"Record! I am an Arab and my identity card is number fifty thousand" (M. Darwish).
Renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish's book "We lost and love lost, too," brilliantly summarizes the Palestinian cause and the defeat of Arabs. When I read his poems, the recent history of Arabs - from the First World War until today - flashes before my eyes. It is, in fact, the history of our own fate that is composed of not only defeats and despairs but also solidarity among Muslims and thus victory and hope.
According to our perception of tawhid (i.e. belief in Allah), all Muslims are equal components of one Islamic community (ummah) notwithstanding their race, ethnicity, and religious sects. However, we now live in the age of modern nation-states where relatively small communities fall prey to larger nations.
More than 3 million people currently live in northwestern Syria's Idlib. Most of them are women and children, who took shelter in the city over the course of the ongoing 7-year-old civil war. Idlib is currently under siege, where civilians face yet another massacre. Due to certain terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida and the Nusra Front, which are anti-American only in appearance and pro-American in effect, Russia together with Iran and the Syrian regime wants to strike the city.
According to their perspective, any group that opposes the Syrian regime is a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, the United Nations, the U.S., and the leading European powers do not consider the death of Arabs as a humanitarian plight or a human rights tragedy. The death of Muslims seems like a little price to pay for "the new world order." The U.S.' main concern is the prospective usage of chemical weapons, while the leading European powers are concerned with the issue, mainly because of their fear of yet another wave of refugees.
On the other hand, cooperating with the U.S. and Israel; Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates turn a blind eye to the ongoing tragedy of some 3 million Muslims, who reside in one of the world's most ancient lands.
Turkey, nonetheless, strives to stop the attack by emphasizing the need to separate civilians from terrorists. Calling for sobriety, Turkey proposes to resolve the matter by establishing a prudent and cooperative attitude among the related powers.
Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey and several other countries in the Islamic world have succeeded in protecting their own peoples by arms and laws. While Iran is sensitive toward Shiite interests only, Turkey makes extraordinary efforts for the interest of all Muslims in the world. For instance, we witnessed how Turkey, under the leadership of Erdoğan, condemned the U.S.' Jerusalem decision in the U.N., and the support it received from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Islamic countries must unite not only for the Palestinian cause but also for Idlib.
As long as Arabs continue to die, "We lost and love lost, too."