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Al-Aqsa
under attack
The Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, is under siege of the Israeli forces, but the Muslim world seems to be helpless against the Zionist tyranny.
What was more worrisome was that – amid Israeli police incursion – the cleric of the Al-Aqsa mosque was calling for help from the Islamic world through mosque loud-speakers on Monday.
In Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinian families are being thrown out of their homes by government-backed Israeli settlers.
Many Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids on the besieged Gaza Strip and hundreds are wounded.
However, if this so had happened in the United States, it would have labelled it as a terrorist attack by Muslims.
So, why now the US is not calling it an ‘Israeli Apartheid’? In fact, Israel is a close ally of the US.
Israeli military forces are founded by the US, of which the September 14, 2016 agreement is a clear example of it whereby the US had committed $38 billion over ten years to military assistance for Israel.
Moreover, Israeli forces have trespassed the Palestinian territory which is utterly against international law.
Under international law, none of these lands, including East Jerusalem, considered as the part of the occupied Palestinian territory and the ‘Old City’, belongs to Israel.
Israel has been controlling it for the last fifty years after the Six-Day 1967 War. So, how long do we stay silent? This is the defining moment for the Islamic world to raise voice unanimously against Israel.
ABDUL MUSAWIR HAKRO
Ghotki, Sindh
Thou shall
not kill
Man’s capacity for barbarism and senseless slaughter as displayed in Gaza, would surprise even the wolves in the jungle.
While it is the belief of all three monotheistic religions, including the Jews, in the commandment Thou Shall Not Kill, yet hatred and greed blinds the Zionists and their supporters in the West, who never tire of talking about human rights.
Hypocrisy at its worst is what we witness, when the so-called leaders of the free world justify the barbaric bombardment of Palestinians by one of the most powerful armies in the Mid-East, as Israel’s right of defence in response to crude rockets fired by the victims.
The Iron Dome neutralizes the rockets fired by helpless Palestinians, while the Arab countries seem unmoved by the enormity of the tragedy that afflicts over two million Palestinians living in the most densely populated area in the world.
What could be more comical than the argument of using human shields to justify the bombing and collateral damage inflicted, resulting in the death of nearly two hundred Palestinians including almost 50 children.
The Zionists are the biggest threat to the safety of the world’s Jews. Extremist Zionists rejoicing the slaughter and suffering of Palestinians would invite only the wrath of Almighty Allah SWT.
If Nazi’s ruthless schemes of extermination and ethnic cleansing did not succeed and the Jews survived, so will the Palestinians emerge as a more united and stronger people.
One only hopes that unlike the Jews who were persecuted by Nazis, yet many within them, rejoice in assuming the role of persecutors, this cycle of violence will cease and peace prevail in the Kingdom of Heavens, where holy sites of all three monotheistic faiths exist.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Covid-19
Even though the second wave of Covid-19 is wreaking havoc, we see that many people are neither wearing masks nor following the standard operating procedures.
he wearing of masks should be made mandatory for all; those found without the same should be fined heavily, even if they are ministers or other VIPs. We should be prepared to tackle the third wave so that it doesn’t hit us hard.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Towards cautious reconciliation?
The holding of secret talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad is a step towards confidence building between two arch rivals.
This desire for reducing past differences and looking for a shared future is partially driven by the changing political dynamics of the Middle East.
With a new American Administration in office which is disengaging itself from the Middle East, the regional states are adjusting their priorities to preserve their respective interests.
The real agenda of the talks, revealed privately by Iraqi sources, is the war in Yemen and Iranian involvement in Syria and Iraq.
The talks are a good omen for the Muslim world in general as these enable it to find new ways of building mutual understanding among the Arab and non-Arab nations.
With two historical rivals, now on a single page, it would be easier for the collective Muslim Ummah to fight against the rhetoric of Islamophobia which is causing damage to Islam.
This united Muslim front will no doubt be supplemented by close Saudi-Iran ties in giving a strong message to the prevalent anti-Islamic narrative in the world.
The development brought a light of hope for the people of Yemen. The UN called the severe human conditions in Yemen as the “largest humanitarian crisis in the world” with majority of population in need of humanitarian aid.
Therefore, Baghdad talks is a clear window of opportunity for Arab states to play their decisive role in the de-escalation of tension.
Simultaneously, forming a mutual defence cooperation to fight against terrorism and extremism could facilitate to bridge the lacuna of sectarian rift as well.
This can be done by forming rational policies at regional level and asking for the help of those friendly nations that have dealt with similar notorious elements quite professionally.
MALIK WALEED SHAHZAD
Via email
