One Year of Israelis-Hamas War: “US is Supporting Terrorists”- Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman

October the 7^th has gone down in history as one of the saddest days and with respect to the Israelis, the day can only be described relative to the holocaust where millions of Jews were exterminated at the instance of Adolf Hitler, who was the mastermind of the holocaust, which was the genocide of European Jews during World War II, between 1941 and 1945. Reminiscing on the genocide against the Jews, one important thing that is germane has to do with the character of Adolf Hitler, which was that of intransigence and a flight on an eagle’s trip. Comparing his character with that of the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in relation to his handling of the war between Israel and Palestine, which is gradually engulfing some parts of the Middle East, due to escalations, one finds prominent similarities between the characters of Adolf Hitler and that of Benjamin Netanyahu. Benjamin Netanyahu can aptly be described as a war monger and his spiritual delusions can be captured from his inability to compare perfectly well spiritual things with the spiritual, especially when he quoted at the beginning of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, a part of the old testament of the bible that say, there is time for everything: the time for war, and the time for peace. One thing he fails to connect well, is the aspect of the bible that says, an eye for an eye and not two eyes for an eye. As condemnable as the terrorists’ act carried out by Hamas on Israel on 7^th October 2023, the disproportionate effect of the reprisal attacks carried out on the Palestinians, where more than 42,000 lives of mostly innocent civilians have been lost, is an indictment on the ethical and moral rectitude of the Israeli leaders.

In the course of the war when Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to address the US congress on the situations of the war between Israel and the Hamas, on July 24th 2024, he, rather than appeal to the emotions and the humanity of his audience in a humble manner, such that is desirous of a leader of his caliber, he blew it by the use of uncomplimentary and derogatory statements. The reaction of the former speaker of the House of Rep, Nancy Pelosi, to the speech delivered by the Prime Minister, lends credence to why his actions deserve to be berated. In a post made on her X handled, she berates the address of Benjamin Netanyahu, by saying “Benjamin Netanyahu’s presentation in the House Chamber today was by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States,”. Miss Pelosi did not attend the address, instead meeting with Israelis affected by the 7 October Hamas attack. According to a statement from her office, she said “I hoped the prime minister would spend time working towards a ceasefire deal that will bring the hostages home”.

Rather than the Prime Minister dimming it fit to follow the path that leads to the successful release of the Israelis taken hostage in Gaza, he fueled the fire of the war that also fits in for description as genocide, with escalations that have brought in to the conflict Lebanon, Iran, and other supporters of the Palestinians. The United Nations too, as an International Organization, established purposely for engendering peace and security in the world, cannot be absorbed from blames but more importantly, the recalcitrant leaders deserve not just blames but international condemnations. As expected, the October 7 day is a notable one, and it is being celebrated by the major stakeholders in the conflict, which are the Israelis and the Palestinians. However, how the two sides celebrate is a function of perceptions and these call for a sober reflection and introspection that will give birth to a change in mindset with the only thing that is remaining in Gaza, which is hope, culminating in an immediate ceasefire and a process that will lead to a two-state solution.

Moreover, a somber day of commemoration has begun in Israel to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks. As dawn broke, hundreds of people gathered at the site of the Nova festival to honor those killed there that day. Hours later, a memorial was held at a Kibbutz Nir Oz, where one in four residents were killed or abducted by Hamas. Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have sounded a siren for two minutes outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem to urge him to bring back their loved ones, marking one year since they were kidnapped by Hamas. Following Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage, the families have campaigned relentlessly for the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would secure the release of their loved ones. On Monday, the relatives spoke about the immense grief and trauma they have experienced, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“A year has passed since that Saturday morning when my parents woke up in panic and ran to the safe room. A year since terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz. A year of mortal fear that no one can understand,” said Shir Siegel, whose parents were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

However, one year since the October 7 attacks, people in Gaza remain desperate for relief from Israel’s unrelenting offensive, a United Nations official in the enclave told CNN. “People here remain desperate. Hostages remain in Gaza, their families wait for them.” Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN humanitarian affairs (UNOCHA) sub-office in Gaza, told CNN’s Rosemary Church, “Even at 4 a.m. this morning, we were woken up by renewed bombing here in Rafah, Gaza … From jets buzzing, shelling and tank fire. The only thing that’s left in Gaza, would say is hope. Our supplies are almost zero.” Earlier on Sunday in Australia, thousands of people rallied in support of Palestinians and Lebanon and against Israel. A pro-Israeli rally also took place in Melbourne. In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a massive pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rally was organized by the country’s largest religious political party, Jamaat-e-Islami. Its chief, Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman, said the protest “is to wake up the world…. This protest is to tell the US that it is supporting terrorists.”

In conclusion, the world is not in lack of leaders, but only lacks visionary leaders, who are a product of vision and not that of ambition. “The task of a leader is to get its people from where they are, to where they have not been. The public does not fully understand the world into which it is going, leaders must invoke the alchemy of great vision. Those leaders who do not are ultimately judge failures, even though they may be popular at the moment.”- Henry Kissinger

By Samuel Tunji Adeyanju