Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir have observed Ramadan under colonialism for decades.
Today in Gaza, the price of a meal has doubled and incomes have plummeted. Many rely on limited humanitarian aid parcels. In the West Bank, Muslims have been prevented from worshipping in the Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli military — a blockade more intense than it has been in decades.
Violence against Kashmiri Muslims has increased during recent Ramadan seasons. Indian government forces have sealed Kashmir’s central mosques, which prevented Muslims from offering prayers on the first day of Ramadan. Just this year, Kashmir was placed under an order requiring government oversight of Islamic charitable donations during the holy month.
Both Israel and India, led by religious nationalists Benjamin Netanyahu and Narendra Modi, have used the holy season of Ramadan to increase violence against the Muslims under their occupation. Aggression against Muslims has also expanded worldwide; last month, the United States and Israel carried out a joint assault on Iran and much of the Middle East, threatening the Ramadan celebrations of Muslims across the region.
Last week marked Eid al-Fitr, a holiday that often encompasses communal worship, family visits and the sharing of meals. It also signifies the end of Ramadan, the holy month where Muslims celebrate the revealing of the Quran to the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, by practicing reflection, self-discipline and communal gathering. People fast from dawn to sunset, study and recite the Quran and give charity to those in need.
In Palestine and Kashmir, normally ebullient Ramadan celebrations are quieter. Amidst the violence of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, Shia Muslims in Kashmir mourn and hang black flags outside of their mosques. In Gaza, where almost every family has lost a relative, and more than 70% of the population are refugees. Muslims eat iftar meals in rudimentary tent camps. The food and housing is provided by humanitarian organizations that already have limited access to Gaza due to Israel’s blockade of its border with Egypt.
One man from Gaza City told The Independent: “Conversations revolve around safety and loss more than celebration. The streets are quieter, the joy is still there but it carries grief within it. Ramadan has changed … it feels heavier, more intimate.”
In response to the brutality faced by Muslims living under colonialism, including and especially during Ramadan, together with Asian Pacific Americans for Action, the Kashmiri Cultural Alliance and the Cornell Progressives, Students for Justice in Palestine encouraged our members to fast for one day in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Kashmir.
At Cornell, Ramadan is a time to celebrate the diversity and joy of our school’s Muslim community. Student organizations across Cornell co-host iftar meals and evening prayers with the Diwan Center for Muslim Life in Anabel Taylor Hall almost every night.
In standing with the people of Palestine and Kashmir, we don’t want to minimize their experiences: Our one-day fast barely approximates the disciplined reflection Muslims engage in during the holy month of Ramadan, let alone the poverty and food insecurity faced by many Muslims in Palestine, Kashmir and throughout the world. Nor do we want to minimize their resistance or the joy of Ramadan. Palestinians living under three years of genocide are hanging decorations from the ceilings of tents and eating meals in communion. Kashmir, in grief and in the face of encroachments on its religious freedom, still celebrates, hosting bustling markets and community kitchens. Even in the deepest suffering, Ramadan is a celebration of community, of caring for people less fortunate than ourselves, of the eternal faithfulness of God.
As we joined congregants and Chaplain Numan Dugmeoglu in prayer and gathered our iftar meals after a day of fasting together, the atmosphere was marked by collective grief for the victims of anti-Muslim colonial violence worldwide. Yet there was also simultaneous joy: old friends reuniting, enjoying plates of food together, sitting cross-legged and listening to Chaplain Dugmeoglu’s teachings and a bake sale raising over $1,000 for iftars in Gaza.
The iftar reminds us of the simplest act of resistance against occupation: survival and community. In the face of governments and militaries that want to see a homeland seized and a people erased, we fight back with a faith that transcends all human knowledge, knowing that a better world is possible. Knowing that, one day, Muslims will be able to celebrate the season of Ramadan with unmitigated joy. Knowing that, one day, Kashmir and Palestine will be bustling with night markets selling lamps and meals to break the fast, radically unafraid; that this era of colonialism and violence will one day be a distant memory.
Our solidarity, in fasting and in persistent activism, is rooted in that knowledge and in the spirit of Ramadan. Colonial governments increase violence during Ramadan because they are trying to break the spirits of the people they brutalize. Supporting these simple acts of community reminds us that they’ll never succeed.
Until return.
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Students for Justice in Palestine is a registered undergraduate student organization of Cornell University and is a Student Organization Columnist for The Opinion Department. The organization can be reached at sjpcornell@gmail.com.
