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Israel is Losing - and They Know It | Imam Tom Live
Join Sami Hamdi and Imam Tom Facchine to discuss the latest developments from the Gaza catastrophe. We'll discuss what you can do to help those suffering in Gaza, ranging from sharing and being vocal on social media to joining in the BDS movement to hurt Israel where it matters.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, everybody. Welcome to a brand new program with Yaqeen Institute. It's a live stream, live with Imam Tom every Thursday night, inshallah, 9pm Eastern, 8pm Central Time. Hit us up with a chat. This is a new format that gives you the opportunity to interact with me, with the guests, whoever that we're having on every week. You'll be able to ask your questions and hopefully, inshallah, I'll get your questions answered. I know that what's on my mind and probably everybody else's mind are the events that continue to unfold, the brutal atrocities that are happening to our brothers and sisters in Gaza and across Palestine. So send a message in the chat, let us know where you're watching from, let us know what's on your mind and what you're thinking about, and if you have any questions. Just checking real quick, we've got Shakira from California. Somebody asked what happens if Israel takes Gaza, then the West Bank will be gone too and no one is helping, and that's, I think, everybody's fear. I've been asked by many non-Muslims, for example, well, how come Egypt doesn't open the borders or Jordan just doesn't open the borders and let the Palestinians come rushing in as refugees? And one of the answers to that is that many of the Palestinians, they don't want to leave because they know that if they do, that they will not be granted a right of return and that their land will be taken, it'll probably be resettled by quote-unquote settlers, and that this is a tragedy. This is actually, as there have been documents that have been released, official documents from the Israeli government this week, that have shown that that was kind of the plan, and the plan was to crack down on the folks in Palestine so much in such a brutal way that they would basically be chased out of Gaza, and then they would seize the land. So that's exactly what they want, and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect everybody in Gaza and the West Bank and all across Palestine and to
make them victorious. We've got, subhanAllah, one of you born of silence watching from Iran, Wisconsin, Omar Hamdan from Kansan, Isra from Canada, welcome everybody. SubhanAllah, Farah mentioned something that I think many of us can relate to, she said that they killed the entire family of a friend, and subhanAllah, it's getting very difficult. We see, I know people who have lost their entire family, as many people who are watching also probably know people who have lost their entire family, sometimes a dozen, sometimes two, three, four dozen people have been just completely obliterated. Sometimes entire family trees. I had to explain this to another non-Muslim that was in our locality. I said that, you know, when somebody says that your name has been removed from the registry, the civil registry, like just take a second and think about what that actually means. That means that everybody with your last name, you know, when you're a little kid, they have you do these sort of family trees, right, at school, and you kind of make the branches and the roots, and you see as far as you can, as many people in your family as you can sort of account for. Imagine if that entire family tree is just murdered in one day, in one night, in one week, in one month, to the point where nobody has your last name anymore, or nobody shares your family name anymore. It's a very terrifying and horrific thing, and we ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to end it as soon as possible. Now we have someone watching from Washington DC, there's a big march coming up on Saturday in Washington DC. Inshallah, I'm still trying to figure out the logistics, but I will likely be going to that inshallah ta'ala. We have someone watching from Iran, from New York, welcome. Toronto, mashallah, we've got quite the, quite a diverse audience here. Maryland is in the house. Taha has an interesting reflection, he says, Israel knows that they're
losing the information war, and I completely agree that one of the useful hashtags that has come up in the last week or two, has been that every accusation is a confession, and we've seen time and time again that everything that the IDF and the Zionist sort of propaganda machine has accused Palestinians of, is actually something that they're guilty of themselves. And so this is something that, you know, everything that you do, if you can only, if it's the only thing that you have to be able to tweet, to be able to share, to be able to comment, to be able to show other people that this is something that actually does make a difference. It's not the only tool in our toolbox, you know, there's other things that have to be done, but it is a really important part. And actually we're going to have a very special guest returning to the program tonight, Sami Hamdi, in about five minutes, who I think has done a really good job of showing and motivating everybody in the western Muslim world, that these things actually do really matter. We have a Zainab from Oman, we have Rifat from Florida, oh okay, sorry from the UAE, okay, mashallah, people from the UK, from Texas, mashallah, you're from the UK, that means you're up very early, may Allah bless you. Many people from California, Algeria, NYC and Chicago, very good, mashallah, we have quite a diverse crowd tonight, thank you so much everyone for tuning in. Don't just tune in with where you're coming from, also tune in with your questions, we're going to be collecting questions both for Sami and myself, if there's something that you've seen, many of us have seen sort of photos and videos that are coming out, some of them are very disturbing, some of them are very inspiring when it comes to people's faith and how they're sort of bearing the tragedies that they're currently experiencing, or if there's something that sort of lifted your mood or something that motivated you, please share with those,
please share those with us as well. We have Aman from Nashville, Tennessee, ameen, may Allah protect our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We have someone tuning in from Brunei, dar salam, mashallah, welcome, ahlan wa sahlan. Vanessa Gordon-Sharif from Atlanta, I was in Atlanta a couple months ago, mashallah, welcome, we've got Calgary in the house, Ohio, mashallah, tabarak Allah, Edmonton, allahu akbar, so we have a cross-section of the ummah right here, right here with us. Yes, Taha also points out that's why Israel is using fake, right, they have to rely on fake information, we saw one of the justifications that they came up with, right, with the tunnels, and what was the evidence, what was the evidence that they provided for the supposedly elaborate tunnel system, was a CGI, it was a video that they had to invent themselves, they had no actual evidence. This is something that, again, for people who have kind of swallowed the pill, right, and sort of already are predisposed to believe the IDF's lies, it's something that is, you know, they're already predisposed to believe it, but for those who have a critical eye, they can see right through it. Kosovo's in the house, mashallah, Philly's in the house, ahlan wa sahlan, mashallah, we've got a very, very diverse crowd here in New Zealand. Someone's worried, AN is worried we will get fired from our jobs, and that's a concern that's on a lot of people's minds, you know, but don't underestimate what you can do, and the little bit that you can influence things. I have a personal friend, actually, who reached out to their boss, and they kind of pulled him aside with a one-on-one, and they told him, they say, hey look, listen, this is how, sort of, I'm feeling about this, and this is, sort of, like, where I'm coming from, and it actually made a big difference, right. You might, depending on the type of job you have, and the type of boss you have, you know, that relationship that you've built up over time,
