War is a defeat for humanity.
– Pope John Paul II
For the last month, we have been disturbed by the mass killing that is happening in the land of Gaza.
We feel an overwhelming sense of sympathy for the Palestinians as well as anger towards Israel.
Each and every day, we see what is happening on the ground where more and more are killed in what the West is calling as “war”.
The victims are the Palestinians. It is a shooting competition for the Israel army and the targets are Palestinian civilians.
The world now can see through the deceptions of the West. This is a mass killing, not battle; not war; but an attempt at ethnic cleansing, perpetrated by a tyrant regime.
That much is clear. While attempts are made to distort the facts of the matter through blatant one-sided reporting by western media, the reporting by independent media suggests otherwise.
Malaysia has been vocal in its position to criticise the gross violation of human rights in Gaza, joining the growing international call for a ceasefire.
On Wednesday, Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah appealed to world leaders to pressure for an end to the madness when speaking at the United for Peace in Palestine summit in Istanbul, Turkiye.
“I stand here not only as a Queen, but as a mother, with my own children who I love dearly. I stand here as a human being and we must use our voice to say ‘Stop, enough is enough’!
“I speak for every one of them and as a Muslim, I want to remind you that it is our duty as human beings to demand an end to all hostilities. As it has been said, ‘War brings pain, not gain. Let’s choose peace to prosper’.
“Let us be on the right side of history so when our future generations look back on us, they will be proud of what we did – successfully calling for a ceasefire, supporting humanity and standing together for peace,” she said in her address.
Her Majesty’s views were echoed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who said: “There are no two ways about it. We condemn terrorism, in all its forms, and we categorically condemn the actions of killing innocent lives and taking women and children as hostages.
“Ultimately, this isn’t about which God we pray to. After all, the more than 11,000 victims in Gaza comprise Muslims and Christians as well as nationalities of various countries.
“This is about preventing more deaths, more suffering and more hate. Proponents of the Palestinian cause are neither purveyors of hate speech nor supporters of terrorism.”
As crude as it sounds, this is the prevailing notion in the community, where there are still fence-sitters who are reluctant in their condemnation of Israel.
It is not about which God we pray to; it is about calling out a genocide and speaking truth to power.
Recently, the call by certain quarters for Sarawak not to accept refugees from Palestine made waves.
The sentiment that accepting refugees might not be best solution to this crisis given past experiences of Rohingya refugees in the country as well as the influx of foreigners in neighbour state, Sabah can be agreed upon.
However, some took this opportunity while giving their views on rejecting refugees, to show their true colours that is being prejudicial to Muslims.
They outright labelled Palestinians as being people of “violence” and “hatred”. Not only does this display their ignorance on the matter as well as the situation in Gaza, but also their mindset.
Somehow, they have this preconceived notion that this is still about supporting one religion when in fact it is for a humanitarian cause.
As former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “It is heart wrenching to see children in Gaza, running around looking for their parents who are most probably dead.
“For goodness’ sake, these are children, the same age as our children, our grandchildren, whom we would fuss over even after insect bite.”
Israel must be taken to task for its crimes and atrocities against the people of Gaza. The Muslim world must be united in pressuring other countries to join the call for a ceasefire and end to the conflict.
As for us, while we are entitled to our own views, the topic of religion is not fair game. The sensitivity of the community must be respected.
I end with a quote, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say nothing at all.”
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
