On the occasion of the end of the blessed month of Ramadan, the Muslim Public Affairs Centre, MPAC, wishes you and your family a blessed Eid marked by faith, prosperity and joy.

Taqabbal Allaahu minna wa minkum wa ahaalahu Allaah ‘alayka.
(May Allaah accept (this worship) from us and from you and may you live to see another Eid).

Eid ul-Fitr, the Festival of Fast-breaking is the feast that concludes the month of fasting. The holiday is a time for friendship and goodwill, a time for forgiveness and making amends and also a time of great joy, where children, communities and families come together and celebrate.

However, these are brutal times, terrifying times, and defining times. While the global Muslim community engaged in the ritual of fasting, Israel and America spent the whole month to intensify the process of burying Palestinians and Palestine alive. During this year’s Ramadan, the Palestinian people witnessed incredible levels of violence from the combined efforts of the Israeli and American administrations. Following 75 years of Israel’s colonialism and draconian apartheid laws, Palestinians have endured land theft, policing, detaining, torturing and destruction on massive scale, by Israeli politicians, soldiers and mobs alike.

As at today, the official statistics say 33,000 Gazan Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes in 6 months, with US-made bombs, shelling and field executions, and 350 additional fatalities in the West Bank. These numbers do not account for all those “missing” under the rubble, shot dead in the streets or in their homes by the occupation soldiers, or buried under the sand by their bulldozers. Despite the horror of the situation, a situation that made UNESCO to describe Gaza as a “graveyard for children’, America continues to ship more bombs to fuel the Palestinian genocide, and renders all international efforts to bring about a ceasefire ineffective. On its part, Israel has responded to global opposition to its campaign of terror with more slaughter of Palestinians and anyone on the ground– like the killing of international humanitarian workers – and lobbying for its critics to be punished and barred online.

The days of Eid should be special days for the entire family but for those suffering oppression, daily slaughter and starvation in Palestine, there will not be eid celebrations. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Indeed, we will miss Ramadan as no other month is full of blessings such as Ramadan for we benefit from it during the days of fasting, during its night of worship and even for months beyond. We like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that paid their Zakat to support MPAC works and for every single donation we received during Ramadan. May Allah bless your act of worship and reward you abundantly in this life and the Hereafter. Ameen.
May our fasting, other acts of worship and religious holiday be blessed. And may the blessings of the Almighty be with the entire Islamic world. We pray that God Almighty consolidates all the gains of Ramadan in our lives and bless our nation with an increased spirituality, a renewed hope in humanity, lasting peace and an unwavering commitment to justice and truth, amin.

Eid Mubarak from the entire MPAC team.