right, sometimes people just don't know, and it takes knowing somebody to actually look at things, or begin to look at things from a different perspective, so sometimes you can leverage that, and you can say, hey look, I know that this is what you're hearing, because sometimes, sometimes bosses, just like politicians, they just put their signature on a statement that somebody hands them, and the IDF lobby, or some sort of, you know, canary mission, or any of these sorts of groups, and have their talking points already ready, but on the inside, maybe they feel a certain way, or they're open to conversation, so it's important to at least explore the avenues that you have. Sometimes, sometimes you will see that you have more room to wiggle than not, and if anybody is in a position to actually push it, right, because there will be some of us that will get fired from our jobs, right. There was the the story, I think, of the medical student in New York City this week, that he was removed from his position in the hospital, because he had a fellow doctor that was a Zionist, and he had to, kind of, step up and be brave, and CARE, I believe, CARE was able to assist him, and I believe that he started working back at the same hospital, so unfortunately, it's, it's unsettling, and it's difficult to make those sorts of sacrifices, but there will be some people from among us that are going to have to make those sacrifices in order to stand up for what is true, and in order to demonstrate the truth from the falsehood, and to actually rally other people behind us and this cause. Nor someone asked, how does one render Western media obsolete? Well, that's a really interesting thing, and I was thinking this the other day, because we have a huge generational shift when it comes to the consumption of media. People my parents' age and older, they consume traditional media, mass media, CNN, the news, they watch it on a television, right, and so obviously everything's got a chokehold on what you can say. We've seen that they basically take their, their news from
the IDF itself. When it comes to people my age and younger, we tend to get our news from social media, and that has been a game changer, so we do need to think, you know, it's been, I think, one of the silver linings to see how Twitter, aka X, has been, sort of, the least censored, you know, platform, major platform that's out there, that's created new possibilities for the narrative and the truth getting through. Meta-owned platforms have been a lot more heavy-handed in censorship, and so there's been a lot less that could have been, you know, poked through, or truth shown on those platforms. So it's an open-ended question, it's a very good one. When will Muslims, sort of, come together to make their own media platforms, or at least to influence them in such a way that they're not going to censor things in a political way? That's definitely an open-ended question that I think deserves being explored. We're 10 minutes in, and I think it's time to bring on our guest of honor tonight, Sami Hamdi. Sami Hamdi, you know, went viral the other week with us when he was, sort of, giving us a very motivational speech about how the little bit that you can do does make a difference. I'm going to be asking Sami a little bit different line of questioning tonight, but we're going to use, make the best use of his skills, inshallah ta'ala. Sami, welcome again to the program, it's always a blessing to have you. Thank you very much, very much for having me, and thank you for this opportunity as well, Imam Tom, great to be with you. So I wanted to focus tonight's, sort of, questioning, and everybody who's watching, please send your questions in the chat, and we'll collect them for the end. It feels like there's there's a race against the clock, so to speak, right? This has to end, the genocide has to end, the butchering of Palestinians has to end, and, you know, we're gearing up for huge demonstrations and, you know, applying pressure here and applying pressure there, but there's, sort of, an open-ended question, how is this going to end? And when I sat down to think about the possibilities for how this
is going to end, I thought about three, sort of, theaters, right, or three, sort of, fronts, and I guess the line of questioning will follow that. I'm just going to mention the three fronts, and then I'll get into maybe one at a time. One of the fronts is, sort of, the regional powers, what's going on with, you know, with Turkey, with Qatar, with Iran, etc. The second front has to do with the politics within Israel itself, with Netanyahu and his longevity as a leader, or lack thereof, and the third has to do with the pressure that can be exerted within Israel's allies, such as the United States, which just, unfortunately, passed an enormous funding bill to go directly to the Israeli genocide effort. So I want to, sort of, take these one at a time and to just think, how is this, how is this going to end? What are the possibilities? When we see, when we focus on the regional powers, we saw in the last week, we had one of the biggest scholars in the world, Sheikha Dedu, visit Erdogan. We had Erdogan make a, sort of, correct me if I'm wrong, but he made a, sort of, non-committal statement, basically saying that if other regional powers were willing to do something to intervene, that he might also consider intervening. We've seen the Houthis declare war on Israel. We've seen a lot of saber rattling from Iran. On the other hand, we've seen Saudi Arabia, sort of, commit to shooting down Houthi missiles and things like that. What are the prospects for anybody in the, among the regional powers, from stepping in or intervening? I think I'll leave it to your questions to break it down, each angle, which one we're taking. The first question is related to the regional powers, so we'll start with that. I think that at this moment in time, all eyes now are on the speech by Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, who is expected to speak tomorrow. The first thing that's worth noting is that the delay in announcing his speech, again, reaffirms this perception
that the Iranians don't want an all-out war with the Israelis, that the Iranians are setting up their proxies in preparation for a potential war, but exerting every effort to tow this very thin line of Israel. We are willing to go to war if we have to, but really, please stand down because we don't actually want to go to war with you as well. And I think that it's worth noting that the only reason that the US has mobilized any military force in Israel is not because it's concerned with any of the Muslim nations of Turkey or Saudi Arabia or Jordan or the like, but solely because of Iran. There's a deep concern that Iran's proxies are well-positioned in Syria, well-positioned in Lebanon. We saw the Houthis display their ability to have missiles capable of reaching Israel that the Saudis have very generously offered to the US to help to intercept in order to ensure that Israel remains safe, and also Israel is reported to have sent a ship into the Red Sea to help prevent the Houthis as well from firing those missiles. There is certainly a suggestion that even though the Iranians don't want war, there's still a question mark over whether they will actually go to war. There are reports today that schools in southern Lebanon have been closed in anticipation that there is going to be an escalation. We saw today at the time of this recording, I know this is live, but we also saw that an attack did take place from southern Lebanon. It's been claimed by Al-Qassam Brigade. They say they operate in southern Lebanon. Note here that Hezbollah is insisting that it's not the one that fires the missiles, but rather it is still Al-Qassam Brigade in order to try to emphasize that this is still a war between Israel and the Palestinians, and the Iranians have not gotten involved yet. So in terms of the military front, Iran is certainly posturing. It's still unclear whether they will get involved or not. All eyes are on Hassan Nasrallah. I do think that when it comes to Turkey and Jordan, I think it is significant that Blinken is making a new regional tour, in which this time he will visit Erdogan, in which he will visit King Abdullah of Jordan. And I think it is worth noting that the fact he is visiting those capitals means he is feeling the pressure from those
