Eid al-Fitr and Pambazuka

Eid al-Fitr means the feast, or festival, of breaking the fast.

Eid al-Fitr is supposed to be a time of feasting and joy after the month of fasting called Ramadan. Pambazuka is supposed to be about a new beginning or awakening. The new awakening for Pambazuka is related to social justice, transformation, and the empowerment of oppressed peoples.

Eid al-Fitr is supposed to be a moment of spiritual renewal. Spiritual renewal and empowerment of humans go hand in glove. Billions of humans all over the world are clamoring for spiritual renewal and a new awakening in the midst of the rise of fascism. Throughout history, the fascists have always mobilized religion to oppress the working poor. In Germany, Italy, and Spain at the height of the capitalist depression in the 1930s fascist ideas were imbued with religious-like reverence. Mussolini and Hitler used religious symbols and rhetoric to gain support from religious communities, while also promoting their own ideologies as quasi-religious movements. In the German Universities, the fascists worked hard to purge professors who did not succumb to master race theories. Today in the United States, we are witnessing another purge of the University where teachers and students in the United States are not allowed to discuss the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Researchers who support Palestine are kidnapped in the streets of the USA as we have witnessed in the case of the kidnapping of Rümeysa Öztürk, a PhD student at Tufts University who was grabbed, arrested, and detained in Somerville.

Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student in the USA, spent her Eid in detention for writing about genocide. Mahmoud Khalil was also arbitrarily detained and spent his Eid in a prison in Louisiana.

Eid in Palestine

This year, the challenge for the more than one billion followers of the Islamic Faith was, how can one celebrate the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with the current genocide and wars that are massacring hundreds of believers?  How can one yearn for spiritual renewal in a moment of the debasement of religion? There are five basic principles of Islam: faith, prayers, giving alms, fasting, and pilgrimage. From the onset of this religion in the seventh century there was a contradiction between the followers of the faith and rulers who wanted to use the faith to exploit and dominate others. These rulers across 50 countries in the world are being tested by the genocide in Palestine. Palestine is itself the meeting place of three monotheistic religions, but in the dying days of white supremacy and capitalist decadence, the leadership of all parts of the world are now challenged by neo fascism. In Palestine, the sacred sites of the three monotheistic religions call for tolerance, sharing, and cooperation. At these sacred sites, religious extremists simultaneously seek to bulldoze Palestinians and destroy sacred Islamic monuments and buildings.

From Sudan to Yemen to Palestine and beyond, militarism and death visited millions of the followers of the faith in this period. It is in Palestine and specifically in Gaza where humanity is being called upon to stand up for decency in the face of genocide. Since Israel resumed its attacks in Gaza on March 18, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate areas in northern Gaza where they returned following the ceasefire agreement in January. There was difficulty celebrating Eid in these conditions.

This is how Democracy Now reported on Eid in Gaza,

Israeli forces are continuing to attack Gaza as Palestinians celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr, [or the Feast of the End of the Fast], to mark the end of Ramadan. On Sunday, Israeli attacks killed at least 64 Palestinians.[1] 

Dozens of other people have died on Monday as a result of the bombings, including many minors. The United Nations also warns that Gaza could run out of bread flour in a week, as Israel continues to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the Palestinian enclave.[2]

There are now disputations about how many Palestinians have perished in the face of the destruction and extermination. The mainstream media have placed the number of Palestinians killed at more than 50,000. But Ralph Nader has stated that this is an undercount, noting that,

The vast undercount of Israeli-caused deaths in Gaza is regularly reported as 50,000. The actual toll from violent military action and the indirect deaths (stemming from infectious disease, epidemics, untreated chronic illness, untreated serious wounds, and starvation) is well over 400,000 and growing by the day.[3] 

Humans of conscience everywhere must raise their voices and register their opposition to this genocide. Inside Africa and West Asia, the political leaders who claim to be defenders of the faith have been accomplices in this genocide. From the holiest site of Islam, the leaders of that state where Muhamad started his spiritual journey have used their position to corrupt and demean the principles of Islam and to ally with imperialism against the Palestinian peoples. Bob Woodward noted in his book, War, how some Arab governments told then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they had no objections to Israel’s efforts to crush Palestinian resistance. The leadership of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates stand out as clear allies of the Zionist entity. These leaders were not concerned about the genocidal war but were concerned about the media images of mutilated Palestinian civilians, which could stir public unrest in their own countries. Clearly the peoples of the world are stirred. The Egyptian leadership which has hitherto collaborated with the Zionist entity is now quaking in their boots as the genocide inspire new energies among the peoples of Africa and West Asia.

I remember over forty years ago when Samir Amin stated that the liberation of Palestine will go through Amman, Cairo, and Riyadh. During the month of Ramadan, many were fasting, but they knew that at the end of the day, there would be a meal. There was very little to eat in Gaza. Human Rights Watch has reported more than once since October 7, 2023, that children in Gaza have been dying from starvation-related complications since the Israeli government began using starvation as a weapon of war. Human Rights Watch has stated clearly that using starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime.

In this year of Eid in Palestine, children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers suffered from severe malnutrition and dehydration.

Palestinians remain unbowed

Yet Palestinians in Gaza remain unbowed and act as a source of inspiration for all those who deem to stand up against fascism and genocide. The indomitable spirit of the Palestinian peoples continues to inspire the spirit of the new awakening against oppression. Early in January 2025, we witnessed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians trekking back to their destroyed homes. There was the implicit and explicit statement to the world that there will be a new awakening in Palestine, indeed in all parts of the world where humans are fighting for a decent life. As the journalist Ramsy Baroud noted, instead of retreating, “Palestinians emerged stronger, more determined, and, equally frightening for Israel, with a new objective: returning to historic Palestine.”[4]

Next Two Weeks is Easter

Easter is one of those religious holidays that marks a new beginning. Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which is believed to have occurred on the third day after his crucifixion. Easter symbolizes victory over sin and death. Will Christians reject the fascist turn and oppose apartheid and genocide?

This is one of the major challenges of the moment. The fascists have sought to promote a deformed spirituality where humans are supposed to support genocidal violence all around the world. We have the experience of Christians, such as Martin Luther King Jr and Desmond Tutu, who spoke out militantly against oppression and genocide. It was fifty-seven years ago in 1967, (the same year that the Zionists expanded their illegal occupation) that Martin Luther King noted that "a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

King was assassinated one year afterward because he opposed the war against the people of Vietnam and the extreme violence of capitalism. 

In South Africa during the apartheid regime, the Dutch Reformed Church preached that white supremacy represented the wishes of the divine. That noxious doctrine was defeated by a new awakening among the youth. That awakening was stifled by a leadership who wanted to accommodate itself to global apartheid. The struggles in Palestine forced the South African leadership to stand up against genocide.

South African Christians, Muslims, and all believers are now challenged by the white supremacists who hold power in the United States. Will the political leadership in South Africa and those across Africa sell out their societies to the Zionists, the imperialists, and their allies in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE?

Eid in 2025 was difficult for decent humans.

The convergence of the struggles in Palestine and the struggles against fascism requires us to be clear on the meaning of spiritual renewal. Let us draw from the inspiration of those who continue to resist genocide and apartheid and plan for a new awakening for humans everywhere. 

Mwalimu Horace Campbell is a peace and social justice activist. He is also Professor of African American Studies and Political Science at Syracuse University and Chairperson of the Global Pan African Movement, North American Chapter.  He is the author of Global NATO and the Catastrophic Failure in Libya, Monthly Review Press, 2013.