IT took over 15 months to put into place a belated, three-phased ceasefire, effective 18 January 2025, which hopefully will put an end to senseless killing by an apartheid state, Israel, which deprives almost 18% of its non-Jewish citizens of equal rights. This deal is similar to that proposed in May 2024. Whether this ceasefire will hold or not, depends on role of Trump Administration, which took over on 20 January 2025, from a self-professed Zionist Joe Biden, who believed, in what President Carter stated is an extremist, almost 160 year-old cult, within Evangelical Church, which believes in their version of a religion, whose Prophet Jesus Christ (PBUH) stressed upon peace, love and humanity for all mankind. It is shocking that in this age, such extremist cults have a following, where hate blinds them to justify senseless brutalities and collective punishments, under garb of securing their borders and economic benefits.
One can only hope, and pray, that American Administration will uphold vision of their Founding Fathers, men like Abraham Lincoln, who “believed in the equality of all men, and that their liberty was a vital concept that needed to be nurtured”. Lincoln believed that US was founded on the principle, that all men are created equal. He stated that the principles of equality and the right to enslave others could not stand together. He perceived Declaration “Liberty to All” as the moral centre of a Constitution and American union that could otherwise be misinterpreted- or destroyed-in pursuit of other ends”. Equality is a necessity, without which democratic government, which ensures freedom, cannot endure, yet Israel, an apartheid state is called a democracy by many in the West. Time alone will determine whether peace and respect for human lives will be restored in Gaza and West Bank, and both Israel and a viable Palestinian state can, and should coexist, together as peaceful neighbours in the Holy Land, where majority of Prophets, of all three monotheist faiths were born and lived.
The world needs to respect United Nations, ICJ, UNRWA etc., created after WWII to restore peace and right of all men, irrespective of their faith, creed, colour or ethnicity. Earlier the League of Nations, established after WWI, was abandoned by a fascist populist junta in Germany. Millions of men, women and children were massacred in this senseless war, which was started by a cult- like populist leader, who wanted to expand borders of Germany, in pursuit of his vision of dominating the world and his extremist ideology, based on superiority of white Aryan German race. He ended facing a humiliating defeat and abject surrender. The question is, whether the world has learned any lessons from history. The UN is being humiliated again, in the pursuit of hegemony, dominance, expansion and economic benefits, by a few myopic leaders, devoid of any vision, or fear of the Almighty.
What we are witnessing is resurgence of colonial mindset that prevailed before and in the aftermath of WWI, when a few countries colonized other nations located far away, to mine and utilize their vast natural resources to boost their own economies. There was also the pretext of national security, which was exploited to occupy these countries, depriving inhabitants of their liberty, dignity and human rights to justify their occupation. Winston Churchill believed in the superiority of white Aryan race, which is similar to views of Nazi Germany’s Fuhrer. Churchill considered white Protestant Christians to be superior in hierarchy than even the white Catholics, while all others inferior to them. Some of the worst atrocities have been committed by such men, whenever they held power in the West. On pretext of economic benefits, or their vision of securing themselves, geographical boundaries were redrawn, in pursuit of more territory and dominance, ignoring basic morals and ethics of humanity. All monotheist religions have emphasized upon equality of all humans. The messengers of Almighty Allah SWT, from Abraham (PBUH) to Moses (PBUH), to Jesus Christ (PBUH) and our Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have emphasized upon this. Yet the followers of all these faiths, especially the White Supremacists and religious bigots, amongst them, consider themselves superior to all others.
We have witnessed, through social media, the live genocide of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, a state armed with the latest weapons funded by self-proclaimed champions of freedom and human rights. The traditional media was censored, accredited journalists targeted, hospitals and schools bombed, all justified under the guise of self-defense in pursuit of Greater Israel. The irony is that these brutalities were committed by those who, by their own account, were victims of ethnic cleansing under Hitler’s fascist regime. With few exceptions, such as the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, the majority of Western and Israeli media supported and justified the genocide. Haaretz, a left-wing/liberal outlet, criticized PM Netanyahu’s coalition, which included extremists who declared unarmed Palestinians—men, women, children, infants, doctors, and journalists—as “human animals” unworthy of human rights. The media outlet exposed the brutalities committed by the IDF, in collaboration with ultra-right extremists obsessed with hate for Palestinians. Prominent journalists like Gideon Levy and Amira Hass continued to challenge the official Zionist narrative, contradicting the biased reports from outlets like Jerusalem Post and NY Times. The irony is that these atrocities were committed by followers of Prophet Moses, in violation of the Ten Commandments. This world cannot afford another world war, which could lead to an Armageddon, destroying the majority of mankind and reverting civilization to the Stone Age.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
(mtrqa213@gmail.com)