capitals, means that he is concerned that King Abdullah of Jordan has withdrawn his ambassador from Israel and informed Israel not to send its ambassador back to the capital Amman. He's concerned that Erdogan, who began this conflict with a very unprecedentedly neutral statement, is now beginning to ride the popular momentum to speak in much harder terms towards Israel, almost reaching a point of no return. His last speech, even though it was geared towards a Turkish audience and appeasing the Turkish audience, the Israelis were so upset that they are now arguing that perhaps we will not restore our ties with Erdogan. Erdogan has announced a halt in plans to pursue a gas pipeline, in plans to restore economic ties. The Israelis have reacted by announcing a boycott of Turkish products. Erdogan, of course, has denied that boycott is taking place, but certainly there is an escalation. So the fact that Blinken is going to the region to meet with Erdogan and King Abdullah of Jordan suggests that there is some pressure, despite the fact that many people consider it to be just statements. There is pressure that means that Blinken feels it's necessary to go to the Middle East. The third point that is worth noting, and before I hand over to the next question, the third point that's worth noting is that Biden two days ago, from this recording, again I know it's live, Biden said that he spoke to Sisi and that he affirmed that Gazans must, or Palestinians must stay in Gaza and not be displaced to other countries. That's a concession from Biden. You'll note that in his proposal to Congress on the 20th of October, there was a suggestion, or Biden did actually say, that we're discussing funding to give to neighboring countries to receive the Palestinians. Biden essentially saying that we're going to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and allow the Palestinians to go to Egypt or to Jordan. When Biden tweeted saying this is no longer the case, and then John Kirby came out to affirm as well that this is not the case, this is a concession. This means that Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan have put their foot down and they've
said we are not opening this border crossing to allow the Palestinians in. They're going to stay in Gaza. We're not going to allow an ethnic cleansing and that's why I think Blinken is now going to present a new vision, which is that if you guys don't want the Palestinians to leave Gaza, then let's discuss possible alternatives. Are you willing to help us replace the authorities? And I think that in this regard, I think that this is a new narrative that is designed to achieve two things. The first is to win time for Israel to continue its ground offensive. That is not going particularly well. Netanyahu has said that about 20 soldiers have died. We know the IDF lie about their numbers, so you can multiply that by at least five or six, which suggests a lot of casualties and a lot of issues. There are reports that one of the commanders has been killed as well in Israel's attempt at a ground offensive, but there is also pressure inside Israel itself, which I assume we'll get to afterwards when we explore the US domestic issue and the Israeli domestic issue. So in terms of the regional pressure, it may not be how everybody wants it to be. It may not be the outcome everybody wants it to be, but certainly there is a suggestion of a shift or traction as a result of the statements and actions that are being taken that warrants Blinken to get on a plane again to fly to the Middle East to try to calm down these tensions because he fears the potential that these tensions might result in. Excellent, and that is a perfect segue. Okay, so that gives us sort of an update on the regional situation. What about what's happening in the Israeli media and within Israel? We know that Netanyahu is on very thin ice. The people, the families of the hostages are very upset at him. Many people blame Netanyahu. What's keeping him in power? What are the obstacles to him getting taken out of power? What would that look like? And would that even be advantageous because who's going to replace him? There are two important developments that took place today, and I'll ask the viewers to forgive me for my voice. It's been a rough couple of weeks and I can feel the
pressure on the throat now, but one of the things that is worth noting today, there is an article published by Politico, which is genuinely considered to be quite well respected, in which it claims that the U.S. officials have told Netanyahu that he now has a time limit and that they would prefer Netanyahu not stay in power after all of this is finished and that Netanyahu's days are now numbered, suggesting that the Americans are in reality not happy with Netanyahu's antics and they were already considering alternatives. One of those alternatives is Benny Gantz, who is a part of the war cabinet, former defense minister of Israel, somebody who believes in a de-escalation in order to facilitate normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia. That suggests that at least internationally there is distance now being taken with regards to Netanyahu behind closed doors. We saw a senior diplomat of the UK tell Sky News that Israel's friends are now seeking to make distance from Israel because they do not want to be seen to be abetting genocide or the like. We saw the former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, speak today, literally about an hour before we started this, telling Israeli television that Ben-Gvir and the right-wing allies are exacerbating the situation, that they want a regional war and that Israel doesn't actually have an interest in this escalation that is taking place and that this is narrow interest that is compromising Israel's wider interest. We saw the video released about the hostages that are in Gaza who blame Netanyahu and who actually claim that a ceasefire was about to be signed, that the hostage exchange was about to take place a couple of days ago, and that Netanyahu messed up that process because, as we've said before, Netanyahu is the only obstacle to de-escalation because Netanyahu believes that the Israelis overwhelmingly blame him, and if the war ends now he has to face an Israeli public that is demanding his resignation, that is demanding that he stands down. Netanyahu has not attended any of the funerals of the hostages' families, primarily because he's concerned that the media will see the hostages or families of the hostages blame Netanyahu for what's happening.
We saw Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu's ally, you can see the examples rolling off one another, you can see how the situation is not as beneficial for Netanyahu as everyone presumes it to be. We saw Ben-Gvir announce that he would impose a law or get the Knesset, their parliament, to pass a law to ban protest against the ground offensive, ostensibly he's saying it's directed at the Palestinians but in reality it's directed at the Israelis because there is increasing Israeli anger that the ground offensive compromises the safety of the hostages, and as the Times of Israel stated five days ago before the time of this recording or this livestream, the Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu and the IDF were deeply frustrated and annoyed by the release of hostages because the release of hostages means that the ground offensive will have to be delayed. Netanyahu is upset that the hostages he claims to be saving are being released. So that shows you the situation that Netanyahu finds himself in, in that domestically the situation is not in his favor at all. So you have Blinken now buckling under the regional pressure and now you have Netanyahu domestically under significant pressure. Excellent. So even if Netanyahu gets removed, right, is there a fear that whoever is going to replace them will be even worse? I think that it's still unclear. I think the reality is that in the overall grand scheme of things, it's clear that every Israeli leader who's come to power has expanded Israel's borders more and more. I think that Israeli leaders are unanimous in their view that Israel must continue expanding until it swallows Palestine completely. There is a text that is attributed to Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister, in which he says he tells his friend that if I were an Arab leader, I would never accept Israel because we stole their land and they will always keep fighting in order to take back their land. I do think, however, that the next Israeli leader will have to be very careful with regards to his relations with the U.S.
