LETTER: Act of slaughter in Rafah

Forty-five people, including children, were butchered in an Israeli strike on Rafah (“Israeli attack on tent camp kills 45”, May 27). Horrific acts of slaughter, mutilation and butchery unprecedented in the history of warfare.

The atrocious actions of the Israeli Defense Forces were draconian and dehumanising, and epitomise the essence of Israel’s brutal policy of massive force. The ruthless and bloody slaughter of innocent civilians lays the foundation for the world to see the true nature of Israel’s determination to rid the Palestinians from the geographical arena.

The stomach-churning photographs and the gruesome details exposed the double standards and hypocrisy of the outside world.

The reaction of the global community was truly astonishing in its feeble response. It symbolises and embodies the horrors of brute force. We must honour the memories of those who perished and those who survived them; it is our moral obligation.

How can refugees survive and progress when they live under the fearful shadow of Israel’s powerful military killing machine? Gaza and Palestine have become the Auschwitz of the 21st century. The Palestinians have become a forgotten people. All the pain, sorrow and hardships over the past 80 years have not moved the conscience of mankind. The world must bear witness to the enormities of the savagery inflicted on a landless people.

Surrounded by total horror, peaceful refugees, anticipating their own deaths, appealed to humanity not to forget them. They have become defenceless victims as Israel gruesomely enforces its “final solution”. The gun chamber has now replaced the gas chamber as a weapon of total annihilation. Jackboot tactics have replaced diplomacy as an instrument of Israel’s foreign policy posture.

History will remember these massacres as a date which will live in infamy. There is no memorial, monument, plaque or sign indicating where the victims of this grotesque massacre are buried. One of the most dangerous attributes of our times is our penchant for selective memory, and that selectivity is on full display as we remain unmoved at the plight of innocent civilians in Palestine. Every day our people are being murdered. Muslim lives being terminated by knives, guns and explosives instead of being embraced.

We must not forget that hatred is an epidemic worse than the coronavirus. Remembering acts of genocide against Muslims reminds us not to forget and to fight every vestige of religious prejudice with uncompromising determination.

Farouk Araie
Johannesburg 

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