Christmas bloodbath
Israel’s barbarism seems to have no heights. It had the audacity to kill more than 80 people on the eve of Christmas in the Gaza Strip. Perhaps, Pope Francis’ call for serenity had also fallen on deaf ears, as the Zionist state knows no ethics, nor does it feel like abiding with the sentiments of the world community. This 11-week battle has simply proved that vengeance rules the roost and, apparently, the Netanyahu administration is hell bent upon extending the war beyond the frontiers of occupied territories. The warning from Iran to shut down the navigation through the Mediterranean, and the latest attacks by Hezbollah on the Beit Hillel military base east of Kiryat Shmona, near the Lebanese border, confirms the fear of escalation.
This new tragedy on the festive occasion has come just a day after the UN has once again failed the international community. It has, as believed, not been able to come up to the expectations of the oppressed and the blood-strained people of Palestine. It would not be an understatement to term the much-delayed resolution calling for piecemeal aid supplies to the aggression-battered Gazans as ‘absolutely worthless’. It is no more than an obvious appeasement to Israel and the US, and it is an insult to the Charter of the world body as well as the sovereignty of the member states to duck down so miserably. It proves that the haves will have their way at the cost of another Holocaust.
Christmas night attacks must serve as a clarion call for the West, and it is high time for action. No amount of diplomacy is making any headway as lines are strongly driven on partisanship. But will this apathy deliver anything? No, it is a precursor to disaster. Tel Aviv must be slapped with sanctions and an arms embargo. Notwithstanding the US arm-twisting and bias, it’s time to rally for a nation in distress, and work together for a permanent two-state solution. Celebrities by rallying for Gaza are doing a great service. Will the human rights preachers too stand up for a cause?
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2023.
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