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Ashraf Jahangir Qazi // DAWN 07 February 2025
THE world of Islam has listened to the felon, Donald Trump, and his indicted partner in crime, Benjamin Netanyahu, state their plan to impose indefinite colonial rule on Gaza in order to deport all surviving Gazans from their homeland and clear the way for American real estate developers and Israeli settlers. A similar genocide process to expel Palestinians from the West Bank is underway.
The open and utter contempt for the UN Charter, international law, and the Muslim world is breathtaking in its evil. It is no less than a final extremist Christian-Jewish-Zionist crusade against the Muslim world. The law of the jungle threatens to become the new rules-based world order unless concerned Americans halt their rampaging leader.
Accordingly, for those in the West, especially the US, who claim to oppose such mediaeval and self-destructive barbarism, the choice is clear: either stand up, reject, and defeat this dastardly crime in their name, or forever be complicit in genocide.
The Muslims of the world, of course, should be more than merely outraged against the satanic plans of the mightiest country on earth. They shall need to bend every physical, mental and moral fibre in them to counter the evil that confronts them and thereby keep their covenant with Allah. Otherwise, this wayward person will know no bounds in his evil intent to humiliate Muslims and expose their degradation, impotence and failure as a community.
This horrible moment has been in the making over decades by the sustained betrayal of a whole range of contemporary Muslim elites. They have progressively made an empty shell of their values, convictions and faith. Their governance has become the primary obstacle to the development of the talents of their peoples and the capacities of their countries. They have knowingly brought this moment of utter shame and disgrace upon their people and themselves. They continue to conspire against their people in league with their enemies in order to escape the consequences of their betrayal. Nothing could be more despicable.
Tragically, we as spectators, observers and commentators remain paralysed with our knowledge, fears and anxieties. Our outrage overwhelms us. It does not motivate us to do anything constructive. It merely confirms the contempt of our enemies.
Accordingly, the extremist Christian-Zionist crusader and the Israeli mass murderer feel completely secure and unrestrained. Trump has signed off on the resumption of Netanyahu’s genocide with his support for the mass deportation of the surviving wounded, sick, starving and devastated Gazans from Gaza. To top it all, Trump and Netanyahu are confident of the tacit, illicit or even open support they expect and demand from their Arab and other Muslim satraps. The ghost of Khashoggi seems stronger than ever! The dollar has become an article of faith for modern Muslim elites!
Meanwhile, we wait pathetically for another Salahuddin Ayubi to appear. Or can we become a billion Salahuddin Ayubis ourselves? The very thought seems to exhaust us. But we must and can transform ourselves if we still have a shred of the faith we claim. That faith will need to be received, interpreted and strengthened in a way that ensures success in today’s world, which in turn will require movements, struggle, sacrifice, good governance, institution building, education, justice, etc.
This would be the true ‘submission’ Islam envisions and enjoins; ie, surrender to the will of Allah by realising the potential and protecting the rights of all His creatures. This will also be a true jihad. These are unfortunately today mere words and wishes. and most of us are resigned to their remaining as such. But they can be much more if only we can respect ourselves and let our individual and collective conscience as well as our moral imagination move us to embark on an epic journey of change and discovery from tragedy and despair to achievement and fulfilment.
We have friends. But they can only help us if they see us helping ourselves. They do not. This has to change. We know the answers. We do not need a barrage of questions. Only with proper and collective resolve can the Trumps and yahoos of the world be sent packing.
Meanwhile, should Trump persist in his Islamophobic imperialism, all Muslim leaders will need to reconsider their relations with the US. They should emphatically condemn and reject his proposal to deport Palestinians from Palestine. They should realise that Israel will never consent to a Palestinian state in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions. They should realise that instead, they will be expected to finance the colonial genocide of Trump and Netanyahu against their own brethren.
Accordingly, they should make clear their view that the UN headquarters should not be located in a country that has openly declared its enmity to the Arab and Muslim world.
OIC meetings have unfortunately become a laughing stock. Nevertheless, one should be immediately scheduled in an attempt to finally earn a measure of respect from the Muslim peoples of the world by considering a plan of action against the plans of Trump and Netanyahu.
Pakistan is the largest Muslim state in the heartland of Islam. Those who rule it today know in their hearts what is right and what is not. Let them pray for the conscience and courage to do what is right even at this late hour. They cannot lose if they do so. By respecting and submitting to the will of their people, they will help liberate Pakistan’s potential for itself, its Arab and Palestinian brethren, and indeed the entire Muslim world. That is the only way they can regain appreciation and respect. May the cynics and pessimists amongst us be proved wrong.
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, India and China, and head of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan.
ashrafjqazi@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2025
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EDITORIAL // 07 February 2025
DONALD Trump’s latest plan to depopulate Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants and ‘redevelop’ it as a tourist resort would be too absurd to comment on had the scheme not come directly from the horse’s mouth.
With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing by his side, President Trump said the US would “take over the Gaza Strip and … own it”. If implemented, such a plan would target Gaza for ethnic cleansing and foreign occupation, in order to create a ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ — one built on the remains of tens of thousands of Palestinians murdered by Israel.
Members of team Trump have scrambled to spin their boss’s words, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that the idea “was not meant as hostile”, while the White House press secretary has said the US has no plans for boots on the ground in Gaza.
