Ahsan Munir
All the Muslims and Muslim countries constitute the Ummah. Consequently, we have the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to look after the interests and affairs of the Ummah. However, it does not have much to its credit. It has failed to speak with one voice on the issues facing the Ummah, such as the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in Burma, the treatment of Muslims in India, the continued occupation of Palestinian land by the Zionist regime of Israel, and the most recent gruesome genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Further down the hierarchy, we have the Arab League (AL), which again has not much to its credit and has not accomplished much beyond passing resolutions condemning the Zionist (apartheid) state of Israel’s atrocities against poor, defenceless Palestinians. Moreover, we have the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, some of which have even established diplomatic relations with the apartheid, Zionist state of Israel. Thus, Muslim countries, with a population of over one billion and rich in natural resources, have consistently failed to provide a united front on the multiple, grave issues facing the Ummah. Moreover, unfortunately, we have a religious and ethnic divide which starts from Asia right up to the Levant, and which has consumed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Thus, in the present context of the Israeli invasion and genocide of Palestinians, the Ummah’s leaders (because of their fragilities and vulnerabilities) have not moved beyond ‘condemnation’ and are ‘calling upon the world conscience’ to act against the atrocities happening in Gaza and the West Bank. However, in this bleak environment, Muslim societies in the Arab and non-Arab world have stood out as a beacon of hope for the oppressed Palestinians. The Muslim populace has extended its support for their Palestinian brethren wherever and whenever possible through demonstrations, symbolism, and boycotts of Israeli products.
The Arab diaspora in Europe and North America have spoken against Zionist atrocities in public and on social media. With the help of the local population, the Arab diaspora has taken out processions in support of Palestinians. While many Muslim countries, unfortunately, have implicitly banned voicing support and holding processions in support of Palestinians, it is indeed heartening that, upholding their democratic systems, the Western world has allowed its populace to voice their support for Palestine. Further, for the sake of humanity, people from different faiths and beliefs, such as Christianity and Judaism, have come out in large numbers to support the Palestinian cause, which shows that humanity is alive and people think and feel beyond religious bounds.
However, Western media has played a very biased and questionable role in portraying Palestinians’ sufferings. Palestinian genocide has been described as a conflict by the media, while it is not a conflict but the occupation of Palestinian land by Zionists with the abetment of their allies. It has been labelled a war by the media, while in actuality it is a genocidal purge and ethnic cleansing by Israel, supported by its allies. Zionists have appeared in the media calling Palestinians ‘animals’ and ‘inhumans’ and have justified killings, rape, and murder of children, women, and men. While there has been a continuous rant about ‘Israeli hostages’, there is no mention of the thousands of Palestinians who have been held ‘hostage’ by the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) without any charges for years on end. Videos have continually appeared showing the sodomy of prisoners by the IOF and the wilful killing of children and women by Israeli snipers. There has been constant talk of October 7, but not of what has been happening in Palestine before and after October 7. Thousands and thousands of Palestinians have been killed, maimed, injured, and deprived of their lands and are daily subjected to humiliating treatment by the IOF and occupying settlers. Recently, as if bombing, sniping, blowing up buildings and arbitrary arrests were not enough, food and water have been weaponised, and the Gaza population is on the verge of famine. What little food is distributed, the food distribution centres are targeted by the IOF for killing hungry, desperate Palestinians.
In this scenario, where Ummah leaders have passed resolutions calling upon the ‘world conscience’ to help Palestine, all praise is due to South Africa, which took the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to argue that the Zionist state is carrying out genocide. The sufferings and cries of the injured, bodies covered in shrouds, mass graves, and limbless bodies make one nauseated and sick, and make one wonder how, in the 21st century, such carnage and killings can be allowed right in front of the world and the Ummah. Finally, it is a shame and pity that despite the massacre of thousands of Palestinians, Muslim states have not decided to sever their diplomatic relations with the apartheid, genocidal Zionist state of Israel. But there is a Day of Judgement, and the Palestinians will have their justice from their oppressors, occupiers, and from those who stood by, watching passively.
The writer is a freelance columnist.
