Quds (Jerusalem) is the name of the city where the connection between the city and the meaning of its name is severed completely. For a long time now, it has seemed impossible to correlate the incidents happening there with the soul of the city, neither, one can comprehend the morbidity of the way all these were portrayed as the fight for a "promised land" or it was the will of God all along. It is absurd and grotesque that a murderer claims his heart is full of love for humanity or he thinks he is just killing out of love, or he pretends that his is a moral action.

Etymologically, Quds means "holy" or "holy sanctuary" implying that this is a place purified from corporeal desires, passion for power and barbaric motives. Quds is also named "Dar al-Salam" meaning "Abode of Peace." There is a cause-and-effect relation between holiness and peace: only the one whose soul is perfect can have peace or the one who is blessed with the Divine Name as-Salam can become a perfect man.

As long as human beings hold on to the rope of Allah, they can go beyond the limits of this world of generation and corruption, and as long as they are redeemed, their land becomes an abode of peace. In Islam, one of the names of paradise is "the abode of peace." In this respect, calling Quds Dar as-Salam means imagining a city similar to paradise right here on this earth. Heaven is "the abode of peace" and Quds is heaven on earth.

Muslim societies must refresh their memories about Quds: the civilization started in Mecca and then Quds became the second most important center for Muslims. In that sense, Quds is like a branch extending from Mecca to the Mediterranean. Maybe not geographically, but Quds is spiritually the Mecca of the Mediterranean. It was the Prophet Abraham, who rebuilt the connection between Mecca and Quds, which had been neglected over time, and it was he who showed humankind the way to liberation, which was to abandon traditions for the sake of God and to cut off carnal desires, habits and barbaric instincts.

That is why Islam, Judaism and Christianity are acknowledged as Abrahamic religions as they all gather around these main ideas. The incidents going on in this land for the last century make us forget about holiness and peace, but they remind us of what the religion has taught us, and what the prophets spoke about: Men do not hesitate to shed blood and kill the other for no reason when they think they do it for "higher" purposes. Aside from the things they attain in this world, they also expect heaven in the hereafter.

The sufferings on this land are happening neither the first nor the last time: As long as humankind exists, they will continue to fight and kill and they will do it under the guise of "great aims," they sure will try to release the heavy tension burdened on them as a result of the vicious acts they commit by hiding behind the veil of these lofty aims. No matter how one pretends, one knows himself. In actual fact, everyone knows everything going on; there is no such problem as "lack of knowledge," no one is fooling the other with false information; everyone knows who is right and who is wrong, and they all know why things are happening as they are. Sometimes we come across allegations on how the news and other media platforms misguide people with misinformation; I do not believe this is the case. No one can be misguided, everyone sees, understands and knows what is going on quite right, and yet our human nature manifests itself: An effort to restore comfort by looking at these incidents in terms of gain and loss, keeping a distance from them, watching and waiting, and in the face of extreme examples by just feeling remorse.

Learning from tragic cycle

It is fundamental that what is happening in Palestine should be approached from a different perspective and we should take a lesson literally for all humanity – both as individuals and societies. This lesson teaches us how the memory and identity of a nation shaped around traumas piling up for centuries could turn into a catastrophic pitfall, an unbearable burden, and a cave-consuming freedom.

Jewish people who once were oppressed as they defended their faith and monotheism now think that they can solve the problems arising in their social identities by getting revenge on others as they do not evaluate their experiences correctly.

There is no doubt that being oppressed harbors a great danger, which is what we witness today. The oppressed who could not analyze their experiences properly and keep track of their unfulfilled desires would turn into an oppressor in time and try to run away from the overwhelming weight of the oppression they think they have experienced by oppressing others however, as they run away, the oppression would come back and haunt them with a more devastating burden. In this respect, being oppressed does not mean being right, or at least remaining right. There is no need to discuss or prove this. There is oppression going on and even genocide being committed right now and there is no excuse for it!

We also see that the dilemmas experienced along with traumas also relapse. Societies or individuals with unresolved traumas, no matter how well-educated or powerful they are, will not be satisfied with revenge; they will only fortify failures by oppressing more and shedding more blood. Today, it is incumbent on us to feel the pain of being helpless in the face of great cruelty and it is only humane to feel sorrow over those children murdered. Everyone must at least take a side in an obvious and intentional way, keep away from evil, and try to find a way to retain humanity.

However, one can find a reason to be thankful even in the middle of all the atrocities: Although we feel tremendously sorry for the murdered Muslims, we find comfort because they have never been as cruel and evil as the ones who have been oppressing and killing them and they have never lost their humanity, unlike their oppressors.