The enduring 75-year-long plight of the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation has once again captured humanity's attention.
Regrettably, we confront an intensely distressing picture. Israel is unleashing its advanced weaponry, including tanks, missiles and airborne bombs, upon innocent civilians without discrimination against their targets. They position themselves so highly that they almost consider themselves higher than God.
The Palestinians are slowly being killed by the Israelis. And Israel wants to say, "We will gradually erode your existence, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, and we expect you to remain silent."
Discussing this issue without recognizing the profound and enduring traumas inflicted on the Palestinians over 75 years of occupation, exile, death, imprisonment and persecution would be an incomplete and insensitive discourse.
It is crucial to acknowledge that Western states have held a position of global dominance for two centuries. As part of this historical trajectory, they sought to make amends for centuries of persecution against the Jewish people by establishing a protective shield through the settlement of Jewish people in Arabic lands, which has thoroughly affected the region.
In his recent statement, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan underscored the other day that Western countries are indebted to the Jewish people. It would be complementary to add a few sentences to clarify what President Erdoğan meant by saying so.
Throughout history, Jewish people resided in predominantly Christian states, with profound discrimination and persecution. Christians perceived Jewish people as the source of societal ills, including moral decay, contagion and various afflictions; thus dehumanizing them. This unfounded prejudice manifested in confining Jewish people to ghettos at night, even as they engaged in commerce during the day. A poignant historical example of this segregation can be found in Rome and Italy, where the windows of Jewish residences within the ghettos were deliberately walled off to isolate them from the rest of the city, exemplifying the depth of bias and exclusion faced by Jewish communities.
In addition, Jewish populations endured numerous expulsions and remained scattered from Rome, France, and England to various corners of the world. Among these historical events, the expulsion of Jews from Spain is a significant chapter. During the Muslim Andalusian Umayyad era, Jewish culture experienced a golden age. However, when Muslims and Jews faced expulsion at the end of this period, strikingly, the Ottoman Empire extended a welcoming hand to the Jewish community some 500 years ago, allowing them to reside within its lands, emphasizing the principles of justice and compassion.
It is a historical fact that throughout the annals of time, Muslims have never harmed a single Jew. In stark contrast, the persecutions, tortures and traumas endured by Jewish communities, including the infamous atrocities orchestrated by Adolf Hitler, were carried out predominantly by Christians.
Accordingly, the Western states are cowardly, fearful and uneasy toward the Jewish people. Moreover, since they acknowledge their own guilt, they cannot speak out against Zionism.
Hospitals, homes and civilian residences have been subjected to devastating attacks, resulting in the tragic loss of innocent lives, including women and children, for three weeks now. Even ambulances transporting the wounded to medical facilities are being hit.
Despite being a member of the United Nations and adhering to a framework of international norms, Israelis, like vampires from outer space, are committing genocide that cannot be accepted by any law or morality.
On the opposing side, we find a political party established to safeguard its homeland and its military units comprised of individuals who ardently defend their territory. These individuals are engaged in a struggle for independence that mirrors the narratives of countless other wars of liberation throughout history, such as the Turkish or Algerian independence wars and the battles waged by numerous nations against oppressive invaders. All patriots, all those who defend their land, are labeled as "terrorists" in the eyes of invaders.
Being terrified of Israel, all Western governments repeat whichever group Israel labels as "democrats" or as "terrorists."
Erdoğan, a prominent world leader who has achieved remarkable feats, did not surrender to the current course of events and took an opposing stand. The Turkish president's resistance and reaction were not only about whether Hamas members were terrorists. Even Erdoğan, who has gained and protected his political achievements through participating in and winning dozens of entirely democratic elections, was labeled a "dictator" by these rabid Western editors until recently.
It is noteworthy that President Erdoğan, a lifelong political figure who has partaken in numerous elections and has garnered his political influence through democratic processes, was, until recently, labeled a "dictator" by certain Western commentators despite his commitment to the democratic path.
As the leader who reversed the course of history, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "How can those who kill children become a state and those who defend their land become terrorists?"
The Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef had a beautiful expression, "Suppose there is no Hamas, suppose there is no Gaza, but you kill people in the West Bank also."
In history, great empires, great states and great ideas that disregard justice, human rights, human dignity and the right to life, have begun collapsing.
That state and similar intentions are no different from a terrorist organization. Israel behaves more like a terrorist organization and a mafia state rather than a conventional state. It is even more tragic that all Western states are standing in chorus behind this injustice. They have destroyed all the values they created until today.
And this is what has emerged: No matter how much the states in the world stand on the side of oppression, injustice and the massacre of children, all humanity and nations – those with conscience – stand on the side of the Palestinians.
From today onward, a schism has emerged between those who hold anti-American, anti-imperialist and anti-Western sentiments and those who ardently advocate for justice and fairness, including citizens of Western nations. A growing skepticism regarding Western notions of justice has taken root among Eastern and Western populations. In response, individuals are increasingly inclined to assert their demand for justice directly, expressing their discontent through street protests and nationalistic actions, as they no longer place their entire trust in established systems.
President Erdoğan once again showed his difference from all other leaders in the world. While leaving the door open to diplomacy, meeting with all the leaders of the world, including the Pope, and continuing his peace efforts on the one hand, on the other hand, he has once again declared to the world that Israel acts like a terrorist state and Hamas acts like a virtuous state, and that members of Hamas are mujahideen (freedom fighters) defending their land, as in all wars of liberation.
I believe that the wind of this oppression will be cut off, and from now on, day by day, the Palestinian cause will turn into the cause of those who seek a just world.