We saw that one of the cities in California is now calling for a ceasefire. We saw also two senators today come out and call for a ceasefire, including Chris Murphy, which is very significant. Chris Murphy saying that the way the Israelis are conducting their operation is making it very difficult now for America to continue supporting that. We're now seeing Biden and Blinken, Biden more so than Blinken, calling for a humanitarian pause. We've seen reports in Israeli TV that the Israelis, under pressure from the Americans, might allow a humanitarian pause, something they don't want to give but that they will be forced to give because the Americans believe that as a result of public opinion, as a result of the viewers retweeting, sharing, commenting, playing with the algorithm and making the pro-Palestinian posts reach the four corners of the earth and forcing a change in public opinion where we see prominent intellectuals who used to support Israel are coming out today and saying that they now support the Palestinians because they recognize the shift. We're seeing that Biden is forcing this change. He's changing his mind. We need a humanitarian peace. We saw in the United Nations everybody voted against the U.S. with regards to what they wanted with regards to Israel. We're seeing Biden now change his stance, talk more about humanitarian pause. We're seeing Kamala Harris announce a new initiative to combat Islamophobia, suggesting they are concerned about the Muslim vote. They are concerned about Muslim anger. They're trying to avert Muslim anger. The Muslims who believe they had no power are forcing the vice president to come up with some Islamophobia program in which the details are not clear, but it's about fluff and PR to show that you guys do matter. Please don't be very angry with us. The point here being is you who think you're significant are now making the vice president come up with some schemes in order to try to win your hearts back. The idea being is that they will have to monitor relations with America, and that America is demonstrating that while it loves Israel and while it's abetting the genocide and the ethnic cleansing, as a result of public pressure, it's buckling, and Israel now is considering
ceding to Biden in order to give him some buffer with regards to its public opinion in allowing a humanitarian pause. Humanitarian pause may not happen, but the fact that this is now debated, the fact that this is now an issue being talked about, the fact that the voices are getting louder, the fact that now Chris Murphy is talking about the potential ceasefire, the fact that other senators are now talking about ceasefire, whereas it was considered impossible just a few days ago, there is a shift that is taking place, and it is abundantly clear that this shift is in favor of the Palestinians, not the Israelis. Yes, yes, definitely. And it is significant, I think also, my reflection from my ear to the ground is that Muslims from all stripes are not having it when it comes to the supposed rollout of the Islamophobia, you know, roundly rejected. I don't see a single person who has said, OK, well, this is actually good or anything like that. So that's a perfect segue to talking about... But it shows, sorry, sorry, Memto, but it shows it matters. Think about it. We always say, I've seen it many times on social media, people who say, Sammy, I get it. I'm encouraged. I'm motivated by what you said. But I'm upset that I'm not seeing the change or the impact. The vice president of the United States of America sat with the president of the United States of America. They had a conversation, Memto, where they said that the Muslims of the U.S. are angry. The Muslims of the U.S. can punish us in Michigan, which is a swing state. They can punish us in some of these other areas. They may be small in number, but that percentage is the fine margin that we need in order to beat the Republicans. These Muslims are angry. We need to throw them a piece of meat. We need to try to appease them. And that's why they've come up with this initiative. If the Muslims in the U.S. did not matter, there would be no need to present this Islamophobia initiative. That's why I consider it a victory. It's a skirmish. It's a victory. But it shows that we're having an impact. It shows that there is a shift taking place. And now it's about capitalizing on that momentum and amplifying it. Excellent. And so how can we capitalize better?
So we have, you know, the BDS movement is picking up. Stocks are tumbling for Starbucks, McDonald's, other corporations that have been, you know, funding genocide in Palestine. You know, when it comes to, but there's been pushback as well, right? When it comes to, we've seen that this week the AMP has been targeted by Zionists and there's now pro-Palestinian student groups. There's sort of legislation that's coming out that's trying to silence them and criminalize even dissent when it comes to this. Where are we at? How can people respond? And is a ceasefire the only thing that we should be pushing for at this point? I think that first and foremost, it's important to remember that the ferocity of the repression directly correlates with the panic that the Israel and its allies are feeling. The ferocity of the crackdown and the arbitrary nature of the crackdown directly correlates with the panic and concern amongst Israel and its allies. The more repressive they are, the more effective you are being. The more repressive they are in trying to silence and cancel professors and intellectuals and students and the like, the more of an impact you are having that is warranting that reaction in order to try to temper your voice. So the first thing is to recognize that the reason that repression is there is because you're winning. It's because you're making an impact. It's because you're forcing a shift that they are deeply uncomfortable with. When The Telegraph here in the United Kingdom publishes an article yesterday arguing that TikTok needs to be banned because TikTok content has influenced the public opinion of the British in favor of the Palestinians as opposed to the Israelis. That is an admission that there is a shift that is taking place in favor of the Palestinians that has upset the Israelis, which necessitates a greater form of repression. In this case, curtailing freedom of speech by banning social media to prevent ordinary people like me, like Imam Tom, you're not ordinary, mashallah.
But the rest of us viewers over here from commenting and posting that content and convincing the neutral who supported Israel all their life that the Palestinians are actually human and that their cause is just, that's the first thing to note. Because once you appreciate that, once you appreciate that it's coming from a position of where the repression is coming from, position of weakness, you can appreciate that the momentum is on your side and therefore you're more encouraged in order to engage in greater action to apply greater pressure. In the words of the former director of Facebook for North Africa, he said that social media tries to shadow ban, tries to limit. But when so many people are talking about the same issue, it overwhelms social media, which means they cannot silence those voices. And that's the reality. It's the same mantra. They can't arrest all of us. They can't sack all of us. They can't cancel all of us. And if you look every single day, there are more and more high profile allies who are coming out, who are disgusted with the cancel culture, who are disgusted with the repression or the like. Every time they repress, the numbers increase. Every time they repress the prophet Muhammad, his followers increased. Every time they persecuted, his followers increased. Every time they repress the ummah, the number of Muslims increases. Every time France introduced the draconian measures, the number of French people entering Islam increases. The more they try, Germany, Europe, imposes restrictions on Islam or oppresses the Muslims, the more people open up the Qur'an, the more they enter Islam, the more they take selfies of themselves in Mecca and saying, I entered Islam because they repressed the Muslims. So I decided to find out what it is they're repressing. When I opened the Qur'an, my heart was touched. Allah guided them where we thought he would never guide them. The reality is that it's important to understand that we are winning, that the reason there is repression is because we are winning. The reason why they're canceling us is because we're winning. The reason why they're trying to de-platform us is because we're winning. The reason why they are repressing our opinion is because we are convincing them. I always argue, Islam thrives in freedom. The reason Islam thrives in freedom is because Allah's word is supreme, Allah's word resonates with the fitrah, Allah's words resonates with the heart.
We don't need violence, we just need freedom, freedom to give da'wah because da'wah resonates with the heart and people therefore enter Islam. The reason they deny freedom is because they're terrified that the truth will come out and it will convince the people as the Palestinians are now convincing the world that they are the ones who are being oppressed and Israel instead is the occupier. So the point here is that once you've established that the repression is because we're winning, the only conclusion that you can come to is keep doing what you're doing. Keep going as you are. Keep making noise. Keep shouting loud. Keep raising awareness. Keep doing what you're doing. There are organizations taking place. You mentioned CARE, which has got a team of lawyers in order to defend those who are being sacked. In the UK, we've got a lot of pro bono work going to protect people who are being sacked. We've got people coming up with lists of swing states or swing seats as we have over here where Muslims can make a difference so that we can gather together in order to maximize our political potential so that when we sit with a governor or when we sit with a Democrat or the like, we say to them, look, we control that swing state. We are the ones who make a difference. You need to listen to us because as it stands now, Trump wants to ban the Muslims from entering America, but you're killing them abroad. So as far as we're concerned, you're both the same. You need to change your rhetoric and they are changing their rhetoric. So the simple question is, even though it sounds like I went left, right everywhere and it's like you asked me, where's the air? And I went like this. But the point here being is that keep doing what you're doing. And the reason why I say that is everybody has a different set of powers and skills and different environments. I've seen people do amazing things that I'm not capable of. I've seen them do it within their domain. They're blessed with the knowledge that Allah gave them and didn't give me. What you're doing is making an impact. What I'm doing is making an impact. What you're doing, Imam Thomas, is making an impact. Keep doing what you're doing. And the more you see the repression, the more you know you're winning. The more you know that this narrative war is becoming in our favor because they know it's going to be a lasting change. They know that they cannot win the monopoly back over the narrative.
