Islamic Guild: Stop doing business with Israel

President of the Islamic Missionaries Guild Imtiaz Mohammed has called on the Prime Minister to cease all business with and support of Israel, which the guild claims is using force and aggression to try and drive Palestinians out of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem.

In a press release on Monday, the guild condemned Israel for its recent use of excessive force, aggression, rubber bullets, tear gas and illegal tactics against Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

"This latest invasion by Israeli forces in the Al Aqsa mosque, the third holiest place of worship for Muslims, located in Jerusalem, and the denial of the Palestinian people’s right to worship at the mosque in peace, especially in this holy month of Ramadan, are violations of their human rights according to international law," the release said.

The guild said Israel continues to defy a UN Security Council resolution (2334) adopted on December 23, 2016. The resolution states, the guild said, that Israel’s settlement activity constitutes “a flagrant violation” of international law and has no “legal validity.”

The guild called on the Trinidad and Tobago Government to condemn what it described as "this latest act of aggression and forcefulness" by Israel against the Palestinian people. The guild also called on the Government to stop abstaining whenever it is time to vote in the UN General Assembly on this issue.

"To our Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago are not in support of our government doing any business with Israel as long as this conflict remains unsettled," the guild said in its release.

The guild said local Muslims stand in solidarity with their Muslim brothers, sisters and children in Palestine and called on all Muslims to make
dua (supplication) for the Palestinian people "as they continue their struggle for justice."