Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, as we gather here in the sacred month of Muharram — a month in the Islamic calendar that symbolizes sacrifice in the face of oppression, setting an example of what the mankind should do in situations as such. We are not merely discussing a country, but a geopolitical fulcrum, a military outpost, and an ideological pillar of modern imperialism: Israel. Our purpose here is not to stoke hatred or division, but to speak truth to power — to name what many have long avoided.
Let us make no mistake in choosing our words: It’s not a war between Palestine and Israel; rather it’s a genocide on Palestine being engineered by the global elites and executed by Israel. Since October 7, over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed — more than 15,000 of them are children. These are not numbers. These are lives, stories, lullabies, dreams buried beneath rubble. 92% of children in the West rang in the New Year with fireworks and food. That same night, 80% of children in Gaza were shivering under rubble, bombed, starved, amputated without anaesthesia. While Western children are protected by bedtime stories, Gazan children are identified by names written on their limbs — to make sure their parents can find them in morgues. It is as if the Palestinian children are drinking all the hemlock to give rebirth to our conscience and freedom. Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian poet, killed in the airstrike of 2023 wrote,
“If I must die, you must live to tell my story…
Tell them I was a human, not a number.”
My dear brothers and sisters, this genocide didn’t begin in 2023. It echoes 75 years of apartheid, 17 years of siege, and decades of colonial complicity. The colonial mindset that views humans as numbers and chooses profit over conscience every single time. It does not even spare the children.
This also leads us to the fact that an average Gazan child has lived through 5 wars before turning 10. I again repeat,
This is not a “conflict”.
It is not “defence”.
This is systematic annihilation — a genocide funded and justified by global powers. A war between the religions? No, I don’t think so.
Quran chapter 5, verse 32 commands, “Whoever kills a soul…it is as if he had slain mankind entirely.” Whereas Judaism teaches, “Whoever saves a life, it is as if they saved the world entire.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin chapter 4 verse 5).
As I began my speech reminding all that this is the month of Muharram – the ideological distance between the Mecca and the Karbala is as much same as the distance between silence and resistance. I would then again repeat that this is not a war, this is a moral test for us, especially, during these trying times when genocide is being normalized, and resistance is being dismissed as inconvenient, where discursive hegemony is wrapped in the cover of democracy, and democracy is conditioned to follow the masters of capitalism.
In reference to the present prime minister of the United Kingdom, I must say that Mr. Starmer must learn from Mr. Clive, popularly known as Robert Clive. The same Clive who was celebrated as a hero in 1757 died a lonely death in 1774, and now he lives only as a lesson throughout the pages of the British history. I’m afraid if Mr. Starmer must accept the same fate for himself because under his administration, the U.K. opposed the ceasefire,
- Since October 2023, the UK government has issued 108 arms export licences to Israel. Between October and December 2024 alone, the value of single-issue arms licences reached £127 million. In the first quarter of Starmer’s term that is from July to September 2024 alone, licences worth £10.9 million were approved.
- In September 2024, around 30 out of 350 active licences were suspended. These included components for drones, helicopters, and targeting systems. However, one major exception remains: the UK continues to export parts for F-35 fighter jets, which the Israeli Air Force uses extensively in Gaza. The UK contributes roughly 15% of all components for the F-35 program.
And these ladies and gentlemen, reminds of the analysis of Joseph Stiglitz, who famously pointed out that
“War is good for business. The more conflict, the more spending, the more profit.
Israel’s conflicts fuel the global arms market.”
— Joseph Stiglitz.
Think about it: Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, markets its surveillance drones as “field-tested”— on Palestinians.
These technologies are then sold to oppressive regimes worldwide — from Latin America to India — entrenching authoritarianism under the cloak of “security.”
The West’s obsession with Israel becomes clearer when you understand the role Israel plays in controlling access to oil and trade routes in the Middle East. By maintaining a heavily armed presence near the Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz, and Red Sea corridors, Israel guarantees that no anti-Western movement gains power over critical energy supply lines. Zbigniew Brzezinski, U.S. National Security Advisor under Carter, warned decades ago that whoever controls the Middle East controls the world economy, and this gives us an idea of Israel’s establishment in 1948 and NATO’s establishment in 1949. Israel helps ensure that Arab nationalism, pan-Islamic solidarity, or anti-Western alliances never reach that level of control.
Shoshana Zuboff and Edward Snowden have both indirectly referenced Israel’s role in global surveillance capitalism. NSO Group’s Pegasus software, exported to dozens of governments, showcases Israel’s influence in the global surveillance state.
— Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.
Thus, Israel is more than a state; it is a mechanism — a high-tech military-industrial-policing surveillance node in a global network designed to keep the Global South under control. This is not a question of Jewish identity. It is a geopolitical matrix of power. Let us not be deceived by the language of “security” and “self-defence.” As the late Edward Said warned:
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
Today, we must no longer ignore.
This is our responsibility and our vow: to speak, to act, and never be silent, as we don’t want to go gentle into that goodnight.
Free Palestine. Free the World from Empire.
Long live revolution!
Thank you for all your participation and patient listening to what I had to say.
