Eid was celebrated on Monday 28th July in various parts of the world. The rest will celebrate it on July 29th. This time Eid has come at a time when there is gloom and doom all around. Gaza has been facing the brunt of naked aggression and violence for most part of the holy month of Ramzan. The death toll has already crossed 1000 and the world community is watching as Palestine has been taking the brunt of Israeli military offensive. Ramzan is a month when Muslims across the world not only fast from dawn to dusk, but also spend more time in other forms of worship and acts of charity. It is a time when every Muslim wants to be close to his/ her family, to make the extra effort easier and expect a tranquil atmosphere. But no such luck with the hapless and unfortunate people of Gaza who have to withstand a ruthless barrage of Israeli airstrikes and ground offensive which has resulted in death and destruction in the entire Gaza strip. With nowhere to go, people in Gaza are spending each day, ready to face new destruction.
It is not for the first time that Israel has resorted to naked violence against Gaza, throwing every bit of decency and humanity into the dustbin. The last time Gaza was under siege was also during Ramzan in 2012. That time a ceasefire was brokered by Egypt, when Muslim Brotherhood was in power. Even then the death toll had crossed 100. But this time the level of death and destruction has been unimaginable, even by the low standards set by Israel earlier. While Eid is a time of celebration for Muslims, a time when kids and adults, want to be a part of festivities. But this Eid presents a challenge. What does one make of such celebration? When death and destruction has been brought upon a people, how does and in what way does one celebrate Eid? It is not only Gaza where people have been killed mercilessly. In Iraq, last month the militants belonging to ISIL killed innocent people at random. Added to that barbarism, we had them threatening the Christian minority who were forced to migrate, leaving their home and other assets behind. Places of worship were also attacked and destroyed by ISIL. On top of all this non- stop of violence, Syria still continues to simmer. With death toll having reached more than 150,000 in the last four years, Syria continues to be a nightmare. Added to the death of people, Syria also presents a huge humanitarian crisis in terms of millions of refuges. This war has taken its toll particularly on children and women. Children in thousands have been orphaned. At a time when children around the world go to school, learning new things, these children have been forced to leave their schools and instead become the bread winners for their families. Women in the refugee camps are often rumored to be sold to rich and old Arabs.
Amid this violence and gloom, it is really difficult to make sense of celebration this Eid. But it seems all has been not lost. In the vile propaganda and misinformation campaign that Israel has launched, with most major media house across the world its ready takers, there have been some honest and sane voices who have brought out the truth. Journalists like Robert Fisk, Gideon Levy and Amira Hass have been relentless in their condemnation of Israel. The former two are more notable since they work with Haaretz and live in Israel.
Without being sanctimonious and without mocking anyone who celebrates Eid, lets at least show solidarity with the victims of senseless violence worldwide, irrespective of their identity. Let us raise our hands in prayer for them and let us help try bringing out truth wherever we can. Lets fight darkness with light. We owe, at least this much, to the victims.
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