Who can stop the brutal aggression against the Palestinians?

 

 

Is there a glimmer of hope that those who provide weapons will stop their support and awaken their conscience?!

 

 

Is there any hope that the political decision-makers, who console with words, will play a real and decisive role in stopping the aggression on Gaza?!

 

Al-Azhar Grand Imam (GI) and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders (MCE), Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, received today, Tuesday, at Al-Azhar, Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, accompanied by a high-level delegation that included Mr. Sven Koopmans, the European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, and Ambassador Christian Berger, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt.

 

Al-Azhar Grand Imam said words are unable to express the suffering of Palestinian people as a result of the aggression, carnages and daily massacres they are exposed to. The like of such attrocities has never been witnessed by the history of wars and conflicts. He pointed out that what the people of Gaza are being subjected to is brutality that humans have never known before, and that it is neither courageous nor chivalrous for an armed man to attack and kill innocent displaced people. His Eminence stated: “I can say that we have not seen this brutality in the world of beasts. This entity has exceeded all human standards and committed the most heinous crimes and has transformed into a bloodthirsty monster killing innocent people.”

 

His Eminence wondered if there can be a solution to this great historical mockery that we are witnessing in Gaza to stop this brutal aggression. He added that the world today is divided into two groups: either participating and supporting with weapons, and complicit in the killing of a defenseless people, or complicit by staying silent or condemning and denouncing it. He wondered if there is a glimmer of hope that those who export weapons to the occupying entity will stop their support, and awaken their conscience, and if those political decision-makers, who offer their condolences only through words, could play a real and decisive role in what is happening in Gaza, which they can do if they want.

 

His Eminence pointed out that the situation in the Middle East has become extremely difficult, warning that if this critical situation is not addressed, the entire world will fall into a major conflict whose magnitude and consequences cannot be predicted. He stressed that the Zionist entity was planted in the Middle East to make it a permanent theater for wars and conflicts, weaken it - militarily, politically and economically - and seize its resources and wealth.

 

Mr. Josep Borrell, for his part, expressed his appreciation for the Grand Imam and his pivotal role in spreading the culture of peace and defending the rights of the oppressed, in addition to his important contributions to promoting interfaith dialogue. He noted that he shares with the Grand Imam the vision regarding the challenges of the Middle East and the region, and that there is no solution to these crises except by establishing an independent Palestinian state, granting the Palestinians their full rights, and working to change the balance of power. He added that the Palestinian state should grow gradually. He stressed that what the Palestinians are being subjected to in terms of massacres and slaughters is genocide, and that the EU is making great efforts for ceasefire in Gaza. He hoped that the EU will be able to establish the foundations of peace and reach a humanitarian truce that leads to a complete cessation of aggression.

 

Mr. Borrell pointed out that he had never seen a more complex and divisive issue within the European Union than the Palestinian issue and what is happening in Gaza. While some European countries call to stopping exporting weapons to the Israeli army, other countries continue to support it with weapons and on the political level. He indicated that the EU submitted a proposal to impose sanctions on some officials of the occupying entity in response to their hostile policies and hate-inciting statements. It also proposed imposing sanctions on everyone who participated in the crimes of genocide and massacres taking place in Gaza, yet he pointed out that the EU's authority stops at the mere proposal and there must be a unified position by the member states to approve the penalty, which has not been achieved. He stressed the Union’s continued exertion of more pressure to stop the aggression on Gaza.