Akhtar Raja
The recent discovery of a mass graves inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis and at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, the enclave’s largest health facility, led to calls for a transparent and credible investigation of these war crimes. But such cries range from worthless statements on the one hand to an extension of crocodile tears on the other.
Mass graves and the death or injury of a child in Gaza every 10 minutes means that in practical terms the enforcement of judgments favourable to Palestinians, the United Nations and sovereign states have all failed humanity. Even if a ceasefire prevails at any stage the victims still require justice, reparations, the guarantee of their human rights without qualification as well as protection and freedom under their own fully secure sovereign state. Muslim states had a chance to save lives. They still can. I previously wrote in this newspaper about the necessity for a peace keeping mission.
On 25 April the Palestinian civil defence team pointed to the discovery of hundreds of bodies in mass graves. These were the result of field executions of patients receiving treatment. Discoveries included dismembered bodies, scattered limbs, and decapitated heads. Human remains lay scattered amongst refuse. Some of the recovered bodies had their hands tied with plastic tape normally used by Israeli enforcers to bind their prisoners. Some were found with their eyes and mouths blindfolded. The executioners buried a number of bodies in plastic bags three metres deep to allow for swift decomposition to conceal evidence of torture and murder. And of course, the victims included women, children, patients, and medical staff. So, no discrimination on that front by their killers.
Miriam Margolyes OBE, a character actor on stage and screen recently said: “To me, it seems as if Hitler has won. He’s changed us Jews from being compassionate and caring and do unto others as you would have them do unto you into this vicious, genocidal nationalist nation, pursuing and killing women and children.” Yet, the Deputy British Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, declared in Parliament in the context of Israel’s war crimes: “We would expect that the democratic government of Israel to investigate any allegations of misconduct and that’s exactly what they’re doing. It’s exactly what the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister urged them to do…”. This is both significant and unsurprising. Apart from being a first for a system of justice – the accused investigating the crime he is accused of - it illustrates an unwavering and ongoing British political trait embedded deep in its genetics.
Blair at Ariel Sharon’s funeral in 2014 gave his take on Sharon’s true love of ‘country’, ‘state’ and ‘land’ and ‘…what it took to build it and what it will take to sustain it’. There was no ‘higher’ or ‘other calling’ for the Butcher of Sabra and Chatila himself. He was personally responsible for the massacre and went on to become prime minister.
Nothing material has changed in the British political and institutional mindset. The ‘idea’ draws on its sustenance from the UK and the US and their wider political and ideological adherents.
So, what resides in or is absent from the psychology of a state actor, and the underlying collective conscious of people who lend their support, which allows for wholesale butchery of humans with the aim of eradicating them?
The answer is quite simple. An absence of morals, and within those morals, a commitment to justice. This is driven by overweening arrogance. Muslims, however, subscribe to morals and the Universal Intelligence that bestowed them. The Palestinians’ exposure to treachery and suffering is therefore a Muslim cause and a concern for all those wedded to justice.
Muslims do not despair. They have an infallible argument concerning their expectation of justice. That argument is set out in the Quran. It establishes, amongst other things, the existence of God. He is the absolute Dispenser of Justice. The Quran is multidimensional, irrefutable and represents finality.
The 2024 Annual lecture by the renowned thinker, Professor Ahmed Rafique Akhtar, examined this. Up to the time of its revelation humankind’s scientific progress was represented by broadly several limited achievements. These included geometry, the number and heliocentric theories, the principles of Tibb, Galen’s anatomical and medical discoveries and the invention of paper.
Allah however wished to state a final position with evidence that would establish not only His existence but also His supreme and unchangeable Sovereignty - incapable of being trumped. He maintained that everything was created in ‘truth’, namely, according to the laws of science. He provided examples 1400 years ago which science was only able to confirm and compliment in the centuries that followed. No room was left to deny Him and His power.
The question has remained: Who is the author of the Quran and how could he state facts that were only verifiable with the passage of time and scientific advancement? Examples include: the movement of all celestial bodies in their orbits even though subsequently Ptolemy and Copernicus erroneously hypothesised about a stationary earth and moon. Likewise, ‘big bang’ and an expanding universe were confirmed in the Quran - Georges Lemaître, Albert Einstein and others caught up in the twentieth century. The Quran explained three characteristics relating to mountains: They stabilise the Earth, sway gently from seismic rhythms (Jeffrey Moore’s ‘song of the mountain’) and move ‘as the clouds’ do. Fourteen centuries ago, the four stages of embryonic development were confirmed. Maurice Bucaille was only able to solve the puzzle of Pharoah’s preserved mummified body remaining intact notwithstanding contamination by seawater by reference to the Quran. The mystery of pairs through all creation- in humans, in the animal kingdom and in plants was referenced in the Quran despite plant gender being discovered in the late 17th century. Allah’s statement that the Earth is shrinking is now illustrated by evidence of a reducing atmosphere.
Wars invariably resolve through political settlement ultimately. Can any unconditional ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian relief, criminal convictions in the International Criminal Court and/or just rulings by the International Court of Justice be relied upon for lasting peace? No.
Netanyahu says he will attack Rafah in any event despite ceasefire talks. The UK and US and most of the West will not cease support. Many individual leaders around the world will remain passively or actively obedient to Israel in the face of its savagery. And thus, we will enter the next Groundhog Day, this time perhaps with something from the CIA playbook: The further annihilation of Palestinians and resettlement of some (even in the US), and the construction of a port for unobstructed access to pursue real estate projects and energy reserves along with transport routes leading deep into the Middle East.
Muslims however look to their Creator for His terms. Those will yield justice at a time and in a way Allah chooses. Even though His engineering may not be in clear sight I am sometimes comforted by Khidr’s dialogue with Prophet Musa. Events, reasons for them, and final results are beyond comprehension in the absence of patience and understanding. At least we know Allah exists. Destinies and outcomes are for Him to write and His to produce. Justice will prevail. Palestine will be victorious.
Akhtar Raja, is a British lawyer based in London and Principal of Quist Solicitors.
