LETTERS: The carnage perpetrated by Israel on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the last Friday of Ramadan is just a ruse to harass Palestinians and provoke conflict.
It's an excuse to kill and maim these imprisoned people who have been evicted and their lands confiscated in favour of illegal Jewish settlers, as in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. And the Jewish-controlled world media has spun it as a self-defence retaliatory measure.
Israel's atrocities are legion in the annals of Middle Eastern conflict and its aggression is evident in the occupation of Palestinian lands and subjecting the people to slavery and apartheid by confining them to a walled prison and denying them basic human necessities.
Israel gets away with this because it has the support of the United States, Britain and some members of the European Union, who not only defend these atrocities but justify them at the United Nations, trumpeting Israel as an aggrieved party instead of an aggressor.
The US, especially, is a staunch ally of Israel. President Joe Biden Vice-President Kamala Harris have given their support to Israel's so-called defensive aggression. Harris was more explicit in declaring that the Jewish state must be protected at all costs and given military and other aid to sustain its defensive aggression.
The US, Britain and other allies have expressed concern about Israel's atrocities, but their effort to de-escalate tension is nothing more than theatrics. They have no intention of censuring Israel.
Worse, certain Arab nations that have diplomatic relations with Israel — such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — could only indulge in rhetoric.
They and others are subservient to the US hegemonic agenda through financial and military aid and will not act against Israel.
Likewise, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an impotent organisation. The United Nations has proven to be ineffective in conflict resolution, especially in the case of Israel, which has the support of the Western permanent members to thwart any censure and condemnation of Israel's atrocities.
Therefore, Muslim nations should not only stand in solidarity with their Palestinian brothers and sisters, but they can use their wealth, political and diplomatic influence to end this carnage once and for all and to emplace Palestinians as a free people in their rightful homeland.
Mohamed Ghouse Nasuruddin
Centre for Policy Research and International Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times