What happened in Gaza Strip on Friday (June 1, 2018) was another tremendous loss for Palestine and Islamic world. Razan al-Najjar, a 21-year-old female paramedic, was shot dead by Israeli forces. In days since that tragedy, we have also seen the triumph of who we are as human. However, many people remain silent all the time, pretending that we shouldn’t have to be terrified of this tragedy because it is so far away from home. People don’t ask government any questions, shows no curiosity about what needs to be change, what needs to be done, to help.

Fast backward in the first of 20th century. The Jewish had not been torn apart by peace and prosperity but many agonizing wars. The community was in tatters. The European Jews had died in anti-Semitic movement that lasted for years. Expelled from Germany, they were then expelled from another European society as well. The suffering ended when British Army and United States Government intervened.

At that moment, Arabian dominated Palestine (Jerusalem), but it was not clear that they could survive. The European Jews suddenly created Zionism and emerged as great power. But one thing was certain, Zionism had not only emerged but conquered Arab lands and dominated Palestine. Most of the conflicts in the Middle East were about Israel’s status. Zionism had survived and Israel now was allied with modern western civilization. From the point of view of most reasonable people, the war was over and Israel has already won the war.

Since the end of cold war, the United States has emerged as the global super-power with its infancy, diplomacy, nuclear force and military. And in the back of everyone’s mind, the Jihadist of Islam, seen as fanatical, were the other danger. To contain Islamic Jihadists, the United States had formed alliance with everyone and every single state in the world to eradicate the threats. Israel now is on the equal track with the US, making Islam and Palestinians to be the biggest threat for its sovereignty and interest.

We have seen many Islamic Scholars said that the problem for Islam is political. Moslems are held together by nation-state system, not faith as their basic ideology. Loyalty of Moslem is either bought or coerced to the state, not to humanity and brotherhood. The world where Moslem alive today is created by its own enemy, that is why we have no idea when we see the states that ruled by a Moslem are very often to declare war against other states that ruled by another Moslem, it is ridiculous when the brotherhood of faith is under the brotherhood of nation.

This reality leads to a deep-seated belief in some people that the Islamic world is approaching the eve of its destruction. This has never happened before in Islamic history. But somehow, I really don’t see the problem in it. Zionist’s goal is to be free of inferiority, to liberate Jerusalem and bring the Jews back to the Holy Land, to restore the state of Israel, to control the regional and international system. The fact that people are really ignorant and this is the problem and why oppressions in Palestine still exist. Israel will never stop killing Palestinians and denying them their rights as long as western countries and Islamic societies show their hypocrisy all the time.

YOGASWARA PRABAWANTO (Mahasiswa Pascasarjana Sekolah Kajian Stratejik dan Global Universitas Indonesia)