I agree. I have mixed views on the situation in Palestine and I think one of the reasons they aren't succeeding in defeating the Zionists occupying their land is because they are fighting for Nationalistic reasons and not in the Cause of Allah. For example, if the Palestinians did defeat them. Do you think they would establish an Islamic nation based mostly, if not completely, on the Shariah? I doubt it. Nevertheless, I ask Allah to give them strength and victory. Also, you mention that you are an Arab Christian. Next time you hear about the massacre going on in Palestine, note that they never mention that it is the Palestinian Muslims and Christians uniting to try to defeat the Zionists there. Perhaps they don't want to give American Christians that type of image of unity of Christian and Muslim.

Anyways, about Tibet. There is actually a quite sizeable community of Muslims that have lived in Tibet for a long time now. They have never had problems with the neighboring Buddhists, and a good majority of them were killed during the "Cultural Revolution."

In China, the unofficial count of Muslims ranges from 10-20 million. Islam reached China by way of one of the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) companions, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him). The emperor of the time, Yung-Wi, found Islam to be a little too conservative but he allowed the people to practice it if they had wished and ordered the first mosque to be built, which still stands today, after fourteen centuries.

The Chinese government has done a wonderful job at dividing the Muslims of China. It split them into 10 distinct "ethnic" groups to make the Muslim identity disappear. In China during the "Cultural Revolution," Islamic schools were closed, 29,000 mosques were closed, and there was widespread torture of the Imams. Many of the Imams were forced to work on pig farms and other humiliating punishments. The Muslim children were made to disregard the Arabic script of the Uygur language and learn the Latin alphabet.

According to population statistics of 1936, the then Kuomingtang Republic of China had an estimated 48,104,240 Muslims. After the introduction of Mao's policies, this number was reduced to ten million. No official Chinese explanation has ever been given for this apparent disappearance of around 38 million Muslims. The mass extermination and destruction of the Muslims of China pales before the much publicized plight of a handful of Tibetan monks or the democrats of Tiannaman Square.

Many Muslim Chinese and Tibetans were persecuted. How come I never hear about this Holocaust? If the population of Muslims was 48 million before Mao, and is now 10-20 million???

Right now in China there is some fighting going on between the Hui, the largest Muslim group, and the Chinese government. The Hui tend to get oppressed economically and physically. About 2,300 Chinese are allowed to make Hajj every year. But, most of them are old because the Chinese government doesn't want them returning to China with the spirit of Islam lit up inside since it may make them revolt against the Communism.