shahada), addressed directly to the Usenet community as to the global Umma. Quranic verses punctuate the narrative not as decoration but as a living lens, turning the author's encounters with soldiers, prisoners, and bereaved mothers into scenes already anticipated by the revelation. What the author saw in Jerusalem, in Al-Aqsa, and in the refugee camps near Bethlehem was not reported as political commentary alone but as a trial of faith — a test of whether one billion Muslims in the world would answer the call of their brothers and sisters.
The post circulated in two versions. The first, posted October 9, preserves the author's original voice with its errors intact; a lightly edited version followed on October 17. This archive uses the edited version as its primary text, as that is the form in which the community received and transmitted it.
Preserved here as a document of early internet Islam — a community gathering at the dawn of the networked age to bear witness together to what one of their own had seen.
"and why should you not fight in the cause of Allah, while the weak and the oppressed on earth are saying 'Oh Lord! rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors and raise for us, from Thee someone who will protect, and raise for us from Thee someone who will help.'" (Quran IV:75)
This August I visited Palestine. I was asked to write about my experiences, but I don't know where to begin. I will divide what I saw into three parts: Entering Palestine, the city of Jerusalem, and the West Bank.
Entering Palestine
I entered Jerusalem through Gaza at the border crossing Rafah from Egypt by bus. I had been warned of harassment of Muslims by Israelis and hence decided not to speak any Arabic before arriving in Jerusalem. As I sat on the bus I met a sweet old Palestinian Lady and I found myself impelled to break my silence and talk to her. She was so happy to talk to me that she told me I was now her son and that I would be staying in her house with her son during my visit (she did not give me any choice — may Allah send peace to her heart). Along the trip we talked and talked and at one point, in the middle of her own tragic story of misery and sadness, she looked at me, her eyes filling with tears, her lips trembling, "My beloved son," she said, "you will now see the truth." At the border she was taken for questioning and I never saw her again.
At the Palestinian/Egyptian border, all travellers had to get off the bus for inspection. All tourists were immediately given three months visas, while I was held back for some two hours. They asked me many questions and asked me to give them my address and personal status in Canada. They then told me that I would not be given a 3 month visa because they said I needed $7000 US to live for this period (you can easily get by with $10.00/day if you go to the Muslim sector). I asked whether the others had been asked for this sum and they did not reply, but they said that they would let me stay for three days. When I caught up with the other tourists, they asked me about the delay. When I told them, they were infuriated and said they had not been asked for nor did they have $7000. Anyone holding a Canadian passport, they said (reading from a form from the Israeli Government), should receive a 3 months visa. They said that because I was a Muslim, they must have made this excuse to restrict my movement. At any rate, I was now on my way to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is divided into two parts: the new city and the old city. The new city was very modern and beautiful, comparable to a European city. It was lush green, and well built. It is unfortunate and a source of shame to all mankind, that this beauty should come at the expense of the blood of an entire population of human beings; that some should enjoy and laugh while raking the backs of other people while the world turns a blind eye.
As I entered the city, I immediately went to the Old City by Damascus Gate which contains the Muslim sector and Masjid Al-Aqsa. The Muslims embraced me as one of their own. I was taken by one brother to his home, as he insisted that I eat with him. I was somewhat surprised to find that he was living with about 10 girls and no other males were in sight. Upon inquiry, he told me that his brothers were in jail. He was left to care for his mother, his sisters, and some 15 children. The government did allow him to visit his father in prison once a week during the time of the Friday Prayer, for half an hour.
As I walked down Jaffa Street, the main street of Jerusalem, I met two Palestinian brothers. They walked with me and told me that we would no doubt be stopped and questioned, and we were. The soldiers were very rude and questioned the two brothers for 15 minutes while I was asked to stand on one side. It is ironic, that even if one is an Israeli citizen, he will be stopped and harassed because of skin colour.
The Palestinians were living in a state of Apartheid. They had to keep their eyes down in a state of humbleness so the soldiers would not have an excuse to harass them.
