PRESS STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL MUSLIM CONFERENCE [NMC] OF GHANA ON THE ISRAELI-HAMAS WAR
Over two weeks ago, the boiling tensions that have been simmering for decades between Palestinians and Israelis especially along the borders with the Gaza strip exploded into an outright war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip.
Hundreds of people, and as the days have rolled by thousands, mostly, civilians on both sides have been killed and thousands more wounded and missing in the Hamas-Israeli war.
We of the National Muslim Conference of Ghana, deplore the current prohibitive loss of lives especially those of innocent, powerless civilians on all sides and call for the cessation of hostilities, return to civility, commencement of negotiations and implementation or enforcement of a durable and lasting peace anchored on the two state solution that recognises the existence and interests of both the Jewish and Arab States of Israel and Palestine.
We are first of the firm belief that it is only ALLAH Almighty, the Creator and Sustainer of life, who has the sole right to terminate life. No one or group of persons have the right under whatever pretext to arrogate to themselves the authority to terminate the lives of others.
We accordingly condemn the loss of thousands of lives of Israelis and Palestinians arising from the conflict over a week ago as well as from the many years of colonial oppression of the Palestinian people, especially the blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel.
We especially condemn the October 17 2023 Israeli bombing of the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza in which over 500 people were reportedly killed and hundreds more wounded and maimed. The same condemnation goes to the Israeli Government for the bombing and destruction of the oldest Church in Gaza at the weekend resulting in significant loss of lives. The attack on hospitals, churches, mosques etc. and killing and maiming of hundreds of people are massacres and, therefore, acts of genocide and clearly war crimes for which the Government of Prime Minister Netanyahu must be held responsible.
We are of the firm belief that what is happening today in the face of this full blown war is a symptom of a bigger disease. The abysmal failure of the International Community to live up to its own obligations of fairly and justly enforcing its own laws and rules anchored on binding resolutions and protocols passed in the United Nations is largely responsible for the current state of affairs. This has been the case from the time of the passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 of 1948, otherwise called the Partition Resolution that divided Palestine into two states of Israel for the Jews and a state of Palestine for the Palestinians to Security Council Resolution 338 reinforcing the recognition by the International Community of the existence, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two separate states of Israel and Palestine.
It is sad to note that after over 75 years of the partition resolution that created the state of Israel recognised by many states in the world today, there is no such recognition and respect by the global community for the other state for the Palestinians.
Tragically, the global community has looked on with careless abandon, while Israel has gone on to illegally grab Palestinian Lands and annex them through a colonial and apartheid system of unleashing and supporting a horde of settlers for that purpose.
Without doubt, the genesis of the current war and indeed many other wars to follow if the status quo does not change, is the policy of the Israeli Government to dispossess the Palestinians of as much land as possible largely through the settlement system so that within the next few decades there will not be much land left for the Palestinians to hang onto to form an independent and viable state. This is the pivot around which the Israel Government settlement policy rotates.
We note with regret that for over 16 years today, Gaza has earned the unenviable accolade of being the biggest open prison in the world where 2.5 million of Palestinians are boxed in on a small narrow land making it also the most densely populated land in the world. With such high levels of suppression of the population, it is only a matter of time that matters will come to a head.
We accordingly call on the International Community, especially the leading and permanent members of the Security Council, to live up to their responsibilities in upholding International and Humanitarian Law and the U.N. own resolutions and revamp peace talks aimed at breathing a new lease of life in the two state solution which alone holds the key to permanent and durable peace in the region.
As Muslims, we are only too aware of the threats these oppressive colonialist actions have posed to the peace or practice of our Islamic beliefs including various provocative acts by the Israeli Government at the Al Aqsa Mosque (Islam's third highest place of worship) in Palestine and urge all parties to respect the sanctity and dignity of these holy places.
Attaining and sustaining peace in the Middle East are a difficult enterprise, but we know it can be done.
The 1993 Oslo Peace Accords under the leadership of U.S. President Bill Clinton and with the active support and participation of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and P.L.O Chairman Yasser Arafat, which brought great hope of peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians shows that with visionary and pragmatic leaders, peace, fairness and justice are possible in the Middle East.
We call for a return to the vision, pragmatism and commitment of these Leaders to save the Middle East from the dangers of an expanding devastating war whose continuation might yet spell greater doom for mankind.
Peaceful co- existence between Arabs and Jews and others in the current theatre of conflict in Palestine and Israel is a critical imperative, and the international community has a bounden duty to work towards its realisation now.
In the spirit of National Cohesion and holding on with the globally acknowledged position of Ghana as leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, we wish to take advantage of this unique opportunity to passionately appeal to our Government to continue to stay within the boundaries of non-alignment in its approach to and comments on the Israeli-Hamas war as the Ghanaian people will have no economic, social or political gain to make in that conflict, apart from the global peace and harmony the entire humanity stand to enjoy if peace eventually prevails in Israel and Palestine.
We wish to also commend our government for joining the many peace loving nations of the world to vote for cessation of fire in Gaza and to allow for humanitarian aid to reach the suffering masses and the innocent non-combatants who are currently suffering in Gaza as a result of the indiscriminate bombing currently going on in Gaza.
May Allah shower His peace and Mercy upon the people of Palestine and Israel for them to accept one-another and live in harmony.
God bless our homeland Ghana.
God bless all peace loving nations of the world
INUSAH MOHAMMED BABA
GENERAL SECRETARY
NATIONAL MUSLIM CONFERENCE OF GHANA
FOR:
THE NATIONAL CHIEF IMAM AND
CHAIRMAN OF
THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE NATIONAL MUSLIM CONFERENCE
