A PRESS STATEMENT

 

An Israeli air strike killed 45 children, men and women in a fresh massacre over an area that had been designated as a “safe zone” for refugees in Rafah, on yesterday. The unconscionable scenes of dismembered bodies of women and children being pulled from tents engulfed in ambers of fire, underscore the depravity of the Zionist regime gone rogue.

 

Calling it a “tragic mistake,” Netanyahu sounded hollow and cynical. With his genocidal war cabinet, they have ignored hundreds of prominent voices, over and above the twice-varied International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) provisional measures, with a specific order delivered on 24 May 2024, to stop a potentially murderous offensive in Rafah Governorate.

 

For almost eight months of seeking “total victory” in Gaza, Israel has killed over 36,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Thousands more are missing, presumed buried under the rubble. The scale and intensity of the destruction of Gaza hardly leaves any question about Israel’s intentions— to ethnically-cleanse, and make the territory uninhabitable for Palestinians.

 

Yet, as erstwhile unquestioning backers of Israel squirm at the continuing dehumanisation of Palestinians, the United States, in its lop-sided support for Israel, found words that seem to downplay, if not justify the continuing Israeli war crimes. The Biden Administration stands complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

 

The Jamiatul Ulama South Africa expresses revulsion at this continuing carnage. A toleration of such a scale of loss of human life, represents one of the darkest phases for humanity in the contemporary era. The world is now waking up to a reality of the hypocrisy of the leaders of the “Free World.” Their worn-off veneer of commitment to international laws and norms, has exposed their supremacist agenda which has a disdain for the Global South.

 

We call upon the growing international solidarity movement to continue the mobilisation against the disdainful approach to the Palestinian Question. Nothing is going to deter Israel from inflicting more massacres against the civilian refugee population in Gaza, other than a complete isolation of the Zionist entity.

 

When the call to prayer sounded out this morning in Rafah, one could not help but sense the agony and anguish in the muezzin’s voice… Let us all turn towards Allah in total surrender, with petitions unto Him, for the protection, healing and steadfastness of our mothers, daughters, fathers and brothers in Gaza.

 

Executive Committee
Jamiatul Ulama South Africa

19 Dhu al Qa’dah 1445 / 28 May 2024