Eminent religious scholar from Maiden, North Caroli­na, USA, Ms. Linda Barto is a convert to Islam with her whole family. Recently she posted a heart-wrenching picture today on her Facebook page of the devastation of a hospital in Gaza by Israeli air attacks. She writes:” All 4 floors of Al-Shifa hospital have been levelled, not a sin­gle surviving patient was found.” Is this the teachings of Prophet Moses to kill civilians and patients and change hospitals into debris? The Ten Command­ments of The Torah are the basic teachings given by Moses. It is written in the Torah:” Do not commit mur­der.” (Exodus: 20: 2- 14). Benjamin Netanyahu has dis­carded this injunction and is out of the pale of Judaism. The Jewish community must abandon him. He is not a Jew. He is a Zionist. He is a fascist and war criminal. Humanity is indivis­ible. No humanitarian can justify this unprecedented barbaric act. The genocide is intolerable. I salute the Americans and the Westerners, who are Jews and Christians but have condemned the Israeli massacre in Gaza. Unfortunately, their governments are supporting Israeli excesses in Gaza under the influence of strong Zionist lobbies in these countries.

Humanity is not dead. There are still people living with a conscience. A Jewish member of the Israeli parliament, re­cently interviewed Miko Peled, an Israeli ex-military officer, on the MOATS channel. Miko Peled is a famous author and polit­ical activist in Israel. Both the interviewer and the interview­ee are educated and enlightened Jews. They are political ac­tivists. He was questioned about the horrendous situation in Gaza and he answered every question with sanity and sobri­ety and strongly condemned the policies of the Prime Minis­ter of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a mentally re­tarded and religious extremist and genocidal fanatic who is a great threat to world peace. Answering the questions, he said that Netanyahu is surrounded by cronies and this gang is as bad as he is bad. For political gains, he has inspired and incit­ed the Israelis against the innocent people of Gaza. He has an axe to grind. He is using the religious card against Palestinians. He is a racist. He is a Zionist. He has made Israel a “Genocid­al State” and brought worldwide hatred for Israel. He strongly condemned those states who are supporting this madman. He suggested an immediate end to the war and condemned Israe­li aggression. His main plea was that Netanyahu is digging the grave of peace. He said that common and moderate Jews are not supporting this Second Holocaust. He regarded this plight as the destruction of culture, humanity, and history.

These are the ideas of a Jewish intellectual living in Isra­el who is fervent and fearless in criticising and condemn­ing the inhuman atrocities being committed in Gaza. I salute him for supporting the aggressed people of Gaza. It is not a question of religion or race. Middle East Crisis is a political crisis that has been made a religious issue by Benjamin Ne­tanyahu for his petty political ambitions. The only peaceful solution to the Middle East Crisis is the Two-state Solution accepted by Israel according to the UN resolution. No other solution will bring peace to the region.

What is the role of Muslim rulers? Being a humanitarian and a democrat, I never support war and hate against any country, race, religion or nation. But no man of conscience, sense, and sensibility can remain silent on aggression. The Muslim rulers do not represent the voice of their people. They are kings and fascists. There is no genuine democracy in any Muslim country. There are 57 Muslim countries but have no unity and no policy. Zero multiplied by zeros is equal to zero. Beggars can’t be choosers. Alas; there is injustice any­where. No Muslim country went to the International Court of Justice against Netanyahu. Instead, the Christian president of South Africa sued this Hitler of our epoch. Justice was not even found in the International Court of Justice. Netanyahu was not declared a War Criminal. The Secretary General of the UN is shouting at the top of his voice to stop the genocide of the Palestinians and end the war immediately but to no avail. His cry is a cry in the wilderness. Does the world need such a UN and such an International Court of Justice? I leave this question for the men of conscience to ponder over, who condemn racial discrimination and religious extremism.

Dr Maqsood Jafri
The writer is a freelance contributor.