Muslims Fiddle While Palestine Burns – Editorial (Aug 2014)

This is the very reality that we have been, and are still, witnessing across the Muslim world comprising 57 countries. Sometimes, unending sufferings of the Kashmiris on hands of Indian forces make us moan, while sometimes genocide of Bosnian Muslims also tears the fibres of our brains apart. With rue our hearts are laden on the ordeals of the the Syrians and the Iraqis. But, the virtual ‘reign of terror’, imposed on the innocent Palestinians by the brutish Israelis, is beyond description. Nevertheless, Palestine issue is probably the only example in the world that not only tears the veils of civility and humaneness from the faces of the so-called civilized world, but also exposes the felonies of those who have ruled the Muslim world.

There is no denying the fact that the imperialists have always adopted the policy of ‘Divide and Rule’. In earlier part of the twentieth century, this policy was there in all its manifestations, when to ensure the collapse of the Ottoman Empire ‘ which allied with Germany in World War I’ the then British High Commissioner to Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, conspired with Husayn ibn Ali, the patriarch of the Hashemite family and Ottoman governor of Makkah and Medina, to revolt against the Ottomans. In exchange of Arabs’ support for Britain in the War, the establishment of an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine, was guaranteed by the British government. This revolt, led by Husayn’s son Faysal and T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), defeated the Ottomans, and Britain took control over much of this area. Later, the British not only backed off their commitment, they also made possible the creation of a Jewish state i.e. Israel. This was the start of miseries that still torment the Palestinians.It is useless to flag the dead horse of the world conscience and of the UN because they are the abettors in, and are equally responsible for, this genocide of the Palestinians. Since the launch of recent Israeli offensive, hundreds of innocent people including children have lost their lives. Playgrounds and even hospitals have been bombed. But, perhaps, it’s not enough to awaken the Muslims, let alone the UN or other world bodies. The OIC and Arab League, the so-called representative bodies of Muslim Ummah, have been meek and docile, to say the least.

When it comes to protect American interests in Syria or other parts of the Middle East, these ‘representatives’ seem ever more vigilant, but they bury their heads in sand when Palestinians or Syrians are brutally murdered.

Isn’t it shameful for us that every part of the world, save Ukraine, where there are insurgencies or terrorist activities, belongs to Muslims? Wasn’t the recent Arab uprising in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya part of a greater game to protect the American, and ultimately Jewish, interests in the region? Isn’t it ironic that in spite of occupying almost one-third membership of the UN, even a single veto power is not vested in Muslims?

In today’s Muslim world, only Iran has the guts to condemn, and challenge, Israel’ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been known for his ferocious tirades against Israel. But, rest of the Muslim leaders haven’t yet spoken even a single word against Israel’s Gaza onslaught rather they are pressing Hamas to agree on an unconditional truce. But, for how long?

Soon a day will come when in the words of Iqbal:

‘The withered leaves and weeds will pass, and all its sweepings old;

For there, again, will martyr blood in roses red unfold.’