By Harun Elbinawi
In the past several weeks, we have witnessed brutal genocide unfolding in the besieged Gaza Strip. Israeli child killers have been on a killing spree, bombing anywhere and everywhere.
Yes, make no mistake about it: it is a war of the occupying Israeli regime on Palestinian civilians.
They have been killing people in their homes, hospitals, markets, mosques and churches. With a generous supply of American weaponry, the daily massacres have been ruthlessly inhumane.
The murderous regime has completely wiped out hundreds of Palestinian families since October 7. Infants have been murdered in their incubators and elderly people have been killed in their sleep.
At the time of writing this piece, the death toll had already crossed 15,000 in Gaza, most of them innocent children and women. And there are more than 2,000 people buried in the rubble.
Despite the four-day truce, under which Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners were swapped, there have been reports about the Israeli regime warplanes continuing to pound Gaza and the West Bank.
The number of completely destroyed mosques has been put at 85, and the partially destroyed ones are reportedly 174, in addition to at least three churches that have been partially or completely damaged.
Backed by the Western states, the Israeli regime has perpetrated horrendous massacres against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the past seven weeks, including in cramped refugee camps.
The number of injuries has exceeded 35,000 with more than 75 percent of them being children and women, according to Palestinian health authorities and aid groups on the ground in Gaza.
Let’s get straight to the point: The genocide in Gaza happened because the Muslim Ummah is divided, which is utterly unfortunate.
With a united house of Islam, the genocide in Gaza was avoidable and preventable. Division brings weakness. If you are divided, you will be rendered weak. Unity is strength. Unity is power.
Muslims should not forget the fact that the “divide and conquer” strategy of Western hegemonic powers has been essentially designed against them. Divisions among Muslims benefit these powers.
Westerners have always been hell-bent on fuelling the Sunni vs Shia divide, which makes it easy for them to implement their divisive and nefarious objectives.
I was born a Sunni and I have been a Shia for more than 30 years now. With all humility, I know both schools of thought as a student. There are no major differences between them.
Unfortunately, the wicked and vile enemy has managed to magnify the little differences between the two communities with the support of some Arab monarchies to exploit these divisions.
For the enemy, it’s the same as killing a Sunni Palestinian and a Shia Lebanese. Their war is against Muslims and against the sacred sanctities of Islam, including the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestine symbolizes the unity of Muslims. The events unfolding in the Gaza Strip should serve as a wake-up call for Muslim nations to join hands for a bigger cause.
We must ask ourselves: Is this division an advantage or disadvantage for Muslims? Who are those who benefit from Muslim disunity? And conversely, who are those that benefit from Muslim unity?
Western hegemonic powers and the Zionist regime are the biggest beneficiaries of Muslim disunity.
Harun Elbinawi is a Nigerian political and public affairs analyst.
(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV)
