The year 2024 will undoubtedly be remembered for many reasons, including the seismic general elections, the multi-week long, lavish wedding of India’s richest son Anant Ambani, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the 2024 Summer Olympics, and Israel’s unrestrained genocide in Gaza.

In an election year, it is outright irrational to expect the United States to rein in an unchecked Israel. It is astonishing to see how a minor scratch on Trump’s ear has shaken the entire globe, while the relentless massacre of more than 50 innocent people, who are being charred or dismembered in a single bomb strike, has become a routine event. Israel’s stone-hearted military actions are forcibly relocating Palestinians, only to bomb them again. The martyrdom of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is merely an extension of Israeli atrocities in the illegally occupied lands.

It has been ten months since the recent episode of Israel’s war on Gaza began on the fateful day of October 7, 2023, following the attack on Israelis by Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad Fighters (PIJ) on land illegally occupied by Israel. Such a response was the outburst of the simmering anger of the decades-old ethnic cleansing that Hamas combatants had harboured against Israel.

Israel’s response to the attack has been extremely brutal and genocidal. Israel has primarily targeted children, killing as many as it can. According to Gaza media offices, 14,000 Palestinian children have been massacred in Israeli strikes since October 7, 2023. Places that should not be attacked even during war, such as mosques, churches, and hospitals, have been reduced to rubble in Israeli strikes. Moreover, hundreds of aid workers, civil defence personnel, paramedics, and even journalists have been assassinated in this genocidal war. So far, Israel has silenced more than 117 Palestinian journalists.

As a result of these barbaric attacks, massive rallies in solidarity with Gaza are taking place across the planet. People, especially in European countries where pro-Palestinian protests are prohibited, are disobeying the law and taking to the streets to demonstrate their overwhelming support for the Palestinians. These demonstrations should send a message to the stone-hearted politicians that their unwavering support for Israel is not going down well with their citizenry.

The former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Shamir, is believed to have once told the then King of Morocco in plain words what may or may not work: “The obstinate fact is this: The Israelis do not understand any language but force. This is history; without force, they will give you nothing.”

If Yitzhak Shamir was right and the only language Israelis understand is force, then what is hindering Muslim leaders around the globe from taking decisive action against Israeli barbarities? Perhaps, America’s reprisals. But why fear them when they are illegitimate?

The protests against Israel will remain meaningless as long as complacent Muslim leaders continue to relax in their kingdoms, offering mere lip service. These leaders must remember that words don’t make a difference, but solid actions do. There are 57 Muslim countries in the world, yet not one has taken severe action against Israeli brutalities. Those few countries that tried, like Iran and its allies, were summarily declared “terrorists” and attacked. The efforts shown by Yemen’s and Lebanon’s fighters to engage Israel’s far more powerful forces are certainly commendable. But the sad truth is, compared with Israel, Yemen’s and Lebanon’s arsenals are inferior in every way and cannot compete with Israel’s advanced armament.

However, a crucial development took place in Beijing, China, on 23 July to reunite and galvanise the divided Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Fatah, and was made public to the world in the form of the Beijing Declaration. This declaration came when it was needed the most. Beijing’s declaration mentioned in their mediation agenda that a unity government would be established and would achieve Palestinian independence at an early date. The idea of an independent Palestinian state is highly commendable, given the plight of Gazans, and would hopefully bring respite to them from nearly a year-long war and predicament.

Time is of the utmost essence. If the Muslim world truly has any concern for Gaza’s defenceless people, then all Muslim leaders should put aside their differences, stand united on the Palestinian cause, and exert pressure on Israel to end its one-sided war. As the saying goes, “If there is unity among the birds, they can easily skin the lion.” Here, the lion symbolises strength, and the birds represent unity. Birds have no comparison with the lion in strength, but unity gives them the real power to overpower him. Therefore, the deliverance of all the Muslims in the world lies in solidarity. Unless they unite, the adversary will keep killing them separately. The time for unity has come before it is too late.

Ahmad Malick
The writer is a writer based in Lahore and can be reached at malickahmed297@gmail.com.