The ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict is a deeply complex and long-standing issue marked by a long history of violence, casualties, and forced displacement. Since 1948, when an apartheid Jewish state was established on Palestinian territory, indigenous Palestinians have suffered most from this conflict.
Israel exercises control over the crucial aspects of life in Palestine while imposing the continuous land, air, and sea blockade and bombing while limiting over 2 million Palestinians half of whom are children to the Gaza Strip. Gaza Strip is an approximately 25-mile strip of Palestine land and IDF forces consistently oppressing and showing no sign of humanity for the population there who have nowhere to go who are been subjected to atrocities and deprived of their right to freedom from years till date while having their land they have become strangers to their soil.
Many International Organisations often refer to it as “The largest prison on Earth” The inhumane actions and continuous human rights violations by Israelis have never been condemned or addressed by Western societies or International media which shows the double standards of the West and also gives sense to critically analyse the role of western superpowers specially the US is either a real human rights sponsor or this perception of human rights is only selective?.
A recent attack named “Flood Al-Aqsa” by Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement of Palestine) against Israel on October 7, 2023, rendered the Israeli-occupied forces to execute the Genocide against the Palestinians on a large scale. The Israeli military has conducted airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and many other parts of Palestine as a response to Hamas attacks, indiscriminately targeting sensitive areas including hospitals, schools, food shelter areas, and mosques. To date, more than 3,000 people have died, and the number continues to increase every day on both sides. Losing innocent lives cannot be justified on both sides. However, the continued ferocity of Israeli forces has led them to hold a defensive position which is much weaker in comparison to the military capabilities of Israel. This was not the first time that Israeli forces were performing vicious acts against the innocent people of Palestine but regularly the people of Palestine are suffering to survive.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying
We are at war and we will win it.
This statement is irrational as we are all acquainted that Israel has a full-fledged trained military and advanced weapons system while on the other hand people of Palestine don’t have any of them so Israel is executing Genocide rather than war.
According to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor organization
“Israel dropped equivalent to a quarter of a nuclear bomb on the besieged enclave of Gaza”.
Following the statement of Netanyahu the US, UK, France, Germany, and many other major states have shown support for Israel. The Biden Administration showed full support towards its ally and also sent two aircraft carriers to validate its words.
Until the people of Palestine were being massacred the West and International mainstream media have turned a blind eye on the issue but when the oppressed retaliated they all became a preacher of human rights and dignity as it is only the Israelis that have the right to live but not of Palestinians? One of the main reasons for this prejudice is that the Palestinians are Muslims and as we have all witnessed Islamophobia is rapidly increasing across Western societies.
During the founding of the United States over 200 years ago, the protection of fundamental human rights was a cornerstone of the country’s manifest destiny. Since then, a central goal of U.S. foreign policy has been the promotion of respect for human rights, as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(U.S State Department)
Given the State Department’s assertion that the United States supports human rights and the fact that Israel is continuing to commit genocide in Palestine with US support, one finds it extremely difficult to accept the claim that the United States supports human rights. It appears that human rights are a matter of selective consideration when it comes to American national interests since Tel Aviv and the White House administration enjoy strong economic and military ties, with bilateral trade worth nearly 50 billion dollars each year.
While the situation continues to deteriorate, all Muslim states are just watching and are not taking any action against Israel’s atrocities and the hypocrisy of the West. It is the primary responsibility of members of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) to protect the rights and interests of Palestine as a Muslim state and to provide them with the utmost assistance and support in their struggle against the Zionist regime. Sadly there is no outrage or any kind of protest against the atrocities of Israel has been observed among the Muslim states at the international level while at the domestic level, it was evident that people are showing full support and solidarity with the people of Palestine including Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey and many others states as well and they also seem to be quite disappointed by their rulers for not taking a firm stance for the liberation and freedom movement of people of Palestine.
It is impossible to deny that Israel is an oppressor while possessing one of the strongest and most advanced militaries in the world and continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians. Yet the Palestinian people only have faith and determination to fight these oppressors. There is no doubt that they wanted to protect their land, their faith, and more importantly, the third most important religious site of the Muslims, Mosque Al-Aqsa, which is also known as the heartland of the Muslims. So it is the responsibility of all human rights organisations especially the Muslim states to ensure the safety and dignity of the people of Palestine against the aggressive and inhumane practices of the Zionist apartheid regime.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.