World leaders gather these days at the 77th session of the UNGA and the main address for all speakers from presidents and representatives of states is international peace and security. The UN has achieved this in many places around the world but failed to achieve in others and perhaps the most important and most dangerous of which is the conflict here in the Palestinian Territories.
Since 1948 when the Zionist entity was established by an international resolution the international system has unfortunately failed to put a just end to the conflict based on international resolutions and legitimacy. The main reason for this failure is double standards and dealing with Israel as a State which is above the law.
The direct result of this failure is the ongoing suffering of our people as a result of state terrorism practiced by Israel for more than seven decades and the establishment of an apartheid regime in all its political legal and societal manifestations combined with the suffering of our people the continued state of instability and insecurity in the region and its repercussions at the international level.
This catastrophic scene in Palestine and the region due to the Zionist occupation has taken a serious turn in recent years as a result of the extremist and political deviation of Israeli society towards the right. This deviation towards the extreme right has manifested in behavior and actions that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity by the extremist settler groups under the supervision and sponsorship of the occupation forces.
The latest of these extremist waves was the threat to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holidays reaching 50000 settlers this year double the number of last year. They also threaten to raise flags perform Talmudic prayers and blow the trumpets.
These threats preceded by many serious violations are part of an Israeli scheme adopted since East Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 which aims to achieve the temporal and spatial division of the Haram Al-Sharif to reach full control over it in preparation for the demolition of the Mosque and the construction of the alleged temple instead.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is governed by the status quo agreement as it is a holy place for Muslims and it is an international agreement that the occupying power must fully respect and abide by. Any attempt to undermine this status quo poses a serious threat to security and stability within Palestine and in the region.
So far the Palestinians are dealing with the conflict as a political struggle aimed at liberating their land establishing an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees to their homes from which they were displaced through the many massacres committed by Zionist gangs at the time. However the ongoing Zionist extremists’ aggression against our people and the desecrating of their sanctities especially in the Al-Aqsa Mosque means turning this conflict into an open religious conflict.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holy place for Muslims after the Great Mosque of Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina and it is a place of reverence for 1.7 billion Muslims.
Our Palestinian people have given all opportunities to achieve security and stability in the region without compromising our inherent rights to freedom independence and return. They and their resistance in return will never allow these extremist Zionist schemes to pass no matter what the cost and will put the occupation face-to-face with difficult options.
Let us remind everyone of the round of escalation in May 2021 which was titled “Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque” where our people rose up in Gaza the West Bank Jerusalem and the 48 occupied areas in defense of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. This was preceded by many uprisings whose main title was “Al-Aqsa Mosque” the largest of which was the second Intifada the “Al-Aqsa Intifada” in September 2000 after Ariel Sharon the head of the Israeli opposition at the time stormed the Haram Al-Sharif.
Therefore we warn the world leaders meeting these days at the 77th session of the UNGA against the continuation of this flagrant violation of international laws and resolutions.
If these leaders are serious about preventing the explosion and achieving stability then they must with respect for international law and resolutions apply significant pressure on these Zionist extremists and stop their tampering with international peace and security and force them to stop their crimes against our people and their sanctities and Al-Aqsa Mosque especially during the Jewish holidays. Otherwise the future is dangerous.
– Dr Basim Naim is Head of the Council on International Relations in Gaza. His article appeared in MEMO.
