The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) said Monday that it is disappointed with the United States for taking sides with Israel in its conflict with neighbouring Palestine for close to eighty years.
“The Council is disappointed that, in its usual dishonourable way, the United States has openly and shamelessly taken sides with Israel in spite of its brazen and incessant aggressions and massacre of the Palestinians for about eight decades now,” the council said in a statement jointly signed by Prof. Salisu Shehu, Deputy Secretary-General and Yunus Ustaz Usman, SAN, National Legal Adviser.
The council maintained that the United States has never accorded sanctity to the life of the Palestinians, nor had it ever shown sincere support and commitment to the struggle and the natural quest for freedom that Palestinians are yearning for.
The council said it was unfortunate that the United States has fallen short of the humane values of justice, freedom, security and protection of life that it always purportedly proclaims.
“As we all have blood flowing in our veins and share a common humanity, to pretend that the frustration of Palestinians and the silence of the world to their suffering and oppression will not lead to aggression is to stand logic on its head. Their mass humiliation has even been exacerbated by the hardline policy of the current Israeli government that sees them as animals,” the council added.
The council expressed embarrassment “by the outbreak of deadly and devastating war on the besieged Palestinians in Gaza,” adding that the horrendous attacks on civilians are unfortunate while calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities against Gaza.
The statement reads in part, “The recent attack on Israel by Hamas -an original creation of Israel which was turned against it by conscience- was just a ring in a long chain of incidents that should have been addressed given that actions and reactions are always in a state of flux.
“We should also remember that Israel staged the coup against the democratically elected Hamas in Palestine. When people are pushed to the wall, they fight back and that was what Hamas did. However, an all-out war and complete siege on two million defenseless people is atrocious, abhorrent and unjustified.
“The circumstances leading to the current escalation are well known to the discerning. It is because Israel has persistently failed to honour United Nations resolutions, implement the two-state solution of the Oslo Accord and guarantee Palestinians’ economic and political security. The Israelis have rather imposed a most abhorrent colonial policy on the besieged enclave. They have also continued to treat Palestinians as sub-humans and made Gaza the largest open air prison in the world under the ungodly false mantra that Palestine was a land without people and Israelis were people without land.
“There should be no double standards regarding the enthronement of sustainable peace. While it is desirable to toe the path of peace, peace without justice would only precipitate future crises. It is very sad that world leaders only pay lip service to peace but are unwilling to enthrone justice in the Israeli-Palestinian relations. Justice requires that oppressors be stopped and the oppressed comforted.”
The council called for a ceasefire as well as commiserate with the Palestinians.
“We call for the immediate cessation of violence and the opening of humanitarian corridor for the delivery of food and medical supplies to Gaza. Enough damage, destruction and deaths have been done already and we wonder how many thousands of civilians have to die to assuage the cravings of the bloodthirsty gladiators.
“The Council commiserates with the people of Palestine on the huge losses they have recorded before and during the current war and calls for immediate ceasefire. We also pray for peace, justice, security and humanity in the world because violence is an evil wind that blows no one any good. The world, beginning from the United States to the rest of those who turn a blind eye to the Israeli atrocities, should wake up to the fact that all humans are equal and justice is the best guarantor of peace. The two-state solution appears a mid-way out, though still not totally just to the Palestinians,” the statement reads in part.
____
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2023 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
