Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are fighting for their lives. They are brutally murdered, trampled like vegetables, the dignity of human life is atrociously and mercilessly abused. The irony of the situation is the fact that not one single powerful country has condemned the brutality Israel is inflicting upon the vulnerable. Taking a stroll back to the pages of history shows us evidence that even United Nations, that was supposedly organised to safeguard the interests of the weaker states and prevent future wars, did not and could not impede such iniquitous action by Israel. Killing the children and the weak is no self-defense, it’s slaughter, cold blooded and ruthless murder. Is human life so meagre that it should be so easily wiped out with a flick of a weapon?
The war should be based on some kind of equality and reason. In this case, there is no such thing. The demands for Palestinian lands were always unlawful and this makes the attack on Gaza unjustifiable. More importantly, it should be noted that the Palestinians have no army, naval or air force or competitive weaponry. Israel has also denied Palestinians any kind of foreign aid, including medicine, clothing etc. In contrast America has given Israel weapons of mass destruction. This includes chemical weapons. Moreover, they have highly trained army, naval and air force to serve their purposes. Israel has already used its chemical weapons as an experiment in the last attack on Gaza and Lebanon. The Facebook is full of brutal images of the Gaza people who are fighting for their lives and the images evoke feelings of pity and fear. Pain in one part should cause subsequent pain in other parts as well. Is our pain and sorrow only limited to just sharing the images and be contented with the fact that this is enough?
HADIA MUKHTAR SINGAPURI
Karachi
(II)
The world community has failed to develop a coherent peace strategy yet and seems helpless to normalise the situation that has resulted after Israel’s attack on Gaza Strip. Whiles, it is the need of the hour to use diplomacy by the entire Muslim world and international community, required to stop Israel’s aggression in Gaza Strip, which has entered a sixth day on Monday after a huge toll of casualties. As a result of Israel’s aggression and offensive, 78 Palestinians, 23 of them children and several women, have been killed in Gaza and hundreds have been wounded.
Still there is no sign of intensified diplomatic efforts to stop rocket being fired from Gaza Strip and Israeli air strikes on Gaza. International pressure for a ceasefire seems a failure with no sincere efforts made till now. Only Egypt is trying seriously to bring a ceasefire. Egypt has called for the entire Muslim world to play a pivotal role for immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Beside mediation efforts, we would be more pragmatic and realistic to consider the aggression of Israel in Gaza Strip. The question is why Gaza is under blockade, why Israel’s policy of targeted assassinations continues? If these do not happen, Hamas won’t probably attack Israel. The recent offensive by Israel has so far drawn Western support. United States and European leaders have called this strike Israel’s right of self-defence. This support is also flaming the war. Historically, this fighting belongs to Muslims of Palestine and Jewish settler from all over the world. This is a war of right and wrong, the one has occupied the land and the other one has been ousted from the land. The one has nuclear weapons, the other one has just rockets. The one has super powers’ support, the other one has noting. The rivals have long standing issues and conflicts which ought to be settled by the world community under the banner of United Nations and other world forum. Despite this hypocrisy from the West and US, there should be sincere efforts to immediately stop Israel’s aggression and this effort should be a key component of a comprehensive strategy for lasting the peace in the Middle East.
SYED SADAQAT HUSSAIN
Karachi
(III)
Noam Chomsky, American prominent philosopher and public critic, has rightly quoted Gaza as the world’s largest open air prison. So true he is when one examines the present situation in Gaza. The recent attacks of Israel are as inhumane and unlawful as is the treatment of prisoners in worst jails like Guantanamo Bay. These attacks are an open violation of human rights and international law. Which provision of international law allows such hostility? Hardly any. The silence of so-called champions of human rights and international law, the US and the UN is skeptical. The UN is again proving itself as a rubber stamp in the hands of powerful countries. So is the case of toothless OIC, which claims itself as a representative body of 56 Islamic states.
AHMAD ZIA TULLA
Sargodha
