For over the last two weeks in occupied Jerusalem and besieged Gaza Strip in the Middle East, the Israeli military and extremist groups have been carrying out unprecedented attacks and killings on Palestinians. More than 225 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more injured in both airstrikes and ground attacks. Most of the houses in Gaza have already been razed to the ground. Due to the Israeli blockade both economically and geographically, Palestinians are severely stricken by hunger, poverty and unemployment. This indiscriminate massacre, bloodshed and attack targeting an unarmed population is nothing but a genocide. We strongly condemn these killings and bloodshed and call for an immediate end to the Israeli attacks on the Palestinians.
Earlier this week, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wrote to Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, expressing her concern over the recent incidents and solidarity to the Palestine people. The letter correctly reflects our national stance. At the virtual meeting of the OIC Executive Committee on the same day, our foreign minister too said there is no alternative to establishing lasting peace in Palestine. We think the first and foremost thing, in the effort to establish peace, is to stop the ongoing attacks immediately. Israel must move away from such recklessness in the future. We expect an active and sincere role by the international community, including the United Nations (UN), in this regard.
The issue of control over Jerusalem is one of the most sensitive issues to the international community, including the UN, who have been working for seven decades to bring a ‘two-state’ solution to the persisting conflicts. It is beyond doubt that the recent stance by the United States (US) over the Palestinian issue has aggravated Israeli attacks on Gaza and Jerusalem. It is unfortunate that US President Joe Biden has walked on the footsteps of former US president Donald Trump whose recklessness in recognising Israel’s sole right to Jerusalem was a major deviation from the US-led foreign policy. This US stance has further weakened the global acceptance of the US as a mediator in the Palestine-Israel issue.
It will not be an overstatement to say that the United States played a significant role in strengthening Israel’s current position in the Middle East. One may remember that in December 2017, Washington recognised Jerusalem – one of the oldest cities in the Middle East and considered sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jewish – as the capital of Israel. Donald Trump did not stop with the recognition only but relocated their embassy there.
However, the US position cannot define the human and political rights of the Palestinian people in the Middle East.
Unfortunately for the world system, the United Nations too has failed miserably. Even this international body has failed to condemn and protest the ongoing attacks on Palestine. The tone the UN secretary general used to call the Israeli attacks “horrible and unacceptable” proves the world body’s frailty to the US desire.
One has little doubt that the turmoil that began in the first week of this month has been fuelled by provocative Israeli actions. The outrageous remarks by the current prime minister of Israel prove that the attacks were pre-planned. The aggressive state must be stopped in the interest of peace and stability in the Middle East, as well as the world. We want the international community to stand by the Palestinians. The Muslim world also has no alternative to forming a united position. An independent Palestinian state is possible if the international community sincerely wants.
