ANALYSIS of the Palestinian situation: The present situation is extremely disturbing, dreadful, and disastrous. There is a dire menace of a Third World War. The Prime Minister of Israel had lost his image and position as a politician and ruler before the incident of the attack on the Jews by Hamas. He took it as a blessing in disguise and announced the complete annihilation of the civilians of Gaza, which he is mercilessly doing. He has inflamed the religious emotions of the Israelis and has unleashed unprecedented genocide on the unarmed civilians. He is taking advantage of the situation and is dragging the world towards a Third World War.
On the false plea of self-defence, he is killing men, women, and children. I was stunned to see a picture in a newspaper in which a dog was carrying the dead body of a baby from Gaza in his mouth to eat him. This picture should have been sufficient to shake the conscience of the evil forces that are supporting the genocide of the innocent civilians of Gaza. Two years ago, another sight shattered my nerves. A ten-year-old boy was killed by an Israeli soldier on the roadside. The Israeli soldier had put his foot on the neck of that child and was pressing his foot to kill him. Another Israeli soldier was standing close by and enjoying this horrible act. The baby cried and said he was suffocating, but he was choked to death. Why was a ten-year-old kid strangled to death? Was he a terrorist or a freedom fighter? What was his fault? Nothing, except that he was a Muslim. Under such bestial conditions, the people have no other choice but to fight back. Israel is a terrorist state and for the last seven decades, it has been involved in the killings of innocent civilians of Palestine. According to UN decisions, the people have full right to take arms against illegal occupation forces. Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian territories and has violated UN resolutions.
Which solution to adopt: Under the circumstances, what should the Palestinians do? The UN has totally failed to resolve the conflicts between different nations. Palestine and Kashmir are still on the agenda of the UN and for the last seven decades, they have been waiting to be resolved amicably but to no avail. According to UN resolutions, the only peaceful solution to the Middle East Crisis is the establishment of the Two-State Formula.
Analogies of long UN resolutions in Palestine and Kashmir (Asia): There are some analogies with the solution of the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan as a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir. The Kashmiris were given the right to self-determination by the UN in 1948, but to date, India has not conceded and thrown the UN resolutions into a dustbin. India is also an aggressor. For the last seven decades, India has been massively massacring defenceless Kashmiris.
On 5 August 2019, India abrogated Articles 370 and 35/A from its constitution that granted Kashmiris the right to a plebiscite, and India forcibly annexed Kashmir. This revocation is an abominable ferocious act. How can India annul Article 370 of its constitution? This act is not only against the Indian constitution, but it is also against UN resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiris who are the real owners of Kashmir. Both Israel and India are violators of UN resolutions. Then, why do they remain UN members? Why is their membership not cancelled? Article 6 of the UN charter says that if there is a dispute between two countries, then they should bilaterally decide it. If they cannot bilaterally decide, then by mutual consent, they should seek mediation of any third country to resolve the issue amicably between them. If they do not reach any agreement and there is a menace of war, then automatically Article 7 of the UN charter will apply.
This article imposes economic sanctions and diplomatic severance on the aggressor country and, if needed, military action against the violator of the UN resolutions. Israel and India are usurpers, illegal occupiers, aggressors, and fascist states, then why is action not taken against them according to Article 7 of the UN Charter? This shows the dubious character of the UN. This is the double standard of partisan politics and hypocrisy. This shows deep-rooted religious hatred against Muslims.
Conclusions: The UN is for all. It is to maintain peace and justice but it has totally failed in its mission and agenda. Russia has been exercising Veto power against Kashmir and America has been using Veto power against Palestine. Five countries have Veto power: America, England, France, Russia, and China. The first three are Christian states and the last two are Communist states. Where are the 57 Muslim countries? There is no representation of Muslims in powerful countries. Recently, the President of Malaysia raised a question in the UN General Assembly and proposed that the power assigned to five countries to veto must be finished as no issue can be resolved by using their partisan interests and their involvement in global politics. He proposed that let the majority votes of the members of the Security Council decide the conflicts. I endorse his proposal as this is the only way to protect the rights of oppressed nations. The way the Israelis are killing the civilians of Gaza and the resolution tabled in the UN to end the war of Gaza has been vetoed by America is not only shocking but aggravating the situation as well. The Muslim world is much disturbed, rather frustrated on the misuse of veto power. They have lost their faith in the UN. They consider the UN as a maid of America. This is not in favour of America. America is a superpower and has much responsibility to save the world from the Third World War. America and its Western allies should pressurize Israel and India to stop aggression and genocide and implement the UN resolutions. America can win the love and sympathies of the whole Muslim world, if the issues of Palestine and Kashmir are resolved according to the UN resolutions.
If America and Russia act irresponsibly, the fate of the UN will be like the fate of The League of Nations which failed because of its being partial. There are some think tanks that propose to quit the UN and form a New Bloc to protect the rights of the aggressed nations. They say that let Russia, China, Muslim countries, SARK countries, like India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and the Republicans which got freedom from the USSR join together. On one side, America and some European countries will have their Bloc and on the other side, anti-American should unite. In my opinion, it will be very dangerous for world peace. The day these two blocs will collide, that will be the complete collapse of the world. That will be the Third World War and the end of the world in the words of the great British philosopher Bertrand Russell, who in his book titled “Has Man a Future”, had predicted that the brandishing sword is over our heads and ready to behead humanity. It seems that people like Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, and Narendra Modi are playing with flames and are preparing the ground for the Third World War for their political ambitions. The recent rallies and protests of the students of American, France, and German universities are an eye-opener for their government. What are their slogans? They are simply demanding a peaceful and amicable solution to the Middle East Conflict. These were the slogans of the students: “Free Palestine”; “End War”; “No Genocide”. Are these slogans against UN resolutions? Some TV channels were interviewing these young students. Everyone said that the genocide of the people of Gaza is illegal and inhumane. It is against International Law. It must be immediately stopped. I was astonished when a young girl in her interview said she is Jewish. She is not a Zionist. She further opined that the genocide of the civilians of Gaza is inhumane and she strongly condemned it and demanded the immediate end of the war.
What is Zionism? It is the plan of Theodore Herzel to occupy the Palestine territory and establish the Israeli state and then occupy the other Muslim territories including Mecca and Medina. The Muslim rulers are handcuffed, legs fettered, and lips tied as they do not represent the people of their countries. If Israel is not stopped today, tomorrow nobody can stop Israel from occupying the holy places of Muslims. Israel has expansionist designs. Greater Israel is the ultimate plan of the Zionists.
We all are humans. We must unite and live with peace and shun religious extremism and racial discrimination. We need love and we need respect for all races and religions. We must oppose violence and aggression. Humanity is indivisible. Peace is indivisible. Justice is indivisible. When we become partial and prejudiced, then the plights like the First Holocaust of the Jews at the hands of fascist Adolf Hitler and the Second Holocaust of the Palestinians at the hands of Benjamin Netanyahu are bound to occur.
—The writer is a former Advisor to the AJK Government, Professor of English Literature, currently based in New York
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