Dr. Muhammad Mahtab Hossain Mazed

Today, November 29, is the Day of Solidarity with Palestinians 2023. In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 29 November as the International Palestine Solidarity Day to express solidarity with the Palestinian people. Exactly 10 years later, on 29 November 1987, the 'United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine' resolution was approved. Since then, this day has been celebrated all over the world as 'International Palestinian Solidarity Day'. In view of this, in 2012, Palestine was given observer state status for the first time in the United Nations General Assembly.

The International Day of Palestine Solidarity is celebrated every year to inspire the goal that the Palestinian people can stand up in the world by resisting all conspiracies and overcoming their weaknesses. Palestine is a war-torn country in chains of subjugation. Those who are constantly fighting to save their country from Jewish imperialism. The history of Palestine reveals that the state was once known as Palestine. Its population was around 1 million then. Two-thirds of this population were Arabs or Muslims, and one-half were Jews.In the British-ruled country run by the mandate of the League of Nations, after the Second World War, the Jewish plot to establish a British state was made, but after the World War, based on the report of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947, the city of Jerusalem in Palestine was given the status of an international cityIt was decided to divide the land of 'Palestine' into two Arab and Jewish states.But as a result of this conspiracy, a Jewish state called Israel was established in a part of Palestine. On the other hand, the formation of a separate state for the Palestinian people is far from the case, they continue to be expelled from their original homes. Since then, the beginning of the Arab-Jewish conflict in the Palestinian territory has now taken the form of a global crisis.

> Love our Bangladesh for Palestinians:-

Bangladesh has been showing solidarity with the Palestinians since a long time ago. Israel recognized Bangladesh as a third country on February 4, 1972. But at the direction of Bangabandhu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh rejected that recognition and expressed solidarity with Palestine. In 1973, Bangladesh sent medical teams and relief to support Palestine during the Arab-Israeli war. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was a close friend of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Yasir Arafat came to Bangladesh on the silver jubilee of independence at the invitation of then Prime Minister Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina.

There are innumerable examples of English dishonesty in the history of the world. But the most shocking and sad example is Palestine. The British promised the Palestinian Arabs during the First World War (1914-18) - if you do not join the Turks and fight, they will give you (self-determination) an independent Palestinian state. On the other hand, the Arabs had promised the Jews, if you stop the financial aid to Germany and give the money to the English, then after the war you will be allowed to build your 'National Home' in Palestine.

This two-faced policy of the British was revealed at the end of the First World War. Before this war, Israel and Palestine were under the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The Muslim caliphate of Turkey collapsed due to British conspiracy and British forces occupied Iraq, Sinai Valley, Palestine and Jerusalem without firing a shot. Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon were occupied by England and France. On November 2, 1917, then British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour pledged the establishment of a Jewish state in the Palestinian territories in a letter known as the Balfour Declaration.

Jews were scattered in different countries of Europe. However, with the possibility of establishing a Jewish state through the Balfour Declaration, Jews started coming to Palestine in droves. On the other hand, the unruly English power ellipse and another unruly nation never supported the Jews to create a state in Europe. Instead, troublemakers pushed the Jews into the Middle East.

A small religious community of Jews lived there since Roman times. Their number was only a few thousand. A large number of Jews immigrated to Palestine from Europe as the possibility of establishing their own state was bright. With the help of the British, the number of Jews increased to 20 thousand by 1918. Which stood at 35 thousand in 1923 and 180 thousand in 1931.

Meanwhile, in 1918, with the help of the British, the secret Jewish army 'Haganah' was created. These forces initially aided the Zionists against the Palestinian people. Later they became organized terrorist forces. They did not stop at occupying the houses and farms of the Palestinians, but also forced them out. It was their daily routine to create panic among Palestinians by detonating bombs in markets and streets.

Due to the negative attitude towards the Jews in Europe and Hitler's harshness, the number of Jews in Palestine became 6 million in 1948. The Arabs shook their heads. By then it was too late. To sustain their existence, the Palestinian Arabs started a revolt. The revolt was severely suppressed by the British troops with terrible repression. According to the BBC, 32,000 Jews joined the British army and became soldiers.

The Jews first used that strategy against the Arabs. Then on British troops to pressurize the creation of a Jewish state. On the other hand, after World War II, US President Harry Truman took a strong stand for the state of Israel. The one hundred thousand Jews who survived Hitler's occupation were quickly forced to make room in the Palestinian territories. Although Britain understood that if so many Jews were taken to their colony of Palestine, a civil war would start. That is, the Englishman then allowed the thief to steal by telling the householder to guard the house.

Thousands of Jews came to Palestine like locusts by the ship load. The situation gradually went beyond the control of the occupying British. This time, the British started to break the jackal on the head of the United Nations. In November 1947, the United Nations decided to create two states in the territory of Palestine. One for the Jews, the other for the Arabs. This Arab is not only Muslim. Along with Muslims there were followers of other religions including Christians.

