The Zionist genocide in Gaza exposes global and Muslim elite complicity, demanding moral resistance, civil society action, and a reimagined Muslim solidarity to uphold justice and international law
By Mohammed Sarwar Kha
The Zionist genocide is the moral crisis of our generation and century. As Israel intensifies its ground offensive to ethnically cleanse Gaza, and Spain halts trade with the “genocidal state”, the Gulf Arab states have rewarded the US—the chief sponsor of genocide—with US$1.4 trillion in promised investments. It reveals the complexity, reach and ruthlessness of the “Axis of genocide” to sustain an unprecedented humanitarian and diplomatic crisis for its colonial ambitions. The international rule of law must be safeguarded against such state encroachments. As a last resort, it falls on civil society to hold the moral guardrails, to insist on a reckoning for all those directly or indirectly involved in this grotesque violence. As Muslims, we too must stand with the global conscience by drawing on our ethical commitment: when there is such gross injustice, the only ethical option is to resist.
The hypocrisy of the “Western” governments and media—the self-professed champions of international law, liberal democracy and human rights—has proven to have no limits. Moreover, the US, EU and the UK have turned on their own citizens, curtailing their basic civil liberties to shut down dissent. It has also exposed all that is rotten with the system of international governance. The same “Western” leadership has rendered the UN redundant to prevent and ensure real accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity. If there is to be a meaningful international order, the veto power must be abolished.
Risking police coercion, criminal process and deportations, a growing number of politicians, students and ordinary persons in Western cities are vociferously resisting their governments’ complicity and demanding accountability. So why is the Muslim conscience and voice mute? Where is the Muslim leadership resisting the genocide and ethnic cleansing?
Events have exposed Muslim elites as key supporting actors in the genocide. Complicity ranges from complete silence to inconsequential platitudes to active complicity with the Zionist entity. According to the Middle East Monitor, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Albania, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Turkey, et al., have all maintained positive trade relations throughout the genocide (“Israel continues to increase trade with Arab and Muslim world”, 6 November 2024). Others maintain covert ties including Oman and Saudi Arabia. According to New Lines Magazine, Iran also enjoys a “pragmatic friendship” with Israel (Rana Nejad, 29 January 2025). Pakistan is dithering somewhere between silence and inconsequential platitudes, betraying Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s principled stand on Palestine.
We must connect with the global conscience and civil society to fill the leadership void and make this a defining moment by insisting on accountability for genocide and its apologists and compensation
for its victims
The genocide resurrects some painful memories and etches cruel realities that have contributed to letting this massacre happen.
Firstly, the contrived legitimacy. The Great Arab betrayal that resulted in the 1916 British-French Sykes-Picot borders and the creation of new “national” ruling elites. In 1919, King Abdullah of Jordan’s grandfather, Emir Faisal, accepted the Balfour Declaration and the creation of Israel in Palestine. Borne of perfidy, as per Soumaya Ghannouchi, these “Arab rulers kneel” before the West for their rule and purchase security (Middle East Eye, 14 May 2025). In the public mind, this living map of betrayal is maintained by and for the benefit of the “new” elites that are intrinsically opposed to supra-national Muslim solidarity and causes that the public cares about intensely, such as Gaza.
Secondly, the complete failure of the 57-state OIC and the Arab League. The realisation that the Muslim world is deliberately kept weak by national elites in this age of alliance power politics and multilateralism compels the ordinary Muslim to consider how to restore Muslim solidarity, valorising the likes of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Shah Faisal.
Thirdly, the so-called “normalisation” is essentially an erasure of Palestinians’ suffering, ethnic cleansing, and genocide from the public mind and conscience, which is deeply resented by the ordinary person. It adds insult to injury, protecting elite interests at the expense of ordinary human lives and suffering.
Fourthly, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah elites are viewed as a security extension of the Zionist entity to control the Palestinian population. The Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research found that 63% of respondents considered the PA a burden on the Palestinian people and “irredeemably corrupt”. Genuine elections are essential for the Palestinians to select a leadership that represents their concerns.
Fifthly, state religious “authorities” have also been exposed as a mere extension of the ruling elite, hiding behind the statist theology of obedience that insists on total deference to the ruling elites and authorities, suspending any ethical judgement on the state or government’s conduct. Egypt’s Sisi-appointed Grand Mufti Nazir Ayyad deferred to “legitimate state authorities” to declare a struggle in support of the Palestinians and international law. Given the numbers killed and injured and the Muslim leadership’s complicity, it is a cruel and religio-morally repulsive position, which places zero value on human life and suffering for the protection of state/ruling elites.
The writer Dr Khalid El Awaisi aptly summed the crisis of Muslim conscience and solidarity, observing that “borders [have] become more holy than the words of Allah …” (“The spies and treachery that divide us”, Narrative House podcast, 23 April 2025). Dr Andreas Krieg has detailed how Muslim ruling elites consequently fear a “free” Muslim world and obsess on excluding Islam’s ethical narrative in politics (Thinking Muslim Podcast, “The Bloodied Emirates: How the UAE Fears a Free Muslim World”, 14 May 2025).
The independent International Union of Muslim Scholars’ call to “save Gaza” has exposed both the national elites and religious authorities to public scrutiny. Headed by Dr Ali Al-Qaradaghi, the body reportedly represents 95,000 Muslim scholars and 67 Islamic organisations of all denominations. It has listed 15 mandatory actions for the Muslim community to launch a dedicated “struggle” to support the Palestinians and international law. The fatwa has been endorsed by independent-minded religious authorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other places to wage a dedicated struggle to save Palestine.
According to the Middle East Eye, “Arab publics appear united in anger. The last time anger was this palpable on the Arab streets was during the Arab Spring era, which led to calls for democracy and widespread popular protests … More than anything, perhaps, the recent survey results demonstrate the massive disconnect between some Arab regimes and their citizenries” (Mohamad Elmasry, “Gaza war: Arab regimes ignore popular support for Palestine at their peril”, 17 January 2024). As pragmatism emboldens the Axis of genocide, now making its ugly appearance in the Pakistan-India clash, it renders an Arab Spring-type agitation across the Muslim world increasingly probable.
To halt the horrible destruction of life, it is critical that, in the words of the British politician Jeremy Corbyn, “coalition/s of the willing” are formed at global and national levels to counter Zionist violence and complicity. Local civil society, such as Pakistan’s Save Gaza Campaign, must expand its mobilisation to compel power centres to uphold the international rule of law and insist on a principled solidarity with Palestine. It is incumbent that we replace the statist theology of obedience with proactive justice, equality and compassion and design our governance and politics accordingly. We need to reimagine Muslim solidarity to counter supra-national challenges effectively. We must connect with the global conscience and civil society to fill the leadership void and make this a defining moment by insisting on accountability for genocide and its apologists and compensation for its victims.
Speaking for most of us, Abby Martin of the Empire Files was emphatic: “I am a changed person. I will never be the same … Humanity is dead… I question people’s soul if you are not impacted”. If we do not resist and speak truth: “How are you human?” (26 March 2025). For Muslims, where is the humanity that Islam taught us? “Verily, from the greatest of Jihad is a word of Truth in the presence of a tyrannical ruler” (Hadith).__CourtesyThe Friday Times Pakistan
