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Editorials

Zionists Massacre Palestinians in Gaza

Editor

For the Zionists, Palestinian lives have no value. They are able to get away, literally with murder because Western regimes, especially the US, support them. This is what happened in Gaza on May 14 when 61 Palestinians among them six children were murdered in cold blood. Nearly 2,700 others were injured, some crippled for life. Israeli commanders confirmed that soldiers had orders to shoot to kill using live ammunition against unarmed protesters. Between March 30 and May 14, the Zionist occupiers had already murdered 90 Palestinians and injured thousands of others.

The protests launched on March 30 to press for the Right of Return were to culminate on May 15 when the Palestinians commemorate the Nakbah (Catastrophe). May 15 marked its 70th anniversary. Adding insult to injury, it coincided with the US shift of embassy to Jerusalem. While US officials, diplomats, and pastors were celebrating the embassy move, Israeli soldiers were busy slaughtering innocent Palestinians.

When Kuwait tried to raise the issue at the UN Security Council on May 15, US Ambassador Nikki Hailey (real name Nirmata Kaur Randhawa) not only vetoed it but she praised Israel for showing “restraint.” What planet does this Indian woman live on? She cannot praise Israel enough; if the Zionists carry out a massacre, she calls it Israel’s right to “self-defence.” This is the mantra repeated ad nauseum by all Western rulers to cover up Zionist crimes.

Israeli snipers using high velocity rifles with explosive bullets as well as tear-gas shells fired from drones targeted Palestinian civilians as well as journalists and medical professionals. Canadian doctor Tarek Loubani was among those shot and wounded by the Zionists. On May 15, the Palestinians were busy burying their dead or caring for the injured amid dwindling medical supplies.

Despite scenes of horrific carnage shown on television, some Western regimes sought refuge behind calling for both sides to “show restraint.” Is there any equivalency between victims and their oppressors? And what restraint should the Palestinians exercise: take their occupation in silence while Zionist Israel starves them to death? The UN has described conditions in Gaza as “intolerable.”

The Gaza protests were the collective response of ordinary Palestinians against a barbaric colonization. They showed with their feet and bare bodies that they are fed up of living in a vast prison and insist on returning to their ancestral homes. This was one of the conditions Israel had to accept before it was admitted as member of the UN in 1948.

Only by considering the grim reality of life in Gaza can one begin to understand the Palestinians’ frustration. They are bottled up in a tiny strip and prevented from even leaving. On two sides they are besieged by Israel, which also controls their air space as well as access to the sea; Gaza’s Rafah Crossing with Egypt is similarly blocked and the Israeli navy prevents Palestinian fishermen from going beyond a couple of miles. Much of the water near the coast is contaminated with sewage because Gaza’s treatment plants are broken due to lack of spare parts, again due to the Israeli siege.

More than 90% of Gaza’s water supply is contaminated and electricity is available for only a few hours per day. Many hospitals lack critical supplies and those injured by Israeli bullets, including babies have to be operated on often without anesthesia. One can imagine the pain of those whose flesh is being cut with the doctor’s knife without anesthesia. Not so for the takfiris who have routinely treated in Israel.

While we can highlight Zionist barbarism and complain about Western hypocrisy, what about the Muslim rulers, especially those in the Muslim East? Why have they adopted a deathly silence in the face of such crimes? Muslims must be clear that these regimes are the root cause of their problems. They are illegitimate and oppressive, but most importantly, cowardly. They are agents of imperialism and Zionism. Unless they are removed from power, the prospects of the liberation of Palestine would remain low. One country — Islamic Iran — liberated through an Islamic revolution from the clutches of imperialism and Zionism has shown what can be achieved. If a few more Muslim countries are similarly liberated, the days of the Zionist regime in colonized Palestine will be numbered. Once Palestine is liberated, then all people — Muslims, Christians, and Jews — can live as equal citizens under the law and in peace in the Holy Land.


Article from

Crescent International Vol. 47, No. 4

Ramadan 16, 14392018-06-01


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