And when Chris Murphy, who is a senior senator, is coming out calling for a ceasefire, it shows you that the damage that Israel has done to the ability of its allies to continue supporting it is so great that they have no idea how they would emerge out of this without being seen as genocide supporters. Wonderful. Wonderful. One thing that I sort of fall back on all the time is that as Muslims, we bet on ourselves. Islam doesn't need oppression. Islam doesn't need, as you said, violence. We bet on ourselves and we understand that the truth is going to shine through. How far do we push this? We're asking right now, ceasefire now. But let's maybe think strategically. Let's say we get a ceasefire. What else are we looking at? Like, what are the next steps? Then what? I think that one of the things that is worth noting is let's take Hillary Clinton's answer because I think that she answered the question very well. Hillary Clinton said that those who call for a ceasefire do not understand. She said Hamas, but I think the reality we should talk about the Palestinians here, not about Hamas. She argued that if we give a ceasefire, the Palestinians will be able to regroup. They'll be able to recover, to entrench their gains. Their gains here, I'm not talking about violence or the like, I'm talking about the change in public opinion. They will be able to maximize that. They will find new platforms. They will be able to engage those neutrals who now believe in the Palestinian cause because of the horrors that they've seen that have been shared on social media and that have been amplified by 1.9 billion people around the world and delivering it to the four corners of the earth in a manner that has forced Bolivia in Latin America to kick out the Israeli ambassador, that has forced Brazil or convinced Brazil to change its beach into a replica of the Gaza Strip to show solidarity with those who are in Gaza itself. I think that the ceasefire, people are undermining the significance of a ceasefire. Consider, Imam Tom, if a ceasefire is announced tomorrow, what will the world say? The world will say that Netanyahu lost. The world will say that Israel is a genocidal state. The world will say that the U.S. abetted genocide. The world will say what the G7 diplomat told Financial Times, which is that now there is
a divorce between the global south and the west and we can no longer align them in Ukraine to push back against Russia or even to push back against the Chinese. We will see people say, as Bloomberg said, which is that normalization of ties in these circumstances is impossible because even if the regime's normalized, the people have showed the propensity to ruin that normalization by being overwhelmingly against it. If a ceasefire happens now, people are saying, what does a ceasefire do? The ceasefire entrenches this shift in public opinion. It entrenches this break in international relations. It entrenches the shift in the global order in which the U.S. can no longer claim any moral authority as a result of its supporting of genocide or the like. You might think that it's insignificant, but let me remind you that the apartheid regime of South Africa in the 1980s enjoyed sweeping international support. But when the crimes of the apartheid regime became so public that public opinion turned against it, the governments of the international order could no longer in good conscience continue to be seen to be supporting it. And what ended up happening is they went from supporting the apartheid regime to sanctioning it, demanding Mandela's release, and Mandela came out and became president. Global public opinion matters. This could be the start of a turning point. Ceasefire people are thinking ceasefire, but that just entrenched the status quo. It doesn't. If a ceasefire entrenched the status quo, Netanyahu would have agreed to it yesterday. The reason Netanyahu is not agreeing to a ceasefire is because he knows if a ceasefire happens now, he'll be forced to resign. The image of Israel being undefeatable is completely blown out of the water. It's no longer true. The ability to rally the global south to any cause that the West supports is completely broken and history shows that when you lose public opinion, regimes are forced to change their stance, even if it's slowly, but it sets the ball rolling for wider change. And that's why I think that ultimately the outcome belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He knows best what's happening, but I truly believe that if a ceasefire happens today, the world, everybody in the world, including Israel's allies will say the Palestinians
won despite the fact that more of them died. And they will say Netanyahu lost, Israel lost. And think about it this way, Imam Tom, and I'll finish on this point. Three weeks ago, nobody was talking about the legitimacy of Israel or the illegitimacy of Israel. Nobody was having that debate. Nobody was having that discussion. Instead, we were talking about whether Palestine is legitimate or not, whether Palestinian state today, look at the debates taking place on the university campuses in the US. Look at the debates taking place in the UK. Look at how now everybody is starting to talk about occupation, to talk about the rights of Palestinians, to talk about whether Israel truly has a right to its land or not. The very fact that they are asking questions that were forbidden for years that we couldn't even talk about on mainstream of just four weeks ago shows you the extent to which things have changed, the extent to which the geopolitical plates have changed. You may believe it to be insignificant, but Israel believes it to be so significant that they are investing in YouTube adverts that I promise you, those who watch this recording, Imam Tom, before this video comes up, there will be an IDF advert before this video comes up because they are so desperate that they've lost the narrative that they need to put it on the Yaqeen Institute video as well because that's how desperate they are in terms of how they're spending their money because they know that this is a turning point and that no matter how many Palestinians they kill, if they had to choose between slaughtering the Palestinians and maintaining a monopoly over the narrative, they would choose the narrative over killing Palestinians because killing the Palestinians can be done whenever they want. But monopoly on the narrative, once it's lost, will never be gained and has the potential to completely change the international order and the political leverage that the regional powers have over Israel. And I think this could be a historical turning point that we'll look back on and say, this is when the whole conflict finally turned on its head. Brilliant, brilliant.
And we've seen how many even social media influencers have outed and exposed Israeli Zionist companies approaching them to engage in propaganda for them. And so it's completely spinning out of their hands. Not just that Imam, I'm sorry, so I don't mean to interrupt you, but I'll tell you something interesting. My wife and I have this Halal Travel Guide company. We take people to try to restore the Ummah's memories together. So it's called Halal Travel Guide. Halal Travel Guide got an email from a PR company asking them to email our subscribers to tell them that Israel is under attack and that Israel is fighting a just war. It shows you the extent to which they go. You were saying that's how extent the PR companies, they're messaging everybody. They're not even looking at the name anymore in order to try to win back that narrative. That's how desperate they are. SubhanAllah. SubhanAllah. We are indeed winning inshallah. May Allah make us victorious. Let's go to a couple of questions. So we have Esra Abu Rana asked the question, the way the world is responding, Wallahi, it seems like a cruel joke. How can the world see what is happening and not do anything? I think the reality is that what's become abundantly clear is that the world actually hasn't changed from how it's been in history. I always used to ask myself, how did the world exist in which there was colonization, where the British could rule India or the French could rule Algeria, where such barbaric colonization could take place, where thousands could be killed simply for protesting and demanding independence and freedom? How could the world exist where we had slavery in the US, where the black population were used to work on the cotton fields and the white master just used to control. And that was just the way it was. How do we live in a world where the world just accepted that certain people are allowed to vote, certain people are not allowed to vote? How did we live in a world where all these injustices take place? And I think the reality is that the world is as it's always been. And the one who thought it was any different is the one who was misguided or perhaps was lulled under this false sense of illusion.
