Opinion 
 

Muslim Ummah

The Lonely Muslim

Some voices about Israel’s continuous oppression tactics against the Palestinians
may exist in European countries, but these are stifled as such
criticism is considered to be a crime in the West.

By Nikhat Sattar | September 2020

“Instead of being one of the leaders of world civilization, the Islamic world was quickly and permanently reduced to a dependent bloc by the European powers. The European invasion of the Islamic world was not uniform, but it was thorough and effective.”

This statement by Karen Armstrong speaks volumes for the state of the Muslim world even today. Having built their resources from wealth looted from colonized nations and strengthening their economies on the basis of slave labour, Western countries decided that they would maintain power over global institutions and countries by virtue of their technology and military and economic strength. In the post-colonization world, Muslim countries face incompetence, terror, repression, wars and instability through the combined tactics of the West and their own elite. It is no coincidence that while the Middle East, with a large Muslim population, contributes to 27 per cent of global oil production, it is the least influential factor in global policy-making and international affairs.

Since WWII, the West has ensured that it does not engage in wars within its member nations, but it has, as a matter of strategy, intervened, incited, encouraged and pitched weaker countries against each other, sometimes by supporting dictators and suppressing people; sometimes by providing arms and sometimes by deliberate blocking of peace-building efforts. The number of countries in which wars have been fought by the US is mind-boggling: Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait, Sudan and, more recently, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. Millions have died and millions more wounded. However, two festering centres of suffering on the one hand and oppression on the other, are Kashmir and Palestine. Britain played an important role in the hasty division of the sub-continent in 1947 and by the position it took in the UN Assembly in 1948 as one of the five permanent members. It has been sitting on the fence since then, even as India removed Kashmir’s special status in August 2019. Despite daily human rights violations, neither the UNSC nor the OIC have taken up Kashmir seriously.

A second and equally significant event took place in 1917, when, after defeating the Ottoman Empire, Britain (with tacit support from the US and France), made a public pledge: “The Balfour Declaration” declaring its aim to establish a home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. In the words of Edward Said, “it was made by a European power … about a non-European territory … in a flat disregard of both the presence and wishes of the native majority resident in that territory”. At that time, the Jewish population in Palestine was just about 10 percent. By 1947, the population of Jews had increased to 27 percent, Jewish institutions were set up and the army strengthened. These preparations culminated in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs (the Nakba incident), as Zionist soldiers expelled 750,000 (over 80 percent) Palestinians from their homelands in 1947 when the British moved out suddenly and without putting a structure in place. This was also the precursor to the constant conflict between Israel and Palestinians that has caused unbearable suffering to the latter. Zionist forces attacked 530 villages and killed around 13,000 Palestinians. Refugees number 7 million now.

In 1948, the UN general Assembly passed a resolution, dividing Palestine into three regions: one state each for Jews and the Arabs and Jerusalem which would be managed through an international mandate. The resolution and the delineation of boundaries was so politically charged and lobbied that almost all Middle Eastern countries, as well as India and Pakistan voted against it. The plan was never put into action.

Israel continues to increase its financial, military and political power while the Palestinians struggle to survive. Israel’s occupation covers a large part of the original Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinians have been turned out of their homes that have either been demolished or occupied by Jew families. A high, 700 km long barbed wire wall in the West Bank had divided families. Currently, Israel has promised to annex (and has begun to) a third of the West Bank, according to a plan proposed by Trump, despite international pressure to refrain from doing so.

Since 1948, innumerable recommendations, peace plans and resolutions have been prepared and several committees set up. Every attempt to curtail international law violation by Israel has been foiled, by the latter’s refusal, emboldened by the US using its veto powers. In 2018, the UN General Assembly issued 27 condemnations against its member countries and 21 of them were against Israel, making it the world’s most condemned nation. However, the United States has used its veto power 43 times to protect Israel. Trump has also recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved his embassy there and has ensured in the UN that no Israeli ever is tried for war crimes. The peace process between Israel and Palestine has moved from being deadlocked in 2010 to being dead in 2020.

The US has been financing Israel heavily since 1967; its annual aid to the latter is around US$ 4 billion, up by 450 percent since 1967. This figure either remains constant or increases each year as Israel tightens its foothold in the region. Some voices regarding Israel’s continuous oppression tactics against the Palestinians may be found among European countries, but these are stifled as criticism of Israel is considered to be anti-Semitic, a crime in the West. The question of why the US in particular and Europe in general remain firmly behind Israel’s disdain of the rights of Palestinian people has been asked by many. The main reason is geopolitical designs in the Middle East and control over the oil resources that has determined the strategy of successive US governments. Israel is seen to be the bulwark against perceived designs of Iran and threats of Syria prompted by Russia and the distant possibility of the US losing its hegemonic grip over other countries in the world. Israel also offers the US a huge market and conduit for its arms industry. However, the religious aspect cannot be ruled out.

Zealot Christians who believe that Jew control of the holy land will be a precursor for the second coming of Christ are fully behind the Republicans. For them, the battle in Palestine is one between the Israelis and the Philistines. This is compounded by increasing Islamophobia both in the US and Europe and rampant racism against Arabs, especially since 9/11.

The issue of who owns Jerusalem is a hot one. Had the original UN resolution of internationalizing the city been implemented, better sense may have prevailed. Jerusalem is home to the Temple Mount, and the Western Wall, both highly sanctified sites in Judaism. In Islamic history, it was the first Muslim Qiblah. It is also where Prophet Muhammad’s Isra’ and Mi’raj journey had taken place. Thus, Jerusalem is holy land for all three Abrahamic religions.

While Palestine strikes a sensitive chord in most Muslims, their leaders have been unable to do much about the destruction that has been wreaked upon Palestinians, barring mere words. Particularly culpable are Saudi Arabia and to some extent, Egypt and Jordan. The silence of the Saudi government on Israeli atrocities can be traced to the Balfour Declaration, at which time it is believed that the former had struck a deal with the British on keeping quiet about Israel in return for Wahabi control in the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia’s links with Israel are also determined by the enmity between it and Iran. In this sense, the interests of the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East are convergent.

The global population of Muslims continues to rise, having reached 1.9 billion, but they remain scattered and isolated, without a global voice. They have been pushed into a corner through multiple calamities: impoverishment, daily killing and torture, displacement and separation of families. They are accused of harbouring terrorism, while terrorist states continue to be backed up. The UN has failed miserably, as has the OIC, to fulfill their mandate

*The article was written before the UAE and Israel signed a peace deal.

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The writer is a development professional, researcher, translator and columnist with an interest in religion and socio-political issues. She can be reached at nikhat_sattar@yahoo.com
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