Op Ed: The Followers of the Most Merciful God Kill Each Other In Palestine

by Dr. Aslam Abdullah

On the day when the followers of the world’s two monotheistic religions exchanged fireworks, 600 humans received their passage to heaven according to their belief systems. Thousands of physically injured people filled hospitals, and property worth billions of dollars built by the money donated by the US, UN, and other countries got destroyed.

The leading nations immediately took sides. The Anglo-Saxon world sided with the Zionist state, along with the Hindu nationalist government of India. Brazil, Japan, and several East European countries immediately supported the Zionist occupiers of the Palestinian land.

Russia said it is in contact with Israel and the Palestinians.

UN Middle East peace envoy said: “This is a dangerous precipice, and I appeal to all to pull back from the brink.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Tuerk said: “This attack is having a horrific impact on Israeli civilians… Civilians must never be the target of attack.”

The US condemned “the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.”

“The United States unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. There is never any justification for terrorism. We stand firmly with the government and people of Israel and extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks.”

US military chief Lloyd Austin said: “Over the coming days, the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.” Biden warned “against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation”, adding he had spoken to Netanyahu.

The Muslim and Arab world stood by the Palestinians.

Arab League urged “an immediate halt to military operations in Gaza” and “the cycle of armed confrontation between the two sides.” It said that

“Israel’s continued implementation of violent and extremist policies is a time bomb, depriving the region of any serious opportunity for stability in the foreseeable future.”

Egypt warned of “grave consequences” from an escalation in tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in a statement from the foreign ministry carried by the state news agency. It called for “exercising maximum restraint and avoiding exposing civilians to further danger.”

Jordan warned of the “volatility” of the situation, “particularly in light of what cities and areas of the West Bank are witnessing of Israeli attacks and violations against the Palestinian people.”

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it closely followed the situation in Gaza and was in “direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance.”

Following events involving Gaza fighters who fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, the statement added it was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalization with Israel. “

The semi-official ISNA news site reported that an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei said Iran supported the Palestinians’ attack.

“We congratulate the Palestinian fighters,” it quoted adviser Rahim Safavi as saying. “We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem.”

Iran’s foreign ministry said attacks by its ally Hamas were proof of the Palestinians’ increased confidence in the face of Israel’s occupation.

The element of surprise and other combined methods show the Palestinian people’s confidence in the face of the occupiers,” ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.

The attacks “proved that the Zionist regime is more vulnerable than ever and that the initiative is in the hands of Palestinian youth,” government spokesperson Ali Bahadori-Jahromi told state news agency IRNA.

Kuwait expressed its “grave concern” over developments between Israel and the Palestinians, blaming Israel for its “blatant attacks.”

In a statement, the foreign ministry called on the international community to “stop the provocative practices by the occupation” and the “policy of expanding settlements.”

“The Kingdom of Morocco expressed its deep concern at the deterioration of the situation and the outbreak of military action in the Gaza Strip, and condemns attacks against civilians wherever they may be,” a foreign ministry statement said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops”, the official news agency WAFA quoted him as saying.

He spoke at an emergency meeting held in Ramallah with several top officials from the Palestinian Authority.

Qatar’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying Israel alone was responsible for the ongoing escalation of violence with the Palestinian people.

It called on both sides to exercise utmost restraint and calls on the international community to prevent Israel from using these events as an excuse to launch a disproportionate war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Saudi Arabia called for an “immediate cessation of violence” between Israel and the Palestinians. “We are following the unprecedented developments between several Palestinian factions and Israel occupation forces, which has led to a high level of violence on many fronts.”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on Israelis and Palestinians to act with restraint and refrain from hostile acts that could exacerbate the situation.

“We call for restraint from all parties,” Erdogan said at a congress for his ruling AK Party in Ankara. “They must refrain from aggressive acts,” he said.

The division between the Arab and Muslim worlds and the Christian, Jewish, and Hindu worlds is sharp and decisive. All have their theological and historical reasons to justify their positions.

This situation did not emerge in 2023. It is the outcome of 100 years of history in which the Zionists and the Anglo-Saxons played a significant role in denying the Palestinians their humanity and rights to their land because of a flimsy, fabricated myth that the Holy Land was a gift to Jews by a G-d, who relishes uprooting of the original inhabitants.

During the last 50 years, those who support the Zionists have witnessed 600,000+ Jewish Israeli settlers living on occupied Palestinian land, 100,000+ Hectares of land appropriated by Israel from Palestinians since 1967, 50,000 homes and structures demolished by Israel in the OPT over the past 50 years and 4.9+ million Palestinians faced daily restrictions on their movement.

The Jewish state in Palestine was a deliberate, drawn-out, and violent process. The Zionists turned over 80 percent of Palestinians as refugees overnight. The Zionist forces attacked significant Palestinian cities, destroyed 530 villages, killed 13,000 Palestinians, and expelled 750,000 from their homes. Today, the refugees and their descendants are more than seven million. Many still languish in refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries, waiting to return to their homeland.

With the support of the European and Anglo-Saxon world, Israel is one of the remaining apartheid states.

The illegal occupation of Palestine is a reality that the world elites refuse to acknowledge and accept. It does not change that the creation of Israel in the name of the Bible and Zionism was the worst kind of violence humanity has ever seen.

Palestinians have a right to reclaim their country. In their view, every Zionist occupying their land is an aggressor and enemy. They do not make a distinction between the Israeli military and civilians.

Since the Israeli occupation, fixed-term military service has been compulsory in the country. The draft laws of the Israel Defense Forces only apply to citizens of three ethnicities: Jews (males and females), Druze (males only), and Circassians (males only).

Palestinians consider Israel an occupying nation and reject its Biblical assertion. Hamas does not regret its decision to attack Israel and views its military action as part of a noble freedom struggle.

The UN or European nations’ support to Israel does not change this reality, especially when it has refused to accept Palestinians as full-fledged humans deserving to reclaim their country stolen by those who claim to live the divine principles of justice.