I think one of the things that highlights that very clearly is we always talk about the secular liberal forces versus religion or the like. But when you look at the way that the Speaker of the Congress is summoning the Bible and using it as the reason why they should support Israel, when Lindsey Graham says this is a religious war, when you see the way that Netanyahu is summoning the Torah saying, let's kill their women and kill their babies or the like. Can you imagine if somebody did, a Muslim did that, stood up and said, I'm going to use an A or the like, the reaction would be uproar or the like. But it shows you that for all of the facade, that somehow there is a secular liberal authority, power or the like, underneath there is still this perception, at least amongst the West, not in Islam, but in the West, at least of this idea of clash of civilizations, that Islam is still a terrifying force, that Hinduism is not a threat, Buddhism is not a threat. Islam is a threat because it keeps growing. We colonized the Muslim world and more people became Muslims. We were colonizing the Muslims and our own MPs in the UK were becoming Muslims. We were colonizing the Muslim world and Muslims were growing in France. Today in France, I remember a French journalist was saying that one of the issues that's happening in France is that the new French generation, if you ask them who their heroes are, they'll tell you it's the Muslim Kareem Benzema, it's the Muslim N'golo Kanté, it's the Muslim Paul Pogba. All these Muslims. And I said to him, what's the problem with that? And he goes, where are the French? Where are the French amongst these heroes? The French generation will grow up not knowing what it means to be French. We think that Islam is in decline when they see it in their ascendancy. And that's why I think the direct answer to your question is, I think the world is as it's always been. I think we were lulled into a false illusion that we had progressed as mankind and actually started respecting each other in that human rights belongs to all. It's abundantly clear now that the blood of the Ukrainian is worth more than the blood of the Palestinian in the eyes of the Western power. But it's equally important to note that it's only more important in the eyes of the Western power, not in the eyes of the rest of the 126 countries around the world who in the UN have consistently voted in favor of the Palestinians, who have come out openly to
pressure the Americans, who have made the Americans buckle with regards to their stance. In terms of the majority of the world, the overwhelming majority, it's abundantly clear that the Palestinian means something according to the YouGov poll, which shows that 70% of those in the UK are in favor of a ceasefire. It shows that only a minority who rule believe that Palestinian blood is cheap. But now 70% of the UK believe it's valuable. When the Gallup poll in the US shows that 60% of Americans are now in favor of an immediate ceasefire, it shows that 60% of Americans believe that Palestinian blood is of value and a minority that rule are the ones who insist that it doesn't. I know the world feels cruel, but I think we can take heart that it's a minority who have power who are suggesting that it's cruel. But alhamdulillah alafadli, it's becoming abundantly clear that the overwhelming majority of mankind and humankind knows what's right. They've identified what's right. They've come out in support of the Palestinians. The battle is slow. It's tough. The results are taking time to manifest, but certainly it's shifting in our favor. Don't lose hope. The world looks bleak, but Allah is in control and I can see the signs of victory. We can see it. We've explained it. Take heart in that. The battle is tough, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Excellent. Excellent. MashaAllah. Next question. As-salamu alaykum. Please expand on the issue of Israel's contract with European Union and Egypt for oil to be explored on the shore of Gaza. Is it the main reason to get to Gaza? And I like this question because some people in the past week have said that there's sort of a reductive analysis that sometimes gets made about it's all about oil or it's all about sort of material resources. How do you respond to that? I think one of the things that's worth noting is that Netanyahu's buildup of forces was not actually near Gaza. His buildup of forces was near the West Bank, suggesting that for him the priority was to annex the West Bank before it was about annexing Gaza. The second point is he doesn't need to take over Gaza to take advantage of the gas or
oil in that area anyway. Gaza is blockaded by Israeli ships, and when you look at where Israel maps out its gas territories or the like, it includes territories of Gaza. Netanyahu doesn't need to invade Gaza in order to use the gas facilities. The third point to note is the reason that Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 was not because it felt that Gaza wasn't worth it. It was because it felt there are too many Palestinians there. It's a headache to rule all of that. Let's just make it into a concentration camp. They can't really use any of their resources anyway. We'll use the resources and we'll leave them trapped in there. I don't think Israel needs to invade Gaza in order to have access to that gas and oil facilities. I get that it's a very simplified way of looking at it, but I think when you look at the normalization terms, the way that the UAE is considering constructing an alternative to the Suez Canal with the Israelis, when you look at the way that Erdogan was considering constructing a gas pipeline with the Israelis and acknowledging their, how do I word it, acknowledging their supposed right to those territories in the sea or the like, I think that when it comes to Israel, they don't need to invade Gaza in order to have access to that gas or that oil, and the Gazans have no real power in order to assert themselves over those resources either. I understand why people are saying it, but as I said, I think that Netanyahu, in terms of military invasion, he was looking at the West Bank, at the Jenin refugee camp, not at Gaza, and it's Gaza that shocked him when he was actually preparing a military campaign to go take the West Bank. Excellent. As a follow-up question to that, somebody asks, G-H-A-S says, are you aware of the Ben Gurion Canal project? Is this the cause of the latest quote-unquote conflict that Gaza is in the way of this? I'm guessing it's a similar response. I think the Ben Gurion Canal, certainly there's a lot of talk about it. The UAE is very excited about it. It's something that's upset the Egyptians. The Egyptians cannot understand why their brothers in the UAE would even consider undermining Egypt's economic security by entertaining this construction with Israel. I think that Bin Zayed has this vision that this is the way that it should go forward.
