A few weeks ago, I wrote an article titled The Catastrophe in Gaza: Where Are Humanity and Faith? Seeing the ghastly images and reading reports of the ongoing massacre, I remain worried and restless, pondering what I can do to find vindication before Allah when He questions us about our roles in the Palestinian matter. It is for this reason that I write yet another piece on the same issue—being the least I can do—hoping to render an excuse before Allah on the Day of Reckoning.
The world is witnessing extermination in Gaza in real time: entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble, children buried under collapsed homes, hospitals bombed, water and electricity cut off, and now, food deliberately denied. In this modern age, with satellites mapping every street and smartphones broadcasting every cry for help, how can anyone still claim ignorance? The question burning in every heart with even a shred of humanity is: For how long will this go on?
When did hunger become an accepted weapon of war? When did the deliberate starvation of men, women, and children—the slow, calculated strangulation of an entire people—become a tactic the so-called “civilized” world tolerates? Gaza’s streets are lined with the despairing faces of mothers who cannot feed their babies and fathers who can only watch their families waste away. This is not collateral damage; this is policy. It is the weaponization of dispossession, and it is a crime against humanity.
Where are the international laws the world claimed would protect the weak and restrain the strong? Where is the Geneva Convention now, when it is needed most? Why do those who drafted these laws remain silent while they are trampled into the dust by tanks and missiles? Are these laws only meant for the overpowered and never for the powerful?
What of the so-called world leaders—the presidents and prime ministers who take to podiums to deliver carefully crafted speeches about “peace” and “human rights,” only to return to their offices and sign more weapons deals with the aggressors? How many summits will it take before action replaces rhetoric? How many meetings in marble halls will be held before the leaders of the world admit they have failed in the most basic duty of leadership: to defend the innocent?
History will record that Egypt had the Nile River while Gaza died of thirst. History will record that Saudi Arabia and the UAE possessed oceans of oil while there was no fuel in Gaza for hospitals or ambulances. History will record that Muslims had more than 50 million soldiers, yet they did not send even one to Gaza nor stop the genocide. History will record that billions were spent on lavish parties while there was no bread or water in Gaza. History will record that Turkey, while frequently invoking the name of Islam, sold 70% of its oil and gas to Israel and allowed the oil pipeline from Muslim Azerbaijan to finance the massacres in Gaza. History will record that the Muslim Ummah blamed their rulers, yet they did not stop drinking Pepsi and Coca-Cola nor boycott the enemy’s products. History will record that the West took to the streets against the genocide, while Muslims and their scholars sat in their homes discussing the story of the woman who entered Hell because of a cat—yet did not discuss the death of thousands in Gaza. History will have no mercy on the rulers and the ruled after the annihilation of Gaza and its people.
History will record that fellow Muslims and Arabs paid $1.6 trillion to Trump to annihilate Gaza, while South Africa went to the ICC to call out for Gaza. History will record that the minerals and oil on Gaza’s coast—enough to make Israel as many barrels of oil as Saudi Arabia and Iran—are the reason 2.3 million Gazans are facing extinction.
History will record that many knew and kept quiet. History will remember this moment. It will remember the bombs, the blockades, and the hunger; it will also remember the silence. It will remember the governments that turned away, the leaders who could have acted but chose instead to posture, and the nations that allowed “strategic interests” to outweigh human lives. It will remember that when the people of Gaza cried out, much of the world turned a deaf ear. History will remember—and it will tell a lot.
But there is still time to change that legacy. World leaders must stop hiding behind diplomatic statements and take decisive action—not tomorrow, not after the next meeting, but now. Open the borders. Stop the bombing. End the siege. Allow food, water, and medicine to flow freely. Hold those responsible for war crimes accountable, no matter how powerful they are.
If humanity cannot unite to stop the starvation and slaughter of an entire population, then perhaps we have no right to call ourselves civilized at all. And if the so-called international community will not act, then let it be known: their silence is complicity, and their inaction is a betrayal of every principle they claim to uphold.
Gaza bleeds today, but the shame will last forever.
Professor Danladi is a member of the Resource Forum, Islamic Movement, Nigeria. He can be reached at adanladi08@gmail.com