𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

--- Nasir Khan

 

In normal circumstances, people side with victims of colonial oppression, even though some anti-freedom governments take a different stance. Today, many Western governments, all closely associated with Israel and supporters of Israeli crimes against its captive population, did the same as expected. They are repeating the oft-repeated old mouldy mantra of Israel's 'right to defend itself'.

But none of these governments, which closely follow Washington's anti-Palestinian policies, have uttered a word about what the extreme right-wing government of Netanyahu is doing almost daily in the occupied West Bank and its refugee camps. Israeli soldiers kill, raid the Palestinian camps, arrest and terrorise all people.

Why do the US rulers and their Western allies remain totally indifferent to what the Netanyahu government is doing and what the Jewish settlers are doing with the Palestinians there? The answer is that the US rulers are quite happy with such colonial crimes. Not only that, they see such crimes and deplorable conditions imposed on the Palestinians as the right opportunity to bring Saudi Arabia under the wings of Israel.

Hamas militants started its bold military action today in response to what Israel was doing to the third-holiest shrine of Islam, Al Aqsa mosque. Where there is oppression, resistance is a natural reaction. The reaction of Gaza militants was not a mystery.

But why does no Western ruler say that the people of Palestine also have the right to defend themselves when they are being ethnically cleansed and their land gradually stolen from them?

Will President Joe Biden and his secretary Blinken set a new precedent and declare that the people of Palestine have every right to defend themselves and help them to this end? That will be something of a game changer and an unexpected shift to truth and justice.

We will soon see what they and their allies do to defend the people of Palestine.