Global leaders from across the spectrum have denounced the plan, though Mr Netanyahu — responsible for the butchery in Gaza — has termed the scheme “remarkable”. As for the Palestinian people’s reaction? A resident of Gaza City queried by foreign media summed it up best: “Trump can go to hell. … We are going nowhere.”
The world should know that despite surviving a genocide, carried out by Israel and supported by the US, the people of Gaza refuse to part with their land. They have buried their children, yet they refuse to be evicted from the land of their forefathers in their determination not to repeat the Nakba. Israel would be more than happy to empty out Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank, thereby making more land available for settlers to colonise.
But the Palestinian people will continue to resist these devious schemes, even while facing some of the most advanced and deadliest armaments on earth. The war on Gaza has proven that the will of the Palestinian people cannot be broken, and that they cannot be bought off, bribed or beaten into submission.
At this point, the two-state solution seems like a distant memory, with the Israelis refusing to budge an inch, and an American administration willing to shield Tel Aviv from all censure. In the absence of any workable and just solution that protects the rights of the Palestinian people, the only foreseeable outcome is more conflict. As it is, after the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has turned its guns on the West Bank. This cycle of bloodshed can be broken if the Palestinians get a contiguous and viable state, but Israel does not want to talk peace. The least feasible ‘solution’ is the Trumpian plan for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing and occupation, which is a non-starter. This is their land, and the Palestinians cannot be forced off it.
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2025
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EDITORIAL // 07 February 2025
THE impact of the Trump administration’s decision to ‘pause’ all US foreign aid programmes, especially those funding development and lifesaving health services for women and girls, will be felt by millions in poor countries across the world, including Pakistan. The suspension of critical healthcare aid is estimated by the UN to affect 1.7m people in the country, including 1.2m Afghan refugees, many of whom would no longer be able to access necessary sexual and reproductive health services with the closure of over 60 facilities. These health facilities were being administered by the UNFPA, whose regional director expressed concern at the prospect of millions of women and girls facing life-threatening danger due to the lack of access to UNFPA services in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The UNFPA requires over $308m in 2025 to sustain even basic services in these countries.
Since President Donald Trump has also ordered a review of USAID in order to scale down the agency through which foreign assistance is channelled, the implications of American aid suspension for several projects in the country are disturbing. Though the programmes have been halted pending a 90-day review, many fear that the suspension would be indefinite or at least last for several months. There is little possibility of the Pakistani authorities being able to immediately finance the affected health facilities or other USAID-sponsored schemes. The chances of other Western nations stepping in to fill the funding gap, at least in areas that focus on refugees and women, appear dim too. That said, Mr Trump’s decision to cut off aid may also offer an opportunity for the government to stop depending on foreign aid, at least for health and other areas in the social sector, and ramp up its budgetary allocations for initiatives directly linked to the well-being of its citizens. There is no doubt that, after years of reliance on US aid, Pakistan’s cash-strapped government will find it difficult to face the challenge. But it is time to step up and divert a small portion of resources from other schemes, say funds allocated for projects proposed by the lawmakers, to save the lives of thousands of young girls and women affected by the actions of the new US administration. That is what caring governments would do for their people.
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2025
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US President Donald Trump on Thursday authorised economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of US citizens or US allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first term.
The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israel’s Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu, who — along with his former defense minister and a leader of group Hamas — is wanted by the ICC over the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
It was unclear how quickly the US would announce names of people sanctioned. During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.
The ICC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sanctions include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.
The 125-member ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression against the territory of member states or by their nationals. The United States, China, Russia and Israel are not members.
Trump signed the executive order after US Senate Democrats last week blocked a Republican-led effort to pass legislation setting up a sanctions regime targeting the war crimes court.
The court has taken measures to shield staff from possible US sanctions, paying salaries three months in advance, as it braced for financial restrictions that could cripple the war crimes tribunal, sources told Reuters last month.
In December, the court’s president, judge Tomoko Akane, warned that sanctions would “rapidly undermine the Court’s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardise its very existence.”
Russia has also taken aim at the court. In 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
Russia has banned entry to ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and placed him and two ICC judges on its wanted list.
Rubio to visit Middle East after Trump proposal for US to take over Gaza
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel and Arab states in mid-February, a State Department official said, making his first trip to the Middle East after a widely condemned proposal by President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians in Gaza.
Rubio will travel to the Munich Security Conference and to Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia from February 13-18, the senior State Department official said late on Thursday.
Rights groups have condemned Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians in Gaza should be permanently displaced as part of a US takeover of the enclave.
Rubio said on Wednesday that Palestinians in the enclave will have to relocate in the “interim” while it is rebuilt following the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The US official said Rubio would discuss Gaza and the aftermath of the Oct 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel during the trip, and would pursue Trump’s approach of trying to disrupt the status quo in the region.
“The status quo can’t continue. It’s like wash, rinse and repeat. It becomes familiar and you begin to think this is just what life is and what we have to expect. President Trump and Marco Rubio believe that that’s not the case, that things can change,” the official said.
Since January 25, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Palestinians in Gaza should be taken in by regional Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan, an idea rejected by Arab states and by Palestinians. Trump’s suggestion echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes.
US ally Israel’s military assault on Gaza, now paused by a fragile ceasefire, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in the last 16 months, the Gaza health ministry says, and provoked accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.
The assault internally displaced nearly all of Gaza’s population and caused a hunger crisis.
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