I don't think Gaza necessarily has any relevance to it, primarily because to construct that canal you need peace, and I think Netanyahu did not anticipate that the Palestinians would be able to mount this particular offensive on Israel. I think the general assumption was that Gaza could be subdued, that no threat was impending from Gaza, and that's why they were going full steam ahead. You'll remember Imam Tomer, the G20 summit in India, where they announced the Middle East corridor that would go India, Saudi Arabia, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and then into Jordan and then Israel and then into the Mediterranean or the like. They were ready to go ahead. Biden celebrated the plan as well. I don't think that Gaza has a direct involvement to it. I think that has more to do with normalization of ties. Again, that doesn't mean that they're not pursuing the project. They are pursuing the project, but I think that what's happening in Gaza has been brought about by the Palestinian actions, not necessarily by Netanyahu himself. I don't think that war in Gaza or Gaza itself was an obstacle to Netanyahu pursuing those economic projects, and certainly the UAE had indicated that it wasn't an obstacle either. They were going full. You'll remember when Yusuf al-Utaiba, the UAE ambassador to the U.S. a couple of months ago to a think tank, he said, normalization has demonstrated that we in the UAE have no influence over Israel with regards to Palestine, but let me tell you how amazing all these economic projects and ties that we have are and how many flights there are now between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, suggesting that for the UAE, it's not an obstacle at all. They were ready to build it. I don't think Gaza was going to mess that up, but I think perhaps this latest war will certainly complicate that project and certainly delay it. Excellent. Morning Reboot asks, how do we deal with people who are so invested in their relationship with Western media that they accept the current narrative as the truth? How do we deal with family members like this in an Islamic way? Sorry, Emam, could you repeat the question? Sure.
It was about family members who are so invested in the narratives that they pick up from mainstream media that they accept the current narrative as truth. How do we deal with family members like this? I think how you deal with it is you deal with social media. The reality is that social media is what's changing the entire landscape. I think that a lot of the information that is breaking the control of mainstream narratives is social media. It's this idea that on the television, they are watching CNN, which made it so, for example, Israel said that they bombed the Jabalia refugee camp and killed 400 people. And they celebrated. They said, yes, we did it. CNN and BBC took it upon themselves to act as a PR company to sort of say, Israel, when you say you did it, maybe that's not the right language. We're going to say an explosion happened that bombed the refugee camp or in CNN's case, a blast somehow happened and killed the refugee camp. So exactly. So the point is that on the TV, they are watching that mainstream narrative. To combat that narrative, you must show them what's happening on social media, show them the Gaza account, show them the Palestinians who are sharing those videos, show them Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which is now documenting what's happening in Gaza. Show them the UN official, the head of human rights at the UN, who recently resigned and show them his resignation letter, what he writes underneath. Show them the way that you see these senators now changing their position in terms of Chris Murphy saying we can no longer support the Israelis or the way the Israelis are currently going means it's making it very difficult for us to go. Show them the pictures of the baby. Show them the pictures of the rubble. Show them the pictures of the of the corpses that are lying there. So show them those images, because the reason the narratives are being broken is because while the IDF in Israel is telling the world what is happening, we are capable of showing the world what is happening. We are capable of showing them the videos, showing them the reality of what's happening in Gaza in a way that cannot be denied. And then you leave the question to them.
You've seen what happened and you've heard what's been told what's happened. Which one do you believe? And I think to finish on this point, the greatest example of this is the CNN interview where the Israeli commander celebrates and says we bombed this place and Jabalia refugee camp and killed 400. That CNN presenter is a known supporter of Israel. His sympathies are deep with Israel. Look at the shock on his face when he sees the IDF commander admit it. Even he, his fitra, his fitra that he has desensitized to the Palestinians is so shocked by the public admission that even he expresses his horror on his face. So imagine how that family member and relative will react when they see the realities of what's happening in Gaza itself. Don't underestimate social media. The reason the Israelis are pressuring social media to contain the reach of the Palestinian post is because they believe it's that content which is breaking the hold of mainstream media. If Israel believes that's the most effective way, let's trust the Israelis. Let's trust the IDF. Let's take that social media and put it in the faces of everybody who's willing to listen. Excellent. Excellent. And yeah, there's maybe if you're in a situation where you have older generation folks in your household, then okay, they're not on social media, but you can show it to them, right? You have a device and you can actually demonstrate to them. And that might be the thing to crack the code or to break through the narrative with them. We'll take one more question. Then we'll let you go, Sami. I know it's very early where you're at. Born of Silence asks, can you ask Sami to talk about unity and why it matters at this point in time? I think that, sorry. I think that there are two ways to look at unity. There is a theoretical approach, which is that you feel bound by an identity of unity, but you don't actually do anything to demonstrate that unity. The way you see unity is in action. The way you see unity is in the way we mobilize together.
It's one thing to tell people we're united. It's another thing to show people that we are united. What I mean is we always say as an Ummah that we are united, but in reality, we are always limited in our actions because we don't usually take actions. And that's why I've made the emphasis over the past three weeks to highlight that everybody is capable of action. The reason that we've brought about these changes in the narrative or the like is because we mobilize together. We show the unity in our action. We show the unity in our message. We show the unity in the content that we're sharing. We show the unity in the hashtags that we're sharing. When the head of Facebook, former head of Facebook for North Africa, says that if you overwhelm the algorithm with the same hashtag, it cannot shadow ban that. As an Ummah, together 1.9 billion, we all use the hashtag Palestine. We all use the hashtag Gaza. We all use the hashtag genocide. That's why it remains the most popular hashtags that are taking place on social media. So we went from talking about unity to actually showing unity. When you ask what's the importance of unity, it's because together we are powerful. Together we are strong. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says to the believers in the Qur'an, Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo, la tanaazaoo, fatafshaloo, watadhaba reehukum O you who believe, do not be divided, otherwise you will fail and the scent with which people are attracted to you will disappear. Now look at how the opposite is happening. Now that we are united, our scent is sweet. The message of the Palestinians is being heard. The neutral is smelling it and he's realising this is the smell I should be smelling. He's realising this is the opinion that is correct. This is the just cause I should be supporting. These are the people I should be sympathising with. These are the images I should be seeing. This is the arguments I should be propagating. These are the arguments that make sense. This is what feels right. My fitrah is realising this and the reason they're realising this is because we're all talking with one voice, we're all roaring with one voice, we're all condemning with one voice, we're all mobilising with one voice, we're all all over the world. Social media has been able to show us that those who protest in London are encouraging
those in America to go protest. Those who protest in America are encouraging those in Paris to go protest. Those who protest in Paris are encouraging those in Rome and then those in Berlin, in Pakistan, in Malaysia, all the like. It's as if we all set out with our own personal initiatives. We all chose to strive and Allah is bringing all those dots together, connecting them together as one ummah that is moving as one body. The reason why I always say that the outcome belongs to Allah is not because just that Allah will decide the ultimate outcome, but also because Allah knows how to tie the efforts together. The reality is three weeks ago I had no idea that Yaqeen Institute that I was watching on TV, that I would be sitting next to Imam Tom being able to use this platform to talk with the message. Allah tied your efforts and he tied my efforts. We were both striving this way, Allah brought it together and it's the same with you and other organisations. Allah suddenly started striving and notice this, this is what I meant by talking about unity and acting with unity. When you started striving, Allah opened the doors. When you started striving, Allah suddenly showed you the opportunities. When you started moving with whatever you had, Allah amplified your voice. When you suddenly believe that it's worth taking an action, Allah suddenly made it easy. Allah suddenly made us have an impact. Allah opens the doors when we start moving. Allah opens the opportunities when we start moving. Allah rewards an ummah that strives. Allah rewards an ummah that actually tries to resist this oppression. When this ummah mobilises, we start seeing that our unity becomes stronger. It becomes stronger in action because each action encourages the other. I'll be honest with you Imam Tom, I understand that people are saying Sami is talking about motivating stuff for the like, but the reality is the motivation for me comes from people like you. The motivation for me comes from seeing the ordinary Muslim out on the street in the stand trying to fundraise by selling ice creams or falafel because he wants to help the Palestinian cause. I look at that and I wake up in the morning and I say, you know what, if he's doing it, wallahi I will do it too. I will mobilise as well. We are inspiring each other. We are lifting each other up.
