IN 495 BC a Roman comic play-wright, stated “A man is a wolf, rather than a man to another man, when he hasn’t yet found out what he’s like”. Basic values of morality and humanity which were common to all three monotheistic religions have been replaced by right- wing nationalist and extremists, who thrive on supremacist ideologies, and greed. This wolf-like instinct dominates in few powerful countries. President Biden has wished greetings to Muslims on Eid-ul-Azha, while millions of innocent Palestinian Muslims and Christians face relentless bombing and attacks, on what should have been a day of rejoicing. There is not even a word of condemnation from President Biden, nor any call for a temporary halt in bombing, using weapons supplied by USA, UK etc. Even the façade of a call for token cessation during Eid festivities is not there. White phosphorous bombs, which have been declared as chemical weapons are being used in densely populated civilian areas. This has resulted in killing innocent men, women and children living in the world’s biggest concentration camp Gaza, where over 2.4Million Palestinians are living in conditions, far worse than any other place on earth. Over 37,337 human beings have been killed and over 85,299 injured in Israel’s war in Gaza, whose only fault is that they are Palestinians by birth and descent. Gaza was never part of Kingdom of David and Solomon. Yet, the Zionists and their supporters, justify this brutal war on basis of myths, that this was part of Kingdom of David. Even Gaza, where for thousands of years Palestinians have been living, including the time of Jesus Christ is being claimed by them.
Prophet Jesus Christ (PBUH) was born in Bethlehem near Jerusalem and was crucified there. Compare this to 5th January 2023 call by Patriarch Krill, head of Russian Orthodox Church, who called on both sides for a temporary cessation of hostilities in Ukraine for an Eastern Orthodox Christmas truce. Russian President ordered a 36-hour temporary ceasefire starting on 6 January, but this was not agreed upon by Ukraine and their supporters. Both Ukraine and Moscow celebrated Christmas for over 1000 years on 7 January in accordance with Julian calendar, as have Serbia and Georgia. Despite all these contradictions and double standards, there is a silver lining and hope based on students protesting against Gaza genocide in USA, UK and across Europe.
Wars are fought between two states having well equipped armies. IDF is considered to be a disciplined force. It has an army, navy and air-force equipped with latest lethal bombs, missiles, tanks and fighter jets. It is engaged in a self-declared war against a rag-tag group of resistance fighters of a territory, under their siege and occupation. Gaza has become a graveyard for children, women and the elderly. Even the taxes collected from local Palestinians, living in Gaza and West Bank, are deposited in Israel treasury and disbursed by them solely at their discretion. Yet, despite all this, the Israeli bombing and killing is termed as a war, instead of a planned ethnic cleansing, with declared objectives by orthodox Zionists in PM Netanyahu’s cabinet for a greater Israel, extending from the river to the sea, including parts of Jordan and Syria. The brutal killings are justified as collateral damage. IDF is supposed to conform to international norms and Geneva Conventions, which clearly makes it obligatory on them, as an occupation force, to protect basic human rights of citizens living under their control. What happened in October was a result of this occupation. There is no doubt that killing of innocent citizens of Israel, living on land recently occupied by them, after forcefully evicting thousands of Palestinians who were living there for centuries, should have been avoided. The Wolf-like mindset of Israeli extremist Zionists and their supporters in America has blinded them to teachings of Prophet Moses PBUH.
The majority Christians population in USA, UK etc seem to have forgotten what Prophet Jesus Christ PBUH preached all his life. The Wolf within them seems to have prevailed. Their Christian values and respect for all human beings is in hibernation, overtaken by global strategic interests, hostage to few extremist white supremacists, committed more to Zionists beliefs then Christian values. Former President Carter, himself a devout Evangelist Christian, termed Israel an “Apartheid State”, worse than South Africa. He describes the wall built on Palestinian land worse than Berlin wall built by the communists, because this wall is built to carve out more land for settlements. The original idea was to build this along the 1967 borders. While speaking to Council for Foreign Relations almost 13 years ago, President Carter referred to the religious extreme fundamentalists within Evangelical Church as follows “there is a substantial group of Christians who believe that the final coming of Jesus Christ can only occur after the entire Holy land is taken over by Israel, and that includes destruction of Dome on the Rock and other Arab or non-Christian groups. In the final stage it calls for the execution or conversion of all Jews to Christianity. —They believe very firmly in it and they play a major part in raising funds to promote settlements on West Bank and Gaza and they also condemn any withdrawal from Holy Lands”. Frank Robertson a spokesperson of this group termed the killing of former PM Ariel Sharon as God’s punishment for holding peace talks. President Carter, himself a practicing evangelical stated that “technically speaking Gaza was never part of Kingdom of David and Solomon and it was controlled by Palestinians.”
Such extremist ideologies prevailing in powerful Western countries is a recipe for disaster. WW11 started when such an extremist fascist, who believed that the German race was superior to others, got the popular vote. We need to see the writing on the wall. Humanity and morality must prevail, so that the world is saved from an impending disaster and an Armageddon.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
