Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Fitr in the shadow of Gaza's misery
CTV
Muslims around the world celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday Wednesday, marking the end of the Islamic holy month with family reunions, new clothes and sweet treats.
Muslims around the world celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday Wednesday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But events were overshadowed by the worsening crisis in Gaza and Israel's expected military offensive in Rafah city after six months of war.
"We should not forget our brothers and sisters in Palestine," one imam, Abdulrahman Musa, said in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. "They have been subjected to unjustified aggression and a lot of violence (as) the world is watching in silence."
In a holiday message, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent support to Gaza, which he called a "bleeding wound on the conscience of humanity."
In Istanbul, some of the thousands of worshipers at the Aya Sofya Mosque carried Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in support of residents of Gaza, where the United Nations warns that more than a million people are at threat of imminent famine and little aid is allowed in.
Inside Gaza, there was little joy. Palestinians in the refugee camp of Jabaliya near Gaza City mourned loved ones among the over 33,000 killed in Israel's offensive in response to Hamas's deadly Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
Om Nidal Abu Omeira sat alone among bombed-out buildings and wept on the grave of her mother, son-in-law, and grandson. All were killed in Israel's offensive.
"They (the children) keep saying, `I miss my father, where is he?' I tell them that he's in heaven," she told The Associated Press. "They start crying, and then I start crying with them."
