Genocide in Palestine and the Failure of Islamic Nations

The responses from mass media, social groups, political parties and elected governments of multiple nation-states to this prolonged oppression have arrived, all declaring their pro-Palestine or pro-Israel stance. The chaos in the middle-east has gripped the entire global community, yet the silence of prominent Muslims and Islamic states does not go unseen. This blatant ignorance and disinterest shown by celebrities belonging to the Islamic community and nation-states is nothing short of a cowardly act.

It is October 14, 2023, the seventh day of Israel’s continuous bombing on Palestine as I sit down to write. Over 1900 Palestinians have died where 600 are children, more than 1300 homes destroyed, properties vanished, and over a million people thrown into displacement by the Israeli government; a resort to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their holy land. [Sources: TRT World, CNN, NDTV] There exists the bogus propaganda of labelling Palestinians as terrorists for the crimes of a guerilla outfit, “Hamas”. The exaggerated pictures shown by the western media of the Hamas airstrikes not only uplifts the sympathy of the global community for Israel, but also makes their daily bombings on Palestine disappear into thin air. It would be neither truth nor justice to say that modern history has not shown us this picture before. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, we witnessed the proxy war in Iraq (to claim their oil and energy resources) that killed a million innocent lives. Palestine suffers the same fate by the hands of a state created and backed by the US.

Social activists, social media influencers including notable writers like Khalid Beydoun and Rana Ayyub are getting censored and shadowbanned for portraying Israel’s reality to the world while famous names like Mohamed Salah and DJ Khaled decide to remain silent, favouring PR and perks over innocent lives. This disinterest by such globally known people is a slap in the face of the Muslim Ummah and shatters Palestinians’ hopes of their liberated state. Salah, known to the sporting world as the Egyptian king of football, is one of the most celebrated successful Muslims around the globe. Salah,no doubt, professes his religion openly, be it the dua he says pre-match or the sujood he performs after scoring a goal and although he has repeatedly raised his voice on violence occurring in the country he works and resides in, the Egyptian star remains silent when it comes to matters of oppression on Muslims and mainly on the Israel-Palestine situation. Khaled, the famous prodigy of the American music industry who takes his roots from Palestine, has never taken an interest in the politics of his ancestral home. Unfortunately, his disinterest does not involve elongated politics or any proxy war, but real termination of his own race.

Contrary to their nation’s official stance on the matter, masses in the UK, the USA, Sweden, Norway, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland have made it lucid that they condemn this inhumane and imperialistic torture Israel implements daily on Palestinians. These enormous gatherings of hundreds of thousands of people raising the Palestinian flag is keeping the politically legal claim of their homeland strong. But its survival is at stake and there must be no stance other than humanity. The Israeli government has cut down water and food supply in the Gaza strip. Israel has also ordered a million people to evacuate north of Gaza and migrate to the south, bombing south in the process and killing those amidst their journey of forceful displacement. What all the big Muslim nations have done meanwhile is declare moral support and provide humanitarian aid which runs short with every passing hour. UAE has allocated a cheque of 20 million US dollars [Source : TRT World ]. The allies of Netanyahu have already strengthened his army with ammunition worth billions. We have witnessed over 100 hours of this genocide and the only nation to have legally proposed sanctions and trade suspension with Israel in case the genocide prolongs is Colombia. Not to forget that 35% of Colombia’s population lives under extreme poverty.

Citizens of the West world have begun and they must question the dominant narrative as the mainstream media draws attention to their urged pro-Israel agenda. The heinous acts of Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces are open to the public eye and yet the media is pushing to justify it. On a normal visit to twitter, to my enormous surprise, I see my friend John, a former military man who took part in the US-Iraq 2003 war tweeting continuously about supporting and saving Palestine. When John expressed his solidarity towards the Palestinian people, I wondered how even a man who has fought in the proxy war could see this war and oppression for what it really is and did not fear opposition from his kin, friends or former military mates after he went public with his opinion.

In a viral clip circulating from Northern Gaza, a kid of thirteen having just witnessed the destruction of his home and the death of his kin is seen shouting, “Where are the Arabs?”, “the US is with Israel and Arabs have abandoned us”. [Source : Khaled Beydoun]

It is nothing but the truth at this point of time, that the prolonging of the genocide at this pace can potentially lead to the complete extinction of Palestinians, what Israel wanted in the first place. It is not the aid and moral support that is the point of debate here. It is the timing of both the elements that should be under scrutiny as the situation deteriorates drastically each day. The loud voice is a tool to uplift the political means of Palestine while the matter is now about the survival of a race. It is foolish to assume that the Arabs are unaware of the extent of the genocide; it is their own vested interests that stop them from taking direct action against Israel. For instance, trade sanctions or providing military help to Palestine’s defence. The Arabs have just been able to ‘promise’ support while Palestine suffers endlessly. Netanyahu’s tactics of ethnic cleansing are unfortunately comparable to Hitler’s anti-Semitism. The numbers of innocent deaths keep rising and the stance of Islamic nations remains firm at ‘moral support’. Moral support, worldwide protests, or aid did not stop Hitler’s aim to exterminate all Jews. He was at the pinnacle of his power, just where Netanyahu is with the hegemon’s support, and the alliance of the Allied powers brought him and his ambitions down. I do not advocate a global war, something that can perish billions, but safety and justice to those millions of Palestinians needs a global alliance, and not just moral support!

Zubair Abdullah is a student pursuing Sociology Hons. from Jamia Millia Islamia.