By Ahsan Qazi

In The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, Ibn Khaldun writes, “Throughout history, many nations have suffered a physical defeat, but that has never marked the end of a nation. But when a nation has become the victim of a psychological defeat, then that marks the end of a nation.” Palestinians have been oppressed for over 56 years. Prior to the creation of Israel in 1948, Palestine, a country under British mandate, had a population of around 70% Palestinians. In 1948, Palestinians possessed 90% of the privately held land there. Around 30% of the population was made up of Jews, many of whom had immigrated from Europe, and they held roughly 6.5% of the land. By 2023, Palestinians have seen their rights, land, private property, and children taken from them in the most barbaric manner yet stand, despite the deep psychological and physical trauma inflicted upon them by the global Western powers and the main oppressor, Israel.

With Benjamin Netanyahu’s return and his alignment with the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionist Party (RZP), which also includes the far-right Kahanist Otzma Yehudit Party and the Noam Party, Netanyahu returned to power with a clear goal, “the Jewish people have exclusive and indisputable rights.” Netanyahu’s return was a great sign of the danger for Palestinians, and it proved true. To establish exclusivity and undisputable rights, Netanyahu’s determination to establish Israel’s domination of the Palestinians is seen through his lethal bombardment and aggressive rhetoric. The genocide of Palestinians happening presently is evidence of establishing such dominance.

Upon his return as the Prime Minister, the Associated Press (AP) reported back in December 2022 that “His new government has pledged to prioritize settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, extend massive subsidies to his ultra-Orthodox allies and push for sweeping reform of the judicial system that critics say could endanger the country’s democratic institutions.” How did the settlement expansion happen? The world is now witnessing one of the very signs of the advancement of expansion. Given the recent eruption of the Israel-Palestine conflict, triggered in early October 2023, the Palestinian genocide escalated to a dangerous level, and such a situation magnified the hypocrisy of Western governments that allied with Israel and gave a free hand to Israel to conduct its vicious assault on Palestinians. Biden’s request of $106 billion for a combined package for Israel and Ukraine demonstrates the United States' enablement of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and complete destruction.

5,600 Palestinians are dead because of Israel’s barbaric bombings, and the Palestinians who are alive have no food, electricity, water, or homes. The Human Rights Watch organization reported in another article, “Israel: 50 Years of Occupation Abuses,” that “At least five categories of major violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law characterize the occupation: unlawful killings; forced displacement; abusive detention; the closure of the Gaza Strip and other unjustified restrictions on movement; and the development of settlements, along with the accompanying discriminatory policies that disadvantage Palestinians.

Israel has violated the United Nations charter (i.e., Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention) and has repeatedly committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2001, the Human Rights Watch organization reported in “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution” that “The crime of apartheid under the Apartheid Convention and Rome Statute consists of three primary elements: an intent to maintain a system of domination by one racial group over another; systematic oppression by one racial group over another; and one or more inhuman acts, as defined, carried out on a widespread or systematic basis pursuant to those policies.” The madness of the Israeli government, especially Netanyahu and his war cabinet has surpassed the basic elements of humanity. Since Israel’s existence, its government has violated and broken international laws. This raises many questions then, what has happened to humanity’s sense of justice? What was the United Nations and NATO, the peace keeping force, meant for? Is justice at the mercy of dominant powers that plunder foreign lands, subvert non-Western cultures, and implement tactics designed to destroy the identity of foreign nations and individuals who are oppressed to the extreme. Palestinians need saving and Israel’s government needs to be brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for breaking international law and violating human rights.  

The occupied state of Palestine has been under Israel’s brutal occupation resulting in the cruelest form of oppression. The Global Centre for Responsibility to Protect points out in their report, “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” published on August 21, 2023, that “The Special Rapporteur determined in July 2021 that Israel’s occupation since 1967 has been characterized by settlement expansion that aims to permanently alter the ethnic demographics of East Jerusalem and amounts to a war crime. The UN Security Council (UNSC) previously adopted a resolution in December 2016 reaffirming that Israeli settlements in the OPT violate international law.” The Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) further goes back to the Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued in 1917 that the British government issued at their own whim to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine. At whose permission and approval were the British able to make such an unethical decision.

The genocide of Palestinians is happening right before us and so many elements of hypocrisy and falseness are at play that saving Palestinian is not discussed in the media nor it is the aim of the global powers. Any resistance of Palestinians is termed as “terrorism” by the very forces who control the media and aid the oppressor, Israel. We are accepting of aid getting to Palestinians, but we are afraid to tell Israel to cease in their continuation of Palestinians’ genocide. We would like to see trucks of food, water, and medical supplies get to Palestinians, but we are afraid to mobilize international institutions that can place sanctions on Israel just as sanctions are placed on Russia, Iran, and North Korea to stop. Israel tells Palestinians to move south or be seen as a 'terrorist' partner, to further bomb the Palestinians in the south. Palestinians have no escape from Netanyahu and his war cabinet’s vengeance.

We have become numb to humane and ethical values that stand firm to protect and honor justice. With each political figure that takes the center stage in the world, we witness more madness. We are witnessing the madness of Netanyahu and his war cabinet. Unfortunately, no neutral or just institution exists that can stand up for Palestinians or will stand for Palestinians. Is it not hypocritical of the Western nations to unite and send financial aid and military aid to Ukraine but not allow any other nation to intervene on behalf of Palestinians or even send Palestinians aid to stand up against Israeli oppression. Furthermore, what has happened to the Muslim monarchs, presidents, and sultans with massive armies? What would mobilize the Muslim nations to stand for the very people who are part of the Muslim “ummah?”

The world that now mourns the past atrocity of Holocaust and questions how people let Holocaust happen is silent at the genocide happening before them. Netanyahu who mentions the word “Holocaust” in his public speeches is engaged in his own fierce rage of wiping out the Palestinians and removing the Palestinians from what the world knows as the “open jail.” No global institution has spoken or taken a stand for Palestinians. The fact that where the word “occupied” appears next to the name of a certain territory is enough to indicate that a territory that belonged to a native group has been forcefully taken from the native population.

The world and the politics of modern day are in the hands of mad men whose desire of wealth and power have led them to commit mass atrocities. Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Kashmir, Palestine, Rohingya Muslims, Uygur Muslims all have seen the madness of both domestic and Western forces that either destroyed, displaced the native population, or stayed silent at their plight. The United States of America that exerts itself as the moral and ethical beacon for the world to follow because of its ideals has always accepted Israel and its brutal oppression of Palestine. Why are Palestinians’ lives lesser than a Western or an Israeli life? It is not Israel that deserved a billion-dollar aid package but Palestinians who are being killed in massive numbers, locked in their territory with no escape from the chaos, and no basic necessities such as water, food, or fuel. 

A Palestinian hospital was bombed yet President Biden who took his intelligence from the very force that is committing genocide blamed the Palestinians. When one thinks that a just leader will emerge somewhere that will speak and act with a sense of justice, the world is reminded that the modern-day world is being run by men who no longer function with ethical, moral, and just views. Instead, the world is run by mad men who display hypocritical standards, side with the forces of oppression, and turn a blind eye to those who truly need the assistance of institutions with neutrality and a sense of justice. Our world is in the hands of politicians who failed the masses. When will we remove our blindness to a controlled media, mad politicians, and all those authorities who continue to let the world burn? When will we wake up? Who will save the Palestinians? Netanyahu may destroy the Palestinians physically, but the will and the name of Palestine will never die. We are all Palestine.