It was Resolution 181 of the United Nations General Assembly in 1947 regarding the partition of the Palestinian territories. According to this proposal, 45 percent of the land in Palestine was left in the hands of the Palestinians and 55 percent of the land in the hands of the Jews. But up to that time, Jews owned only 10 percent of the land, even after occupying it by coercion and terror. Naturally, Palestine and other Arab countries did not accept this plot. The United States continues to pressure weak economies to vote for the Jewish state of Israel at the United Nations. On this occasion, the British were expelled from Palestine by injecting poisonous Jews among the Arabs on May 14, 1948. The state of Israel was formed on that day as predicted.
The world was surprised, who has formed a state in whose land! All ethics were washed away by the imperialist power. Although the Arab countries could not accept it at all. That is why Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria jointly attacked Israel within an hour of the declaration of statehood.

Israel's defeat in the fierce fighting was then a matter of time. The Jews also ran out of weapons. And with a little advance, the Egyptian forces could have captured Tel Aviv. But then the United Nations emerged as the savior as the creator of Israel. The organization offered a cease-fire to the Jewish and Arab nations.

> The Hamas-Israel conflict

Israel's war with Hamas, the Palestinian independence movement and the ruling group in the besieged Gaza Strip, has dragged on for 54 days. During this period, Israel has dropped about 40,000 tons of bombs on Gaza.

On Sunday (November 26), the head of the media affairs office of the Gaza government, Salama Maruf, gave this information while talking to Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based media outletThe Israeli military has dropped about 40,000 tons of bombs in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war on October 7. Their indiscriminate attacks have created a terrible humanitarian disaster in Gaza. As a result of the Israeli occupation, almost a third of the total population of Gaza is deprived of basic needs. They are carrying out such "brutality" with the aim of making Gaza uninhabitable. And, the number of children killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks last year exceeded the number of children who lost their lives in all conflicts around the world. Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in the valley, is no longer operational. Now we urgently need to establish a large-scale field hospital.

Since the war with Hamas began on October 7, the Israeli forces have been carrying out indiscriminate attacks on the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian death toll has exceeded 15,000 in more than seven weeks of attacks. More than half of the dead Palestinians are children and women. It is known that 6,150 children and more than 4,000 women have been killed in Gaza so far. More than 36,000 Palestinians were injured. And 1 thousand 200 people died in the attack of Hamas in Israel. The dead included more than 300 Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, 200 trucks carrying food, water and medicine entered Gaza on Sunday (November 26) as part of a four-day temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas brokered by Egypt and Qatar. According to the agreement, about 50 children and women held hostage in Gaza are being released. And Israel is releasing three Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli.

Finally, I would like to say that the main Muslim countries, including Bangladesh, always support the formation of an independent state for the Palestinians and stand in solidarity with the 'oppressed' Palestinians, but when a major crisis comes, the entire Muslim world is not seen to take a strong stand for the Palestinians.

Even the Organization of Muslim countries or the Arab League cannot take a very strong role for Palestine during the crisis with Israel.

This time, Israel continues to carry out uninterrupted airstrikes after a surprise attack on Israeli territory by Hamas, which is under the control of Gaza. Many civilians have been killed in the attacks by both sides. So as the sun rises and sets regularly, brutality descends again and again in their lives. It has been going on for decades. Once they had land, a roof over their heads. All occupied. The last shelter is on the way to captureThe world is going through a merciless time. Such a time has never come before—it cannot be said. Came several times. World War I and II, Hitler's extermination of the Jews, the cruelest chapter in history. However, this time the cruelty and brutality is a bit exceptional. The whole world is supporting and sponsoring this brutality, which has probably never been seen like this.

I am talking about the Palestinians. I am talking about the occupation-murder and cruelty organized by Israel with the help of world powers. There is an atmosphere of war in many countries of the world. There are wars going on at the borders of some countries. Palestine-Israel war, Russia-Ukraine war, Saudi-Yemen war, Azerbaijan-Armenia war, Pak-India war, China-India war, civil war in Syria etc. are ongoing. After 20 years of continuous fighting in the US-Afghanistan war, the US has withdrawn its troops in 2021. Among these battlefields, the Russian-Ukraine war has been raging for several years, but since last week, the international media has been very busy with the Palestinian-Israeli war. After World War II, the Palestinian-Israeli war has been ongoing for almost 75 years.

These small battlefields going on in the present world will create a terrible problem in the future world, through the explosion of which the world may have to witness another hellish carnage called World War III. The Ukraine-Russia war needs to stop immediately. Palestine and Israel need not only to be supported, but also to explain their respective rights. Remember, Israel is a nuclear power. There is no way to solve the problem by completely overthrowing Israel now. Let Palestine be declared as independent Palestine in 43 percent of the land that was given to Palestine in the beginning. They should also think that society is an integral thing. Society is made up of many elements.

If there is a revolution in a society in one corner of the world, the wind of war comes to the other side of the world. As a result, the price of daily necessities increases. Unstable situation prevails all over the world. The UN should now grant independent Palestine UN membership. In this case, the United Nations has to be much stronger, much tougher. The people of the world don't want to see bloodshed for political interests in Russia-America power conflict. And Palestine is emotionally connected with this country. The love of humanitarian people around the world is intertwined. Along with that, the prayers of devout Muslims are involved. I remember, even in my childhood, I used to see Imam Sahib praying for Palestine with the present Muslims at the end of Jumma Namaz. He prayed for the oppressed people of Palestine. At that time, the sound of Amen Amen and the cry of the Imam Sahib and the present worshipers would have moved my young mind. Let this bloody game stop. Stop killing people indiscriminately.

The writer is a, columnist and researcher Founder and Chairman,Jatiya Rogi Kallyan Society