The date of November 9, 1917 is very important for us. On this date, the four hundred years of Ottoman rule in Jerusalem ended and Jerusalem, the unhealing wound of our hearts, fell. While the residents of Jerusalem and Palestine, who lived in peace, tranquility and prosperity for four centuries, have not seen peace since then, what happened deeply affects us and the entire Islamic world.
At this point, while Muslims in Palestine are being subjected to planned oppression and oppression, unfortunately the world ignores this barbarism, which is a black stain on history. So much so that people who live abroad in their own homeland, including women, children and the elderly, are brutally murdered in front of the eyes of the world, but the people of the world are unable to even make a weak condemnation against this carelessness. While a brave young man defending his homeland in a wheelchair is being martyred without mercy, the world turns its back on this vileness. Turkey, which resists, opposes, struggles and raises its voice against this cruelty, shouts out the wrongness of the absurd order operating in the world and reacts.
Due to our religion and belief, we do not and cannot hate the Jewish nation or any other nation solely because of their race. The only element opposed here is Israel’s step-by-step occupation and unprecedented cruelty. What angers us is that the Zionist regime ruthlessly and mercilessly kills people whose homes, lands and homelands have been usurped for decades. This endless cruelty and negligence must end now. Within the framework of the two-state solution, the Palestinian people must regain their homeland, and this torture inflicted on the Islamic world must come to an end. It should not be forgotten that the resolution of the Palestine issue is essential for peace to come to the Middle East and even to the world. Palestine and Jerusalem are the heart, soul and apple of the eye of every individual of the Islamic world.
Turkey conveyed this injustice to the whole world with the initiatives it carried out during its presidency of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and especially with the meetings it organized in Istanbul. The Islamic countries that came together took an upright stance, at least partially, and stated that it was time for a solution with the declaration they published to end this oppression. Regardless of religion or nationality, many sensible countries and nations around the world condemned and stood against this brutality. But the question is: will the one who is right or the one who is strong win? It has been seen that it is not possible to establish equality and justice in the world around the veto power of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. This situation creates an illegal global system that operates in parallel with the interests of powerful countries and is based on destroying the oppressed. In this strange order, neither the oppression will end nor the cries will cease! This sterile structure defended by the West could only transform Israel, which was founded by the Jewish nation that collapsed under the tyranny of fascism seventy years ago, into a fascist terrorist state. In the final analysis, the state of Israel has turned into a spoiled child whose every massacre, every destruction and every cruelty is tolerated.
Based on the essence of this great issue, it would be beneficial for us, as the Islamic World, to look in the mirror. Are we a true and single ummah, or are we a helpless group who are ready to sacrifice their brothers for their own petty interests and interests and have fallen into perversion and misguidance? All countries and their people whose name is defined as Muslim should ask themselves this question. Doesn’t our separation, division and disintegration have any role behind this endless suffering? Don’t our silence, cowardice and timidity encourage the hard-hearted Israeli state? What is the reason for these oppressions if not the silence of our voices that emerge while Islamic countries are constantly gathering and publishing messages of condemnation?
Oh Saladin Ayyubi, the Conqueror of Jerusalem! When did we become so helpless, so courageous, and when will we wake up and come to our senses? Or when it’s our turn?
Gıyasettin Eyyüpkoca
