THE people of occupied Palestine have been struggling for over seven decades to free their homeland, and have bravely resisted countless blood-soaked Israeli pogroms designed to make them abandon their just cause.

The ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza is only the latest Zionist project intended to break the Palestinian spirit. Yet their perseverance in the face of unspeakable adversity has won the Palestinian people and their cause supporters the world over. In 1977, the UN General Assembly called for the observance on Nov 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The date marks the adoption in 1947 by the UNGA of Resolution 181 (II), which paved the way for the partition of Mandatory Palestine. Even though the resolution led to the Nakba, it is noteworthy, nonetheless, that the multilateral body has chosen the day to express solidarity with Palestine.

There are many factors behind global support for Palestine. Primarily, the wretched of the earth see in the Arab struggle against Israel a mirror of themselves: a weakened and dominated people seeking to regain their land and their dignity, in the face of a powerful and merciless enemy. They see what is perhaps the last colonial settler state trying to erase an indigenous population from their native land. They see a resilient people with few resources confronting an adversary that has the support of the greatest military machine — and some of the most powerful economies — on earth.

It is because of these factors that people with no religious, cultural or geographical links to Palestine have been marching in solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza and the West Bank. In fact, all people of conscience across the world recognise the Palestinian struggle as just. In the memorable words of Nelson Mandela, “our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”.

In the Muslim world, including Pakistan, the ties of faith inspire support for Palestine. While some Muslim governments may be shy about openly supporting the Palestinian struggle, the ‘Muslim street’ stands firmly in Palestine’s corner. Moreover, there is genuine concern that Israeli extremists — including some in government — are trying to harm the Al Aqsa mosque, one of Islam’s most sacred sites, and turning the Palestinian struggle into a religious war.

The people of the world see that the ‘defence of Israel’ cannot justify the mass murder in Gaza, and therefore, are rightly calling it out for what it is: a genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing. But difficult as it may be to watch the people of Gaza endure unspeakable atrocities, it is hoped their suffering will not be in vain, and that one day, Palestinians of all faiths will be able to return to the land of their ancestors and live in freedom.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024