AS Israel continues its brazen killings of innocent Palestinians, including hundreds of children, the inaction in the Muslim world is what hurts more than the criminal acts of Israel. The leader-ship is often blamed for its impotence, and there are justified reasons for doing that, but what about the masses?

It is painful to see people at public places keen to know the live updates on cricket matches rather than an update on the situation in Gaza. What a shame, what a pity.

Thousands of Palestinians find themselves buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings, and a grim picture is painted by the United Nations. Undeterred by the global backlash, Israel continues to commit one war crime after another. It has a strong and shameless ally on its back.

The United States has offered diplomatic support, has rushed military hardware to the region, and has even vetoed a UN move to send human relief to the hapless Palestinians. And, amid all this, we want to know who did what on a cricket field, indicating what our priorities are, and how misplaced they are.

Support for the apartheid state of Israel by the US and its Western allies may be cruel and immoral, but is not shocking and unexpected. What can we expect from the West, especially the US, which has been in the stranglehold of the Jewish lobby for decades?

The irony is that we want the US to change, the global bodies to raise voice and the world to intervene and do something, but we, the Muslims, are not asking our leaders to do anything. Maybe we want everyone to change their ways so that we may live happily ever after, limiting ourselves to cricket scores and predictions.

The adversity in the troubled land is an opportunity for the Muslims to get united and stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza. When the blood of innocent Palestinians, who seem to be the only defenders of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, is being spilled so blatantly, inaction on our part is criminal.

Do we have the moral courage to take a stand by recalling the national team to tell the world that Baitul Maqdis means to us way more than cricket? Just asking.

Ahsan Ul Haq Shaikh
Chunian

Published in Dawn, October 22th, 2023