Clearing their name …

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By  Shahana Naqvi, Edited By Adam Rizvi, The India Observer, TIO: Pope Francis has called for a worldwide day of prayer and fasting for peace on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel the previous year, a very powerful message in the face of an impending regional conflict.

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It amuses me to think that the world’s most powerful army and intelligence agency, MOSSAD, could not defend its borders with Gaza, on which they had full control. They had been highly successful in infiltrating Iran and assassinating its guest, Hamas political chief Ismael Haniyeh, on July 31, 2024, and recently, on September 27, 2024, killing Hezbollah chief Syed Hasan Nasrallah by bombing six apartment blocks in the Dahieh district of Beirut, targeting innocent civilians in a bid to silence the voice that spoke against its atrocities in Lebanon and, more recently, in Gaza.

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October 7, 2023, was a stage set to achieve higher goals by Israel—its vision of a Greater Israel—when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed the New Middle East map at the UN General Assembly on September 22, 2023, exactly 15 days before the Hamas attack on its border and the discovery of huge gas reserves found off the coast of Gaza, which would apparently serve Israel for a few years to sustain its economy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, using a red marker, showed a map of the New Middle East while addressing the 78th session of the UN General Assembly on September 22, 2023.

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The Gaza conflict has brought to light a few dark secrets that had been happening for a long time, which the world failed to notice. For laymen like us, it’s very obvious how western media outlets quickly label people who oppose their ideas as terrorists once they lose their story…

The gruesome manner in which defenseless women and children have been murdered and maimed in Gaza over the past year in the name of defending one’s country is enough to move the humanity within us. If such attacks took place in any western country, Europe and America would be crying out loudly against these atrocities. Yet, they remain silent and complicit in this conflict. Although their governments support Israel, many western countries have seen large-scale pro-Palestinian marches where citizens have registered their protests against Israeli oppression.

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The deafening silence of the Arab and Muslim world is very appalling. The 50 Muslim-majority countries are silently watching the conflict and horror unfold, selfishly safeguarding their interests. History repeats itself: 1,400 years ago, when the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was left alone and thirsty with 72 followers against an army of more than 300,000 of Yazid ibn Muawiya, the most powerful ruler of that time, in the plains of Karbala. Today, we see the same ratio within the Muslim Ummah, who knowingly have decided to pull themselves away from the conflict, offering no respite to the plight of the Palestinians and the horror they endure day and night.

As we delve deep into history, people who stood against the illegal occupation of their land were labelled terrorists. If we look into Indian history, Mangal Pandey, Bhagat Singh, and countless others who stood against British colonial rule in India were also labelled terrorists.

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Shaheed Syed Hasan Nasrallah was a freedom fighter of his country, Lebanon. He was born to a Shia family in 1960 in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. He was a Lebanese politician, cleric, and Secretary-General of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party. Nasrallah joined Hezbollah (Party of God), which was formed after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

In 2000, Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister of Israel, withdrew Israeli forces from Lebanon. Nasrallah was credited in Lebanon and the Arab world with ending the 18-year-old Israeli occupation of Lebanon, which enhanced his political image in the Arab world and strengthened his party’s hold in Lebanese politics. Nasrallah became a cult figure in the Middle East, emerging as a strong opposition to Israeli aggression.

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He incurred personal losses as well, losing his 18-year-old son, Hadi, to an Israeli ambush in 1997. There had been four attempts on his life; this was the fifth and final, which took his life. He was killed by choking after an Israeli airstrike on September 27, 2024, which utilized 80 tons of bunker-busting bombs designed to penetrate fortified structures.

At that time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in New York at the UN General Assembly, where he made a defiant speech to a largely empty chamber after many delegates walked out. Israeli media later released a photo of Netanyahu giving the green signal for Nasrallah’s death.

Western media was quick to label Syed Nasrallah a terrorist, although Nasrallah’s name doesn’t even appear on the UN’s list of terrorists, nor does his organization, Hezbollah (Party of God).

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After Syed Nasrallah’s assassination, the conflict in the Middle East intensified. Iran launched nearly 200 missiles on October 2, 2024, targeting Israeli military installations and avoiding civilian casualties, unlike the Israeli IDF, whose brutal aggression has resulted in more than 41,000 Palestinians dead since October 7, 2023, in response to 1,200 Israelis killed, abducted, and taken hostage.

Unhealthy political developments and the assassinations of many of Iran’s political allies in the region recently have escalated the conflict to the brink of a regional war, which could put Iran’s rich cultural heritage, oil reserves, and civilian lives at stake. The rogue Israeli state and its biggest ally, America, would not leave any stone unturned to strike maximum damage to Iran.

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A dear cousin, Turab Naqvi, wrote a small nazm (verse) on recent developments in the Middle East:

“Jitna bahega, utna zamane pe chayega,
Sadaat ka lahu hai, asar to dikhayega.
Karbobala ki jung se Ghaza ki jung tak,
Har jung ko Hussain ka kunba jitayega.”

“The more it flows, the more it will affect the world.
The pure blood of the Holy Prophet’s family will reveal its face.
From Karbala to Gaza, every war fought will be won by Hussain’s bloodline.”

As the world awaits Israeli retaliation to Iran’s response with bated breath, it’s the Hussaini blood that boils within me as I watch the events of the 21st century unfold. Wars and conflicts bring nothing but destruction, and it became incumbent upon me to register my protest and concern through the most powerful weapon in the world—the pen.

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This article is dedicated in memory of all those martyrs throughout history who fought for their rights, for their country, and for themselves, opposing the ruthless regimes, dictators, and rulers of their times. A reminder for us all: a martyr never dies.

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Curated and Compiled by Humra Kidwai

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