The recent bloodbath in Palestine and the cold silence prevalent in the vast majority of Arab and Muslim states tell a tale of a ‘Muslim Ummah’ that has died. The mourning of Palestinians, tiny coffin of children and Israel’s shameless butchering is unable to evoke the spirit of Islam which call for firm belief in one Allah, consciousness of the life hereafter, emphasis on social justice and the brotherhood among the Muslim states. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) focused on the identity of Muslim Ummah as “the example of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for one another is that of a body. When there is pain in any part, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever”. Nonetheless, the remorseless Israeli attitude has met with silence from the Muslim leaders.
Therefore, instead of forging a collective front against Israel, the Arab nations have been moving closer to the aggressor to build economic and security ties and to gather regional hegemony. One can clearly observe the paradigm shift in relations between the Arab capitals and Israel. The recent Abraham Accord – joint cooperation among Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates- has been welcomed as a strategic partnership against the regional interests of Iran and Turkey, regardless of its grave repercussions on Palestine in particular and the Muslim world in general.
In the recent perturbing developments, the Jewish settlers staged proactive measures in occupied East Jerusalem against the Palestinians; intruded their homes in Sheikh Jarrah; stormed and desecrated the revered Mosque Al-Aqsa; and, ruthlessly bombed the non-combatants in Gaza. Amid the communal violence, hundreds of Palestinians-including infants-have been killed, maimed and injured by Israeli bombardment. Moreover, the airstrikes and artillery shells on Gaza city flattened numerous buildings and city structures.
And what has been the global response of Muslim states? At the governmental level, there has been widespread silence, half-hearted appeals or the statements to stop the ‘violence’. The region's concerns have shifted since Israel's last major incursion into Gaza in 2014, with new anxieties about Iran's sway, new fears of unrest in Arab countries, and a growing recognition of Israel's reality in the Arab countries. The change in Muslim world dynamics has its root in widespread political instability, economic backwardness, illiteracy, extremism and poverty among the countries. In such situation, the geo-economic interests have overshadowed the Muslim ideological bindings and caused a favorable tilt towards Israel, majorly supported by Western powers. At the moment, the Ummah seems least interested in raising a concrete solution for solving the protracted Palestinian issue.
Miserably, OIC, which aims to be the ‘collective voice of the Muslim world', could only flaunt its feeble role in coming up with a strong response against the Israeli genocide in Palestine. Its role has been restricted to issuing statements and condemning the Israeli belligerence. But would it be sufficient to stop the massacre? Obviously, A big No! OIC needs to revolutionize and restructure its present dead body in order to restrict the hegemonic attitude unbridled towards the innocent lives. The 57-member led organization must utilize its geographical, economic and political might to protect Palestinian borders. The responsibility which Muslim Ummah carries on its shoulder isn’t merely limited to issuing diplomatic statements and condemning the oppressor.
The Muslims states should take pragmatic measures to highlight and to restrict Israel’s blatant violation of International Law and United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights masked under its so called ‘Right to Self-Defense’. Being the dominant powers of Arab lands, Riyadh and Tehran need to forego their geo-political comforts, delimit their shadow on the foreign policies of other countries and to sit on the same fence. Other regional parties including Turkey, Pakistan, UAE, Bahrain, Indonesia and others should give their maximum moral and material support in handling the Palestine problem under the leading role of House of Saud and Iranian camp. In addition to it, a vigilant and proactive Muslim media is highly necessitated to highlight Palestinian plight and to project the right discourse in front of world population.
Establishment of a free, viable and an independent Palestine should be the top priority of the Muslim countries. For that matter, the notions of ‘Right to Self-Determination’ and ‘Human Rights’ have to be disseminated among the whole worldwide. The unlawful killing, ill treatment of détentes, forced evictions and and discriminatory restrictions on Palestinian lives are not acceptable in any law of the contemporary world. Thus, Israel should be strictly prohibited from its criminal activities and distorted agendas.
Recently, Prime Minister Imran Khan and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to cooperate together at the United Nations in jointly mobilizing the international community to stop heinous attacks of Israeli forces in Gaza. Such initiatives should be joined by other states as well and a collective outburst should be poured to compel the United Nations to keep up with its charter of maintaining peace and preserving the future generations from the ‘scourge of war’. The United Nation must be reminded of its own UN Security Council Resolution 2334 which calls upon all states to take immediate steps to prevent acts of violence against civilians and to hold violators accountable. Hence, the Muslim community should force United Nations to actively engage itself in resolving the matter of Palestine on International standards.
In this hour of need, Muslim Ummah should step in and stop the mass murder in holy land of Palestine. Otherwise, the time is not far away when the whole Muslim world will burn in the fire of their own broken pride, vengeance and disintegration.