The Israeli government sends its youngest troops to Muslim areas. It would seem logical that if one was sincere in such a tense situation, older, experienced soldiers should be used and not newly indoctrinated, over-zealous youth waiting to "kill a dirty Arab" as one of them remarked.
One of my friends was stopped on the street by 2 young Israeli soldiers for no reason. The soldiers placed one gun on his forehead and one on his lower back and began to laugh. Now this friend of mine is about 5'5" and very light in build. He is a nice, jovial unimposing brother. The soldiers told him to get down on the ground...the next thing he knew, he woke up in the hospital days later. He had passed out from shock.
On another occasion, a Jewish settler placed his (government sanctioned) gun at another friend's side and asked him to pick up some garbage.
The Muslim hospital was filled with children. The government has a policy of crippling these 10-12 year olds by shooting their lower spine. They cannot move, they cannot reproduce and they are no problem when placed in jail. As I learned more and more, I understood the words of the lady in the bus. Some Muslims, like other groups, may exaggerate at times...it is, perhaps natural. But what I saw was much worse than what I have read. Our brothers and sisters are really suffering. It is exhausting to write, because I cannot possibly describe everything.
As I entered the masjid Al-Aqsa, I looked at the Dome of the Rock and imagined the Prophet on his journey to the heavens and I remembered the gallant Salahuddin Ayoubi as he turned back the crusaders in all their fury, and as these images came to my mind, I said that this land is ours, and by Allah's will we will get it back. At that moment the verse from surah Ibrahim came into my mind,
"Think not that Allah does not heed the deeds of those who do wrong. He but gives them respite against a day when the eyes will be fixed with horror." (Quran 14:42)
In the masjid, I found the spirit of Islam alive within the youth. After almost every prayer, a 17-23 year old brother would begin to talk, to invigorate the people to move and work for their religion.
The West Bank
I then went to the refugee camps near Bethlehem on the West Bank. I met a mother of a child, and was told a very touching story. The military had imposed a curfew on the camp and said no one was to leave their houses after 5:00 p.m. In addition the mother would not let her child out in the heat of the midday sun nor could the child go to school because it had been shut down. As a result, the child (of 9 year's age) was cramped in the house all day. The little girl so dearly wanted to play outside with her friends and did not understand why she couldn't go out.
So one evening, she snuck out. The mother heard the gunshots and went outside, her heart pounding, to find the body of her daughter, a bullet through her head. Story after story. I heard and I could not believe what I heard. Houses were blown up because the neighbour was suspected of some crime. Children were beaten, houses broken into by laughing soldiers drawing Israeli flags on the wall.
I met a brother in Al-Aqsa who in a speech said he had given up on the so called foreign friends who say they will help, and it was only upon Allah that he now depends. He said that deep in their hearts they don't care about Palestinians and the children being massacred, the women being beaten. It is all talk.
I address this to all of you who are now reading these words. Your brothers and sisters need you.
They are being tortured and killed because they say "La ilaaha illa-Allah." Do you accept this for them? Can you be happy while you know that a child is right now crying in pain at the hands of an Israeli soldier? A mother crying in grief at her child's grave?
What value do one billion Muslims in this world carry when they don't even think about a sister who rises her hand out to them for help?
And if our prophet (PBUH) Al-Habeeb, Al-Mustapha was here how many of us could answer to him, that indeed we had done our best to help his Ummah and stayed true to our covenant?
"Has not the time arrived for the Believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the truth which has been revealed to them." (Quran LVII:16)
Colophon
Written by Walid (full name not given). Originally published in the Pillar, a magazine of the Muslim Youth and Students Association of Manitoba, Canada (Manitoba Islamic Association, 247 Hazelwood Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba R2M 4W1). Posted to soc.religion.islam on October 9, 1990 (original) and October 17, 1990 (edited version), with the author's permission.
The piece was circulated by the early soc.religion.islam community during the First Intifada — a moment when Usenet served as one of the few channels through which Muslim communities across North America could bear witness together to events in Palestine.
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected] (edited version).
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