The killing of veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on 11 May and the subsequent violent attack on her funeral by Israeli police have drawn global condemnation. Two weeks later, after its own investigation, news channel CNN has released new video footage suggesting Israeli forces targeted and assassinated Shireen Abu Akleh.

In the past week, the Palestinian Authority handed over a file of evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC) requesting them to facilitate an international investigation into Abu Akleh’s murder and hold Israel to account. Al Jazeera Media Network also assigned its legal team to refer Abu Akleh’s case file to the ICC.

These latest moves were preceded, on 13 May, by a rare unanimous resolution adopted by the UN Security Council condemning the killing of Abu Akleh and calling for “an immediate, thorough, transparent and impartial investigation into her killing”. 

Could this moment be a turning point in the Palestinian struggle for emancipation from Zionist Israel’s settler colonialism? Only time will tell. It is my considered view, however, that the extraordinary global and local remonstrations in response to Shireen Abu Akleh’s martyrdom creates the conditions for rejuvenating the Palestinian struggle for liberation, but requires the role of wise and non-partisan leaders to channel the protests into strategic actions for emancipation. In my khutbah today, I identify interfaith solidarity as one such strategic engagement.

Funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh

Abu Akleh was a Christian Palestinian. Her funeral was attended by tens of thousands of Palestinians and was one of the largest funerals held in Jerusalem. The bells of all churches in Jerusalem, both Catholic and Orthodox, rang in unison during the funeral and it was attended by Palestinians of all denominations and faiths, including a large number of Muslims.

Ironically, the Israeli security forces tried in vain to prevent Muslims from entering the church where Abu Akleh’s funeral service was held. They were hellbent on preventing Palestinian outpouring of outrage and solidarity and brutally attacked the funeral procession. In response, churches in the Holy Land convened a press conference in Jerusalem, in which they “condemned the violent intrusion of the Israeli police into the funeral procession of Shireen Abu Akleh as it was going from Saint Joseph Hospital to the Greek-Melkite Cathedral Church”. 

Large numbers of Palestinian Muslims spontaneously turned up at the funeral to express their compassion and condolences to their heroine, her family and loved ones. Not surprisingly, however, especially for us as South African Muslims, it has led to a regressive debate as to whether this is permissible according to Islam. Thankfully, in response, Shaikh Dr Ali al-Qaradaghi, secretary general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, issued a lengthy fatwa in support of invoking Abu Akleh as a “shahid al-watan”, a national martyr, and condoning Muslim participation in her funeral proceedings.

In his fatwa, Shaykh al-Qaradaghi declared that praying for Allah’s “rahma” mercy on Abu Akleh was permissible according to the teachings of Islam. This fatwa is not unfamiliar to South African anti-apartheid activists, where Muslims and Christians together routinely attended funerals and janazahs of anti-apartheid martyrs. I encourage you to read and study this well-grounded fatwa issued by the secretary-general of one of the leading contemporary international Muslim scholarly bodies.

The unjust killing of Abu Akleh has united Palestinians of all political and religious persuasions like few other events in recent history. The unprecedented outpouring of protests by Palestinians across the religious and political spectrum has reinvigorated and breathed new life into the solidarity between Christians, Muslims and Jews in the struggle against the oppressive apartheid policies of the Zionist State of Israel.

The challenge going forward is how to seize this moment to work diligently towards nurturing a vibrant Palestinian interfaith solidarity movement. This interfaith engagement is something we as South Africans can assist our Palestinian brothers and sisters with, especially given our successful experience of interreligious solidarity in the struggle against apartheid.

South African interfaith forum

I would like to consider how we can apply this strategy of interfaith solidarity in the struggle for Palestinian emancipation specifically to our own South African context. In this regard, I would like to propose that interfaith activists consider working towards the establishment of a dedicated interfaith forum for South African solidarity with the struggle of Palestinians.

This is an idea some of us have been contemplating for some time, and whose time for implementation, I believe, is long overdue. We have for a long time argued that the freedom struggle of the Palestinian people is not a Muslim struggle, it is an anti-colonial struggle for justice; a struggle of reclaiming land, identity and statehood. Hence, in addition to strengthening our existing South African solidarity with Palestinians, a committed Interfaith Solidarity Forum will stamp out any sectarian religious tendencies that may be present within our midst. It will also serve as a strong counter to the pernicious Zionist propaganda machine that seeks to frame the Palestinian struggle as a religious war, between Muslims and Jews.

In working towards the establishment of a South African Interfaith Forum for Palestinian Solidarity, we need to reach out to organisations such as Kairos Palestine (South Africa), the South African Jews for a Free Palestine and other anti-Zionist Jews.

A useful starting point could be to support our Christian colleagues in garnering support for the adoption of the document titled “Cry for Hope: a call for decisive action” at the upcoming 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to be convened in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 3 August to 8 September 2022. Cry for Hope was crafted and adopted by Palestinian Christians on 1 July 2020. The document proclaims that “…we cannot serve God and the oppression of the Palestinians”.

The assassination of Abu Akleh and the unprecedented and united response of condemnation on the part of the churches of the Holy Land creates a firm platform for the adoption of such a strong resolution supporting the Palestinian struggle for the emancipation of their ancestral lands and full human dignity. The South African delegation to the WCC Assembly should play a key role in lobbying for the Palestine resolution to be passed.

I have been encouraged by the creative manner in which people have spontaneously come up with initiatives to honour the martyrdom and memory of Abu Akleh. For example, one university has established a bursary for journalism in the name of Shireen Abu Akleh. I call on interfaith and other social justice activists to come forward and assist us in establishing a South Africa Interfaith Initiative in Solidarity with Palestinians to honour the martyrdom of Abu Akleh. DM

This article is based on a sermon delivered on Friday 27 May.