Bahrain’s Al-Wefaq Society has launched a booklet titled “Palestine in the Eyes of Al-Wefaq’s SG,” which includes the views of imprisoned Secretary-General, Sheikh Ali Salman, in support of the Palestinian cause, along with his unyielding condemnation of the Israeli occupation and its abhorrent practices.

In the introduction written by the SG in Jau Central Prison, Sheikh Salman states, “Most of the peoples of the world were subjected to occupation and domination. These peoples fought for their freedom and independence and claim their right to independence, except for the Palestinian people, who have been afflicted by the establishment of an occupying Israeli entity on their own land while they were struggling against colonialism.”

Israeli aggression persists 

Moreover, Sheikh Ali Salman asserted that, over the years, the aggression against the Palestinians has intensified. He writes, “The Palestinian lands have been stolen and their right to establish their own state has been taken away, even though it is a natural historical right of all people.”

His Eminence touches on the unrelenting killing and expulsion "of Palestinians - both Muslims and Christians - until the countries of the world have been swarmed with roughly 14.3M Palestinian refugees.”

Further, Sheikh Ali Salman labels the deprivation of the Palestinians of their motherland as “a repressive practice that practically reminds us of what fascist and racist regimes have done,” stressing that this repression continues to this day.

Normalization is complete failure

His Eminence denounces the so-called “2002 Arab Initiative," describing it as a “cheap initiative that free peoples reject because it disregards the interests of the Palestinian people.” He adds, “One of the Arab countries pledged full normalization in exchange for the withdrawal from the occupied Arab territory that was seized during the 1967 aggression.” The Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq Society mocks this “reprehensible offer that has exposed the occupation, its audacity, and its hypocrisy.”

His Eminence elaborates that despite this audacity and the aggressive, unjust, and criminal practices against Palestinians - on a daily basis - some Arab countries have shamefully decided, in a bid to preserve their own interests, to “reward ‘Israel’ through political, economic, security and cultural normalization.”

Sheikh Ali Salman deems the path of normalization “a flagrant violation of the historical right of the Palestinian people to the land of Palestine.” He affirmed that these disgraceful moves have diplomatically weakened the Palestinians in light of the continued systematic aggression “which daily claims the lives of civilians and targets their lands and livelihoods.”

International community is complicit

Sheikh Salman slates the position of the international community in favor of the Israeli occupation as it “turns a blind eye to genocides perpetrated against Palestinians. And when it takes its role, both belligerents are called to defuse tension and calm down. i.e. equating the victim with the executioner."

Al-Wefaq’s Secretary-General affirms that, after more than 7 decades, it is no longer acceptable for the international community to continue proposing the so-called “two-state solution” while the enemy continues its settlement project on the remaining lands in the West Bank, which are supposed to be the land of the Palestinian state according to this alleged solution.”

Sheikh Ali believes that “Israel has whatsoever transgressed boundaries and proposition through establishing settlement plans. If the Palestinians gain anything, they will only receive timid condemnations, like a small bandage put on a bleeding wound.”

He adds, “The Arab and Islamic countries can - if they have the will - invest in their diplomatic and economic influence in order to  put pressure on the major and influential parties (the US + the EU + Russia + China) to: immediately recognize the Palestinian state with holy Al-Quds as its capital and accept Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations.” 

Unity among Palestinian factions is key to liberation 

Sheikh Salman stresses that - despite the severity of the ordeal and harsh conditions - the Palestinian people have proven that they are “a resisting nation whose steadfastness matches the exceptional resisting nations, such as the Indian, Algerian, Vietnamese and South African people, who defeated the most powerful occupying empires and gained their independence.”

Sheikh Ali Salman adds, “The logical end to this heroic struggle and steadfastness, despite the prolonged sacrifices and their magnitude, is inevitably victory. This is God’s vow."

Besides, Al-Wefaq’s Secretary-General calls on the Arab and Islamic governments, as well as the governments of the whole world, to “adopt a consistent approach in supporting the Palestinian people and endorsing them to achieve their legitimate right to establish their state on all Palestinian soil.”

He warns that this approach should not be limited to mere sympathy while “Israeli military vehicles recurrently murder civilians, demolish buildings, and shell infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Sheikh Ali Salman also notes that “the support of the Palestinian people must not diminish in light of the divergence of views among the Palestinians regarding how to confront the occupation, as no struggle experience against occupation and tyranny has ever been devoid of differing opinions among the nation's forces.”

He asserts that “going back to the history of liberation movements in Asian, African, and other countries, unsurprisingly we find that there are disagreements, and they may even be more complex than what the Palestinian arena is witnessing today. This is a natural result of the occupation’s systematic endeavors to disperse, divide, and weaken the occupied peoples.”

Hence, Sheikh Ali Salman urges his brotherly Palestinian Resistance movements to agree on “a national action plan based on the minimum requirements of the struggle, the most important of which is the full liberation.”

Pro-Palestine solidarity is an ethical obligation

From his cell in Jau Central Prison, His Eminence Sheikh Ali Salman concludes, “We ask God to help us - peoples and individuals - to fulfill the duty of supporting the steadfastness and great struggle of the Palestinian people so that they can obtain their humanitarian - just and legitimate - rights by all available means, and for the liberation of their lands.” 

Sheikh Ali Salman avows, “It is our human duty to refuse normalization with the occupier. O honorable people of the land and the free people of the world, individuals, groups, and governments, hand in hand let us immediately & corporately confront the occupation for the sake of establishing an independent Palestinian state on all Palestinian soil, with holy Al-Quds as its capital.”