‘Palestinians Trust Those That Have No Business Interest in Their Suffering’: Author

IQNA – Some parties benefit economically from the war in Gaza and this has prompted Palestinians to trust themselves more than any other outside force, a South African author says. 

“Which international institution can the Palestinians trust but themselves?! The Palestinians trust the masses of the world who have no business interests in their pain, suffering, and sacrifices; nor in their soil, water, and olives,” pro-Palestinian activist Haroon Aziz told IQNA in an interview. 

He went on to refer to a report by Global Research that discusses how the discovery of natural gas and oil deposits off the coast of Gaza has contributed to the war in the region and, and how various corporations and political actors are involved in the exploitation of these resources.

“There are subterranean economic forces that prioritises the national and business interests of their respective countries,” Aziz said, 

The Israeli regime has been bombing the besieged Gaza Strip since October 7 after Palestinian resistance forces launched a military campaign against occupied territories in response to increased Israeli crimes against Palestinians. The Israeli indiscriminate attacks have killed more than 20,000 people, mostly women and children, while also leaving more than 56,000 others injured. 

What follows is the full text of the rest of Aziz’s conversation with IQNA: 

IQNA: The Palestinians said their offensive, dubbed "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation," came in response to years of Israeli violence and crimes, including the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque. What is your take on this? And how do you see the long years of occupation as a reason behind this unprecedented operation?

7-October was not an ‘unprecedented operation’. It is one of a series of battles in the 75-year-old war of liberation. Each battle was qualitatively different from the preceding battles with heightened political/Islamic consciousness and militancy against Zionist militarism.

IQNA: How do you gauge the support of the Muslim world for Palestine? Is it effective and enough?

The war of liberation has a content similar to the historic wars of liberation in China, Vietnam, Algeria, Guinea-Bissau, South Africa, Cuba, etc. The content of such wars is oppression of human beings for the exploitation of their natural resources. Muslimness is coincidental and may also be harmful like the “Abraham Accords’. Only a few Muslim countries are effective like Algeria, IRI, Iraq. When IRI fought the eight-year war against Saddam as surrogate of imperialism it fought alone in a very hostile world with no moral and material support from any Muslim country. It confirmed the truthfulness of the scientific principle.    

IQNA: Western countries continue to back the occupation as their mainstream media mainly focuses on the Israeli narration of the conflict without mentioning the root cause of the years-long issue. Are people across the world aware of the Palestinian issue?

The people of the world are aware but not clear about the root causes of the war. At the level of sloganeering, they do support Palestine but it would be better for them to support from a base of de-colonial knowledge. Systematic educational work has to be done worldwide and prepare supporters to continue the struggle for the day after victory because the economic struggle will get more intense. Africa has to be targeted. We need to prepare the world for the day after victory because the big economic powers (including Muslim countries) have already prepared themselves for it as outlined above. 

People are used to receiving and re-forwarding lazy, short social media messages without realising that Google, e.g., has a team of 8000 people who are guided by AI on what topics to write on. Presently, Palestine dominates AI. Zionist think tanks have repeatedly conceded that they have lost what they call the ‘cognitive war’ without understanding the science of cognition.

IQNA: What effect do you think these attacks have on the process of normalizing ties between Israel and Arab states?

The normalisation process has been neutralised. The challenge is to kill it. The worldwide masses have to be kept mobilised to kill the normalisation because the ‘normalisers’ will pursue their own economic interests at the expense of the Palestinians.  

IQNA: There is speculation on the Israeli regime’s potential measure to forcefully displace residents of the Gaza Strip in what is being described as the “second Nakba." What is your take on this?

Long before 7-October the Zionist strategy was to force West Bankers into Jordan and the Gazans into Sinai. The axis of resistance with the full support of all Palestinians is succeeding in destroying this Zionist strategy. The original Nakba has mutated into a series of ongoing Intifada, which is now infused in the war of liberation and manifests itself as sumud (Quranic steadfastness). Thanks to the youth born after the Oslo Accords.

The views and opinions expressed in this interview are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the view of the International Quran News Agency.