Friday Jottings: Of cowards, dignity and courage
AMID the outpouring of disgust directed at Israel for its barbarity in Palestine, voices are growing louder among pro-Palestinian factions over what is perceived as spinelessness among Arab-Muslim leaders.
To them, last week’s Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit is a continuation of what their predecessors were – issuing a strong-worded communique, criticising Israel and the Western world, demanding a ceasefire and allowing the channelling of aid to Palestinians.
Such a communique, to the pro-Palestinians, is nothing more than an appeal for the goodwill of Israel, the US and their Western allies to consider.
Based on previous episodes, whenever Israel decides to pulverise Palestine, Arab/Muslim leaders would issue similarly strong-worded censure and it would merely fall on deaf ears.
Obviously, doing the same thing would have the same result.
If Arab/Muslim leaders were feeling full of themselves with the choice of strong words in their lengthy communique to censure Israel after the recent summit, their bubble should have burst by now if they had listened to the short message Netanyahu had for them:
“I say to the Arab leaders, if you want to preserve your interests, you must do one thing…Remain silent.”
It is arrogant and condescending, and very telling and disturbing.
It is obvious Netanyahu’s reminder is a threat, a tool he’s very adept at – if the Arab/Muslim leaders want to protect their interests, they had better keep quiet, failing which, they may lose their wealth, positions and other personal gratifications.
Obviously too, when Netanyahu made the threat, he was sure of getting the support of the United States and Western allies.
And he dared to make the threat because he knew that the pathetic Arab/Muslim leaders would acquiesce.
The suspicion that some of the Arab/Muslim leaders were compromised and that the US and Israel have them on a leash is not that far-fetched after all.
With that, Netanyahu and Israel believe that they could get away with what they are doing in Gaza, no matter how criminal, atrocious, murderous and genocidal it may be.
It was pointed out that such cowardice was absent when Saudi led a nine-nation coalition to intervene in the Houthi uprising in the Yemeni civil war.
While it may be argued that the two situations are different, a non-comparison, indeed, the crux of the matter is that the very same Arab/Muslim leaders were prepared to come together when their interests are compromised.
But not so to defend helpless Palestinian civilians, babies and children being murdered by the Israelis.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who doesn’t mince his words on Israeli atrocities had expressed his disappointment with the Arab and Muslim leaders after emerging from the summit.
To him, apart from issuing a meaningless diplomatic appeal, there was no urgency, drastic, concrete or strategic measures against Israel.
He had been urging the Arab/Muslim leaders to leverage their oil, which they have plenty of, and demand the Western nations to apply sanctions against Israel apart from insisting on a ceasefire in Palestine.
Additionally, Dr Mahathir had also pointed out that at the very least, the Arab/Muslim leaders should demand for the United Nations peacekeepers to be despatched to Palestine.
There were speculations that there were among the Arab/Muslim leaders who were nauseated by the Israeli’s arrogant display of cruelty to Palestinians and wanted specific measures taken.
However, with the objection of the pliant others, a consensus could not be reached and that led to the meaningless diplomatic appeal with pretensions of a censure on Israel.
It rendered the Arab/Muslim leaders impotent and incapable of standing up to Israel while the defenceless Palestinians stood their ground and in the face of such adversity, never surrendered their dignity.
In many ways, it is not the Palestinians that need the world, it is the exact opposite.
If not for the Palestinians, the world would not see how the Israelis, born out of such tragic inhumanity, could turn out to be very much like the perpetrators of the holocaust themselves.
If not for the Palestinians, the world would yet to realise how hypocritical the leaders of the United States, the UK and the Western allies are, and their pandering to such genocide unabashedly and shamelessly, merely because it served their interests and greed.
If not for the Palestinians, the world would not realise the hypocrisy of Muslim and Arab leaders who proclaim to be the guardians of the religion and yet, shirk their religious obligations of defending fellow Muslims, including children and babies, being brutalised to their death.
If not for the Palestinians, Muslims would not see their leaders for what they are – the wealth they inherited is for their comfort and pleasure but not for defending their religion and fellow Muslims.
Indeed, the Palestinians had suffered in the hands of the Israelis for the past seven decades, almost daily with horrendous atrocities.
Yet, they held their heads high, with courage and dignity.
Shamsul Akmar is an editor at The Malaysian Reserve.
