Counting the dead

On the 135th day of barbarism by Israel, Palestinians are keeping their fingers crossed and that too on the verge of extinction. The statistics of death and destruction are startling, and it is even shameful to admit that more than 29,000 innocent civilians have perished, and the world is counting on its priorities and preferences to take on the aggressor. It is equally disturbing that there are no diplomatic moves on the anvil to hold the fire from the Zionist state, and all that the United Nations and its member states are doing is to lecture on the necessity of intervention, and that too without any plan of action at hand. Thus, it is no news but to bring it on record that during the last 24 hours a total of 127 people have been put to death, and the second largest hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis has gone out of service.

To quote the Economist Intelligence Unit, one of the prime reasons for the dwindling faith in democracies is their inaction, and especially as human rights and civil liberties are on the axe. This could not be more verified than the pathetic state of affairs, especially of the civilised West, and the traumatic paralysis of the Muslim world. A suffering Palestinian nation is a blot on the conscience of the world populace, and the pundits of prophecy must stop lecturing on what parameters a state of Palestine should come into being. Rather, what is desired is an instant and non-partisan penalising of Israel, and spontaneous creation of a separate sovereign homeland for Palestinians under siege and in diaspora.

The moot convened by Russia is an opportunity in disaster to lead from the front and take on Israel and its abettors. This is a moment of leadership for Moscow and its President Vladimir Putin, who is sitting strong on the wings of strategic advancements in the politics and warfare of Europe. Josep Borrell, the foreign policy chief of the EU, is right as he says that the situation in Gaza is “on the eve of a greater explosion”. Will someone heed to his call?

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2024.

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