There is a gnawing question
among groups of Malaysians lately on the lack, or absence even, of protests by
non-governmental organisations in the
country against the Zionist atrocities
in Gaza that have killed some 2,000 civilians, the majority of whom are women
and children.
These groups are referring to
self-proclaimed pro-democracy Malaysian NGOs who
were in the past involved in staging demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur.
Comango – Coalition of Malaysian NGOs – has
been named along with Sisters In Islam for “not a
murmur” of protest against the genocidal assault on Gaza.
“Where are their suara yang
lantang”? asked a lawyer who is a partner in a well-known KL-based law firm.
“Surely this is a
humanitarian issue and clearly a gross violation of human rights that merits some
protest from them?”
In the wake of “Save the
Children of Gaza” rally at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, film-maker Dr Anwardi Jamil
updated his Facebook status with:
“Heard Ambiga & Co weren't at the gathering to Save Children of Gaza and Palestines. I guess any real demonstrations and rallies that doesn't help her in her political agenda is pointless to her."
His friend, writer Awang Goneng
AKA Wan Hulaimi remarked in the comment box:
“And
then they go to France to take an award. France banned such demonstrations.”
Is their deafening silence
telling on them and exposing them for what they really are?
On the subject of the “Save the
Children of Gaza” peace rally, what was glaring was the lack of support from
non-Malays.
Perhaps, they are silent
supporters. Perhaps the weather on Saturday afternoon was punishing. There
were only a handful – notably the Tai brothers (activists Tai Zee How and Tai
Zee Kin) and their friends and maybe others hidden in the huge crowd.
That is the other gnawing
question a lot of people, especially Muslims are asking in social media – that
has gone to real tabletalk discussions – the non-Muslim detachment of this
humanitarian crisis.
Why are non-Muslims detaching themselves
from what’s happening in Gaza.
No explanation is quite needed
because one has only to look at remarks by mostly non-Muslims on Facebook
especially.
Some regurgitate the Israeli
narrative and the evil of Hamas, reflecting their ignorance while others see it
as a Muslim bias.
How so? They would post photos
and reports of the brutal killing of Christians by ISIS and ask why there has
been no protest in Malaysia on the scale of Gaza.
I would suggest that someone organises one and I along with many Malaysians would most certainly join and
denounce the brutal act of ISIS that is not done in the name of Islam, and neither in mine.
The issue of Palestine is not a
religious issue although some lesser Muslim leaders tend to get a bit emotional
about it.
You don’t have to listen to these
people.
Whatever standard you apply,
surely the mass killing of women and children defy any justification?
The siege and offensive on Gaza
this year began about a month ago, in the first week of Ramadan in retaliation
– it was reported then, to the killing
of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas “militants”. But this was later found to be
untrue.
Since then, Israeli forces under
the Zionist regime have shown no sign of scaling down .
On July 30, Israel pounded
artillery shells into a school full of evacuees, killing at least 20 people and
wounding dozens as the slept.
Most of the dead were children.
The building was the sixth United
Nations school in the Gaza Strip to be shelled during the month-long conflict.
In response, the United Nations
accused Israel of violating international law.
People across the globe reacted
with horror, describing the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis. Many
were provoked into openly criticizing Israel for carrying out ethnic cleansing
and .
Israel seems to be telling the
world to shove it as its forces continued with air and ground strikes on the
Gaza population. Casualties have been
mostly women and children.
Israel maintains that it is
protecting its security and was only responding to Hamas’ firing of rockets .
Israel has also accused Hamas of
using civilians as human shields and planting bombs in schools and public
areas.
The UN and other independent bodies
have found no evidence of this.
Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA), reported to the UN Security Council that the humanitarian crisis in
Gaza has “surpassed United Nations
capabilities for emergency shelter and services”.
Its commissioner-general Pierre
Krahenbuhl , describing the crisis as a “precedent”, expressed regret that
UNRWA “no longer has the resources to provide for the additional influx of
refugees”.
He noted that with the growing
number of refugees, there is yet Palestinians fleeing their towns, there is no organization on the ground that
has the resources to provide food or water, let alone shelter for the
night.
The United Nations estimates up to
440,000 people are now displaced with 240,000 residing in UNRWA facilities.
News website, Mondeiss reported
that this meant that a quarter of the population of Gaza is living in tenuous,
temporary shelter.
“In addition to the
devastation to the civilian infrastructure in the northern communities of
Shuja’iyeh, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya, over 103 United Nations facilities and 24
medical facilities have been damaged. Seven UNRWA workers have been killed
since the beginning of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge,” it said.,
Krahenbuhl was reported to have,
warned the Security Council that Gaza “will become unlivable in a mater of
years unless urgent steps are taken.”
He had also said that “immediate
steps” must be taken to address “root issues, not limited to Israel’s security
and lifting the blockade across the besieged Gaza Strip.
Mondeiss quoted him as having stressed
accountability from Israel “as the occupying power to provide dire relief, as
UNRWA has exhausted all of its means of caring for nearly a quarter
million refugees.”
There is also a deafening Silence from Our Muslim on Syria and ISIS where 10x more Muslim were killed by own fellow Muslim
ReplyDeleteThere seems also to be a deafening silence on ISIS, apart from our Prime minister calling on UMNO to be more like ISIS.
ReplyDeleteAn important point is that ISIS has killed far more people this year than Israel, and are getting in the way of a peaceful Syria and Iraq. In fact ISIS threatens to destabilize the middle east more than Israel could have do.
Yet, a deafening silence from everyone in Malaysia.
Where were Marina Mahathir and her daughters when other Malaysian Muslims gather in solidarity at Dataran Merdeka to give their support to the Palestinians? Is the event not "Bersih" enough for them to attend?
ReplyDeletehttp://m.christianpost.com/news/christian-father-commits-suicide-after-isis-members-rape-wife-and-daughter-in-front-of-him-because-he-couldnt-pay-poll-tax--122220/
ReplyDeleteSalam Dt, Thank you for your thoughts on this issue. When you get a chance, do visit the SIS FB page. We (SIS) have consistently posted articles on Gaza and Operation Protective Edge, and have made no apologies for our pro-Gaza/ pro-Palestine position, and consistently decry the escalating violence as well as the atrocities that are being committed in Gaza, to the extent that we've been attacked by pro-Zionist trolls since the beginning of Israel's ground invasion. Interestingly, supporters/trolls of organisations who claim themselves as defenders of Islam (and who are usually quick to troll our FB page and engage in unoriginal name calling)have made no attempt to respond to any of these pro-Zionists. To be fair, you might want to hold them accountable as well. It is also worth noting that many individuals who are a part of COMANGO, JAG and the Negara-Ku coalition also attended the rally. Just because they weren't heard or seen by the individuals you quoted in your blog post, doesn't mean they weren't there.
ReplyDelete