Shakil Ahmad (President-Pakistan Mission Intl): Whatever is happening in Gaza & West Bank in Palestine, it’s very painful. No doubt the killing of humans need to be condemned whosoever does it. So, the killing of Jews in Israel is also condemnable. But every sensible person needs to look into the cause not the effect. If the cause is addressed, the effect can easily be resolved.

Before forming an opinion, the facts must be analysed by history. By the fall of the OttomanEmpire, Palestine solely belonged to the Palestinians but during WWI, the UK licensed the displaced Jews to settle in Palestine through Balfour Declaration in 1917. Whereas in 1947, the UN unfairly awarded 55% of Palestine to the minority Jews to setup Israel. But the Jews continued to expand, which triggered the Arab-Israel war in 1967. During this war, Israel occupied the Golan Heights of Syria, West Bank of Jordan and Sinai desert of Egypt. Following the war, the UN adopted a resolution for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and for the states of Israel and Palestine to co-exist with peace. Contrary to that Israel continued its expansion and now occupies over 90% of Palestine while depriving the Palestinians for their fundamental rights.

The so-called civilized nations claim but maintain double standards for human rights by prejudice of race and religion. Why the blood of a Ukrainian weighs over the blood of a Palestinian? Why the life of a Kashmiri or Romanians is inferior? The world leadership is actually a mafia of commercial consortium across the globe. They condemn or support democracy, dictatorship & human rights, where it helps their political and financial objectives. But they have to bear in mind, everything is mortal except the legacy they leave behind, either cursed or praised through the course of history.

Allah made the world for beauty and peace to prevail but the hypercritic leaders of the developed world enslaved the poor nations through poverty or war. While they trade arms to make them fight, they fund their sponsored rulers across the world to rule by proxy to implement their agenda. They always use the tactic of “Divide & Rule” by keeping a bone of contention between the countries, like Kashmir, Taiwan, Kurdistan, North Korea, etc.

Similarly, Jerusalem is the bone of contention between Arabs & Jews. This place is sacred for the Muslims, the Christians and the Jews. Due to current massacre, life is a hell not only for the Palestinians but also for the Israelis. They have been living with fear and bloodshed for the last 75 years. Instead of shedding the blood and sacrificing the future generations, they must realize to co-exist with mutual respect and peace.

The current siege of Gaza& West Bank while cutting off the supply of water, power, fuel, food and medicines is totally inhumane. If any group has done something wrong, how the millions of innocent people can be punished for it? If the hypocrites world leadership remains silent over it then who else will be responsible for the killing of innocent people in Gaza & West Bank? According to media reports, the Israeli Army has used White Phosphorus in Gaza which is against the international laws. Also, the bombing on hospitals, mosques & schools is contrary to the Geneva Convention.

Due to bombing on residential complexes, thousands of people including over a thousand children are dead and around a million are homeless. Israel has also cut off their supply of water, power, fuel and food. While no humanitarian aid is allowed to flow in Gaza and Egypt has closed it’s border to the refugees, the affected Palestinians are stuck in the middle pending a heavy human disaster. To the extreme of massacre, Israel bombed the hospital in Southern Gaza where 500 people were killed.

The world leadership must knock their conscience and try to bridge between Israelis & Palestinians instead of pursuing their political agenda. The first and foremost action is that Israel must do ceasefire, withdraw ultimatum to evacuate 1.1 million Palestinians to the South of Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to the affected people in Gaza & and the West Bank IMMEDIATELY.

For a perpetual solution, there must be an international peace conference to heal the scars on humanity to make the world a better place instead of ruining it and settling on Mars.

May Allah bless the Humanity, Amin!