By Sheikh Abdullah R. Makwinja

National Director of Ahl-ul-Bayt (as) Islamic Guidance Council of Zimbabwe

The sheer cold bloodedness of Israel settler regime has once again been laid bare by the recent massacre of Palestinian civilians. These barbaric, inhumane and genocide on the owners of the land by the colonial apartheid regime has reopened old wounds on the conscience of every Zimbabwean, on top of the list being the Nyadzonya Massacre 5 August 1976 and Chimoio Massacre 23-25 November 1977, in which thousands innocent unarmed civilians were killed in cold blood by the colonial settlers state of Rhodesia.

The entrenchment and protracted duration of the occupation, which began in 1967 following the Six-Day War, have given rise to a reality of systematic human rights violations against the Palestinians, such as house demolitions, forced evictions and displacement, restriction on freedom of movement, and arbitrary deprivations of life and liberty. Despite local and international efforts geared towards promoting international law and accountability, Israel has willfully and constantly failed to meet its international obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law vis-à-vis the Palestinian population, and to comply with relevant UN Security Council’s resolutions, including Resolution 242, which required Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Israel's persistent human rights violations would not be possible without the complicity or support of Europe and America.

To date, Gaza continues to suffer a humanitarian crisis due to Israel's unrelenting illegal blockade, which has, inter alia, rendered reconstruction - and thus recovery - impossible. This collective punishment indiscriminately affects all of Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants, compounding an already dire human rights situation. Those most vulnerable include refugees, women, children and the elderly. They have destroyed churches, mosques, hospital schools, UN offices, media institutions. At the core of these violations is the denial of Palestinians' right to self-determination.

The systematic violation of Palestinians' human rights cannot be allowed to continue any longer. Human rights violations will continue as long as Israel is granted the ability to act as a State above the law. The international community must make tangible efforts to combat impunity, and uphold victims' rights. Ultimately, Israel's occupation, which is the root-cause of Israel's human rights violations, must cease as demanded by international law.

Without human rights and the rule of law there can be no justice, without justice there can be no peace.

One of the clearest lessons of the current situation in the occupied Palestine is that one day the occupier will pack his bags willing or unwillingly. The occupying apartheid regime Israel despite having every possible military advantage on the field, in technology, weaponry, around-the-clock surveillance, intelligence and information capabilities, and control over what enters and exits the small Gaza Strip territory, the settler regime was still surprised and outwitted by the hammering Hamas fighters. The only solution to this perennial question is that the occupiers must give back to the Palestinian what belongs to them. Unfortunately, however, the settler with backing Israel and many analysts appears to be doubling down on old threats and continuing to treat the problem in military terms to secure the supposed defeat of Hamas and the Palestinians. An important lesson from the Hamas operation is that, again, the Palestine Question cannot be ignored. The status quo cannot be maintained forever and Israeli repression and apartheid will soon end, including the siege of the Gaza Strip. The Israel settler regime must take time to study the history of colonialism in Africa and elsewhere in the world, how it began and ended. Imam Khamenei the leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran describes the settler regimes as dying and a losing horse and also added that, “Israel’s problem is one of illegitimacy, and a regime based on illegitimacy would definitely be annihilated and destroyed.”  Hence soon, it’s no surprise to see the Israeli settlers most of whom, have dual citizens (American and European) packing their bags going back where they come from. Viva Palestine.