Genocide in Palestine

The current vicious Israeli aggression in Gaza is the latest episode in the continuing genocide against the Palestinian people. Brazen Western support for Israeli oppression manifests criminal hypocrisy and double standards, violating all norms of international law, democracy, freedom, human rights and humanity. Equally condemnable is the empty rhetoric of the Muslim world, devoid of any substantive support for the Palestinians. Consequently, they are forced to wage asymmetrical warfare for national survival, which is perfectly legitimate under international law.

Accordingly, the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, in which 1,400 Israelis were killed and over 150 taken hostage, cannot be viewed in a vacuum, as correctly stated by the UN Secretary General. They are in fact part of a legitimate freedom struggle. The roots of this struggle can be traced to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 when British colonialists cynically gave European Zionists a “homeland” in Palestine in return for funds provided by the Rothschilds for Britain’s war against Germany. Opposition by the Palestinians was brutally suppressed by British troops and Zionist terrorists from Haganah and the Stern Gang, some of whom went on to become Israeli leaders.

Following the Second World War, collective Christian guilt over the Nazi holocaust against the Jews was conveniently assuaged by creating a Jewish State — not in Europe but in Palestine. With unbridled American and European support, Israel either forcibly expelled the Palestinians from their homeland or reduced them to virtual prisoners in concentration camps. Convinced of being the “Chosen Race”, Jewish Zionists further unleashed an apartheid regime in which the Palestinians were treated as “human animals”, subjected to discrimination and persecution. Massacres of Deir Yassin and Sabra and Shatila camps remain as grim reminders of such Israeli atrocities. Israel also occupied neighbouring Arab lands for Jewish settlements in a Greater Israel, an aggression that still continues.

Courageous Palestinian resistance compelling the Camp David and Oslo Accords did create hope for peace but the assassination of a moderate Israeli leader like Yitzhak Rabin by Zionist extremists derailed the process for good and with it the prospects for a two-state solution. Emergence of leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu and other rabid Zionists in Israel and self-proclaimed Christian Zionists like Bush, Trump and Biden in the US, pursuing isolation of the Palestinians through the Abraham Accords with powerful Arab leaders, has now proved to be the last straw.

The latest Hamas attack is, therefore, not just a random “terrorist” incident but a strategically calculated move to derail the Abraham Accords and prevent the isolation of the Palestinians from any solution of the Palestinian issue. As a result, the US-led process is now a train-wreck. Moreover, Hamas has demonstrated unexpected combat capabilities against vastly superior Israeli military and intelligence assets, exploding the myth of Israeli invincibility. In the words of Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Netanyahu government “has been caught with its pants down”. Also, that once this crisis ends, Netanyahu’s political career is over. Hamas, on the other hand, has greatly enhanced its popularity, not just among the Palestinians but in the entire Muslim world.

Unsurprisingly, the Israeli response has been severe. So far more than 4,000 non-combatants, including over a 1,000 children, have been killed due to Israeli bombardment of Gaza. In the West Bank, Israeli settlers have been encouraged to attack unarmed Palestinians. Further atrocities include the bombing of a hospital, denial of water, food, electricity and fuel, leading to a major humanitarian crisis. Even so, the US vetoed a Security Council resolution for even a humanitarian pause in the Israeli retaliation. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has mobilised 350,000 troops and 170,000 reservists for a ground attack on Gaza.

But such an offensive could backfire, with Israeli forces being bogged down in urban guerilla warfare while Hezbollah and its ally, Iran, could enter the fray. The Biden administration recognises this catastrophic outcome and has tried to restrain Israel. Still, Biden has rushed military assistance worth $14 billion dollars to Israel, perfidiously claiming this to be the “arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom”. Other western states, especially Britain, France and Germany, have also stepped up their military supplies to Israel, thereby enflaming an already volatile situation.

Such Western perfidy enabling Israeli massacre of innocent Gazans has been accompanied by banning expressions of public support for the Palestinians as in the US, Britain and France, in violation of their support for freedom of expression, while their “free” media has cravenly fallen in line to denounce Hamas. This demonstrates the excessive power of the Israeli lobby in these countries, especially in the US where unqualified support for Israel is a pre-requisite to hold any public office, even that of the President.

Consequently, the Palestinians are today confronted by West-supported Israeli genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Until such conditions are removed, Hamas and other Palestinian groups will continue their armed struggle — which cannot be defeated since it is a national movement and not simply so-called terrorism by Hamas.

Meanwhile, the majority of the international community, including great powers like China and Russia as well as America’s Arab friends, have strongly criticised American unqualified support for Israel. Only the Modi government in India has expressed clear support for Israel which is not surprising since both governments are pursuing the same fascist agenda against Muslims and using the same tactics to suppress Palestinian and Kashmiri aspirations for freedom.

Pakistan must remain steadfast in its support for the Palestinian struggle for self-determination in line with its traditional policy. This policy is also consistent with its principled support for the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people and their struggle against the Indian occupation just as the Palestinians are struggling against the Israeli occupation. For these reasons, Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians must be condemned by Pakistan in the strongest terms and every effort must be made to provide humanitarian assistance to them at this hour of desperate need.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2023.

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