ISTANBUL, (PIC)
The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has issued an urgent call to the Islamic nation and freedom-loving people worldwide, raising the alarm over the dire situation in Gaza, particularly in the isolated and besieged northern region of the Strip. They called for immediate action and massive demonstrations to expose the crimes of the Israeli occupation.
In a statement released on Monday, the union highlighted that Israeli forces are committing horrific acts of violence against Palestinians in Gaza, who are suffering from “hunger, thirst, famine, killing, and bombing, while the streets are filled with the bodies of martyrs, with no mercy or deterrent.”
The statement emphasized that what is happening in Gaza is not just a military assault but a deliberate act of genocide being committed in plain view of the entire world. It condemned these heinous crimes in the strongest terms, labeling them as war crimes.
The IUMS demanded that the “international community assume its legal, moral, and humanitarian responsibility in response to these ongoing massacres.”
Additionally, the union issued an urgent call to the Muslim world and all freedom-loving individuals, saying, “The time has come for immediate and effective action to support your brothers in Gaza. You must take to the streets in massive protests everywhere, raise your voices on every platform, and expose the crimes of this terrorist and criminal occupation. Every minute that passes without action increases the suffering and adds to the number of victims.”
In a related development, 16 non-governmental Islamic organizations called on Arab and Muslim leaders to “declare a state of emergency” and act to stop the genocide that Israel has been waging against Gaza for over a year.
This joint statement, titled the “Scholars of the Flood Statement,” was signed by prominent Islamic organizations, including the Palestinian Scholars Association, the One Ummah Association, the Eritrean Scholars League, the Association of Sunni Scholars, the Association for Sciences and Education in Algeria, the Council of Preachers in Lebanon, and the Iraqi Coalition for the Support of Al-Aqsa.
The statement was a response to a call from Abu Obaida, spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, who in a video message a week earlier urged Muslim scholars to increase their solidarity and actions in support of Gaza.
The organizations also called on Arab and Muslim leaders to “declare a state of emergency and mobilize armies to repel the Zionist aggression and liberate the holy sites,” stressing the need to provide all forms of support to the Palestinian people and cut ties with Israel, including annulling what they described as “humiliating normalization agreements, which go against the will and interests of the Ummah.”
