By: Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef*
Arab nations and Muslim masses the world over have deep empathy with Palestinians, yet their rulers have their vested interests in toing the line with Western powers.
Main Points:
1-Where is the frequently mentioned “global Ummah” during this difficult time?
2-Why aren’t Muslim organizations involved in resolving any crises in Muslim countries?
3. The Palestinians are constantly let down by the international community.
Hamas gave the Israelis their version of 9/11 on October 7, 2023, in a shocking, surprising, and unexpected strike on Israel, which herself has been a horrible death machine for Palestinians for 75 years. The world, as much as the Israelis, was taken aback by this bravado. It also destroyed the American ambition of returning to the area and becoming a major player, as it once was when it was considered a numero uno power globally.
Now in this rapidly changing world wherein many power centers are emerging, America is finding itself, with a backlash of its miserably failed foreign policy in a very annoying situation.
Yes, Israel no doubt is a formidable hegemonic force in terms of its high-tech know-how, its intelligence expertise, and its mighty and ruthless army. So taking on that brutal force has its price. And it is not new for the Palestinians because they have been paying it for the last 75 years or so. Even during the recent decade, Israel has attacked Gaza severely four times since 2005 onwards. Gaza has been under siege facing an economic blockade for the last 15 years. It is rightly called an open prison.
Now Israel in a fit of rage and revengefulness conducting lethal and deadly airstrikes day in and day out on poor Gaza, killing so far more than one thousand and wounding thousands of innocent civilians including women, elderly, and children mercilessly and relentlessly and razing and demolishing hundreds of buildings and houses in Gaza city. Moreover depriving Gaza of all supply of electricity, food, water, and health care facilities!
This is the real and inhuman face of the supremacist and racial Israeli state and its unflinching allies in the West.
Syed Mujahid Ali an Urdu columnist based in Norwe recently wrote:
“The United States and its Western allies have been unequivocal in their condemnation of violence against Israeli citizens…….. but can the punishment….. be inflicted on the citizens, children, women, and the elderly living in the restricted area of Gaza? Loud statements are being heard about Israel’s right to defense, but will the countries that talk about Israel’s safety and security also think about the right to life of the citizens living in Gaza? the war action of Hamas is wrong and condemnable, but Israel does not have the right to punish all Palestinians.”
As always the case in any war the first victim would be truth. So all the Western media especially its parroting Indian news channels with their bigoted and biased reporting and misinformation and disinformation tactics showing their real anti-Muslim face.
Meanwhile, the poor “Muslim Ummah” is completely out of the scene, as usual. Their highly touted organizations like the OIC, Arab League, and Muslim World League appear to be doing little more than trying to win over the US, the UN, and the fictitious global community. A few Muslim nations have issued statements calling for a de-escalation of the violence between the conflicting parties. Only Iran and Venezuela sided with the oppressed Palestinians. While Israel has declared war on Gaza and brash America EU members and other Western powers not only announced their full support to Israel but America has indeed sent its state-of-the-art arms to Israel without any request for that from her.
Where is the Saudi-built Muslim army led by retired Pakistani army general Raheel Shareef? Are Raheel and his mentors in the least bit honest? Why have they not yet released a statement or mentioned any of their work? The UN general secretary’s statement was somehow a balanced one yet he and his organization also could not escape being blamed because there are so many resolutions of UNGA and even UNSC against Israel yet they dare not implement them on it why?
The Oslo Accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)was signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993. Three decades have passed on. According to this, it was supposed to gradually move towards the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, which Israel did not allow to materialize. It was supposed to solve the problem of four million Palestinian refugees around the world, which has also not happened. Israel was supposed to vacate the Jewish settlements which are considered illegal by international law, which it did not do, instead, it built new settlements in Palestinian lands. In this way, Israel got everything it needed from the Oslo Accord, that is, the neighboring Arab states accepted it, but the Palestinians got nothing except a useless municipality. The biggest mistake of the Palestinians is that over time they did not keep a united banner. They could not stay under one leadership and soon were divided between Gaza and the West Bank, which the enemies took advantage of.
What Goal Did Hamas Achieve?
Hama’s attack also called Israeli’s bluff about its invincibility. For Israel’s high-tech iron dome anti-missile defense system this time betrayed them. It also highlighted before the world that Palestinian people are real people, they are not a non-entity. They are very much alive and the Palestinian issue is still relevant. The US with its allies in the Middle East like Egypt, and Saudi Arabia along with other sheikhdoms; Behran, UAE, etc. contrived an Abraham Accord and all were happily ready to be on board to normalize their relations with Israel on the coast of Palestinian people. Many of them have normalized their diplomatic relation with the Jewish racist state. Saudi Arabia was also very near to having a deal with Israel and all that was with sidelining Palestine and with no prospect of any future Palestinian state.
This incursion into the Israeli territory stopped all this game reinvented the Palestinian issue and brought it back onto the world stage.
Now that the conflict in Palestine is entering its seventh day and Israel has already increased its airstrikes, leaving Gaza in ruins, I believe that Hamas and Palestine will suffer an instant setback due to their tarnished image. Because of the frequent demonization by the biased Western media coverage, they have developed a perception of terrorists. Before this, the reporting was similarly consistently biased, although with the minor exception that the difficulties and suffering of the Palestinian people were also mentioned in the end notes. But at this point, there is a full stop after emphasizing the Israeli shock at the Hamas strike. All they claim is that Israel is currently taking a retaliating measure which is legitimate in every right. On television, the sight of Israeli women and children being held hostage is repeatedly shown. Additionally, no other media outlet reports on the devastation caused by the Israeli shelling other than Al-Jazira. For the time being Israel is the big victim of Hamas terror attack for the Western man. Even waving Palestinian flags is prohibited in Britain. And today, flying Israeli flags in support of Israel is the standard in every city in Europe. It will be extremely difficult for Palestinians to once again improve their reputation on a worldwide scale.
The rights of Palestinians have been lost in the crowd of photos and video clips of a few hundred Israelis killed and militants attacking an open-air party.
*Research Associate with
Centre for Promotion of Educational and Cultural Advancement of Muslims of India AMU Aligarh