As the Israeli aggression on Gaza intensifies, and the martyrs and wounded continue to fall, including children, women, journalists, medical teams, and others, we see the growing political and media support for Israel from the West.
While we, like all peoples, continue to reject violence, especially against unarmed civilians, and yearn for a world of peace and justice, we believe this support is devoid of any moral or political substance. Principle positions cannot be subjected to the logic of double standards.
There is no doubt that the Arab and Islamic peoples would have valued this Western stance had they condemned the killing of two hundred Palestinian civilians last year, as well as the policies of siege, humiliation, settlement, apartheid against Palestinians, and the attacks on sacred Muslim sites.
The danger in this media and political uproar is not just the egregious injustice towards the Palestinians, which includes a clear statement that their death is worth less than the death of Israelis, but rather the blank check it gives to a far-right government to continue and escalate its ongoing aggression. This is a short-sighted policy that will only fuel the reasons for the continuation of the war indefinitely.
The Arab Council, while condemning the Western policy of double standards, and warning that it sows the seeds for future wars and deepens the rift between Western and Arab and Islamic peoples, calls for an end to this dangerous series of events that will open the gates of hell for everyone. This can only be achieved through the adoption of the steps that reason and conscience demand: an immediate halt to the war, lifting the siege on Gaza, halting the war crimes being committed there, and releasing all hostages and prisoners, paving the way for the return to the path of establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions. This is the real solution to the conflict, killings, and massacres. True solutions, known to all, will bring the peace we desire, not the surrender they want, which will only be a truce between two battles.
The devastation caused by this Israeli aggression on Gaza will exceed all imagination. Therefore, the entire Arab and Islamic nations must stand by our people who have been besieged for over fourteen years in Gaza, by intensifying demonstrations of support and putting pressure on governments to do everything in their power to stop the massacre.
It is also their duty, through their states and civil organizations, to act swiftly at the end of the war to face the challenge of rebuilding the only Arab city that, thanks to its resilience, has become a symbol of resistance, heroism, and refusal to surrender.
May Allah have mercy on the martyrs of Gaza, Palestine, and the Arab and Islamic nations. Glory, dignity, and independence to free and proud Palestine.
The Arab Council
President Moncef Marzouki