When we see somebody who's stumbling, we carry him together. We are elevating each other's voices. We are guiding one another. We can feel the juices pumping through us and we are pumping the juice through each other and that's why the reality is for all of what's happening in Palestine, we're all feeling the desire to keep going. None of us is lying down. We're getting louder the more Israel bombs. We're roaring louder the more Israel pushes in. And when you look at all the signs, Imam Tom, it's Israel and its allies that are buckling, not the Palestinians. It's Blinken who's changing its tone. It's Biden who's changing its tone. It's the Israelis who are changing their tones, but our tone is the same. Our message is the same. It's getting louder. It's having a greater impact. That's what unity means. Unity doesn't mean in theoretical that we happen to have the same identity. Unity means that when we mobilize together, our actions are amplified because of the efforts that we're embarking on. And this is where I'll finish on this point. It's nice to focus on this idea of unity as an abstract concept, but unity comes from action. The Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the way he was able to establish unity amongst the Sahaba was not by telling them the virtues of unity, but by leading by example. And he started with the action, so Abu Bakr as-Satiq and Abu al-Khattab and the others followed him. When the Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, tried to do Umrah and the Quraysh wouldn't allow him, and he was on his way back, and the Sahaba refused to sacrifice their sheep because they were so angry that they were not allowed to do Umrah. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, asked his wife, what should I do that they are disobeying, they're not sacrificing the sheep? She said, you start first and they will all follow you. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, strove. He took the first step and the Sahaba, in unison, in unity, they came back to unity of purpose and they followed the Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Because what the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was demonstrating is that when you take an action, you inspire the others to take an action and that unity that you're talking about starts to manifest itself.
Imam Tom, I'm sitting here in the UK at 2 a.m. in the morning, you're sitting there at 10 o'clock or whatever time in the U.S. and we are together mobilizing on the opposite sides of the world for a common purpose, for a common cause. This is unity, not because we planned it, but because Allah brought us together to do it. And it's the same with all the viewers who are here, who are giving us their time and attention and who will then go back to their families and they will convey the message. And as one ummah, we move together to spread this message. I understand that people are upset by the horrific images that we're seeing in Gaza and we ask Allah to accept their shuhada and we ask Allah to rescue them from this horrible disaster that's happening. But I promise you, battles are tough. Battles are difficult. But as one ummah together, we can win this battle and we are winning and they are feeling it. Kamala Harris is introducing an Islamophobia initiative, not because she suddenly cares about it. It's because she's heard your voice. She's worried about your anger. I've heard many Americans say, we Muslims are small, we don't have much power. If you didn't have power, explain to me why Kamala Harris has put a video on her Twitter saying, please Muslims, please don't be angry. I'm ready to do an Islamophobia initiative. Wake up, wake up and realize the power that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given you. وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا If you count the blessings of Allah, you will never finish counting them. And the reason Allah says that in the Quran is so that you may always remember that you are powerful, that you do have powers to deploy, that as long as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is there, he can amplify your actions, that he decides the conclusion of your actions. Your choice is not in the outcome, it's in whether you choose to strive and we are choosing to strive and we are seeing the effect of our actions. Let's keep going. The momentum is on our side and inshallah, this will be the start of the turning point in history where people will read in the history books and say that in October 2023, this was the turning point in the conflict between Palestine and Israel that led to the liberation of Palestine. Inshallah, we ask Allah to make that clear sooner rather than later.
Thank you so much Sami for joining us, may Allah restore your voice. You've given us everything that you've got and I know I'm speaking for everybody that we really appreciate it. Please do get some rest, inshallah, we hope to have you back on soon, may Allah bless you always. And following Sami's point, and we've just got a couple more minutes here before we will wrap up, that for all of you that are in the U.S., we have a nationwide demonstration day for Saturday. For those of you who can make it down to Washington, D.C., we are trying to make this the largest demonstration in favor of the Palestinians in the history of America. So if you're able to come, be there. Stand up, have your voice counted, man your post, right? Or be there, inshallah, I will make every effort to be there as well. We're demanding for a ceasefire, as Sami said, there's other goals, maybe after that sanctions, maybe who knows, but the first thing that has to happen is a ceasefire. This is a thing that will be similar to, we can make an analogy from Bethar, the battle of Bethar. This is something where we have all of the forces stacked against us, we're outmanned, we're outfunded. If you think about it in materialistic terms, we have no right to win. But if we can get a ceasefire announced, then this would be a major victory and a major blow to the forces of evil that are slaughtering our brothers and sisters in Palestine. So everybody show up and be heard if you're able to. If you're not able to, then do whatever you can in your local community or around the world. Keep on sharing, keep on liking, keep on showing people. If people don't have phones or they don't have social media, take your phone and shove it in their face and show them what's going on and make them care. As one of the elders in the Twin Cities told me, he said a very similar thing to what Sami said. He said that power, people must misunderstand what power is.
Power is not a position and it's not having access, it's not being the person with a title. Power is the ability to move in a coordinated fashion. And so we are hoping that the Muslims of the world can unite and move in a coordinated fashion, not in an artificial or a superficial way, not in a fake or a phony way, but in something where everybody is mobilizing and moving together towards the same goal. With the same actions in order to achieve a major assistance and a victory for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, we owe it to them. That's the very, very least that we can do. And with that, you know, it's been over an hour. We will wrap it up here. Just a reminder, this is going to be a weekly program, Thursday nights at nine Eastern. That's New York time, eight Central time. That's Dallas time or whatever is the appropriate time for you, wherever you're at around the world. We will have different guests on each week, inshallah. Hopefully, Sami will be a regular guest. And if there's any break in the schedule, then we will communicate that to you. Please sign up for notifications and be sure to subscribe. May Allah ﷻ bless every single one of you and make us successful and make the people of Palestine successful. Ameen. Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika sharwan la ilaha illa anta astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.
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