JULY 14 — The Economist posted a leader article recently entitled “The Tragedy of the Arabs” in the midst of the latest round of intense Israeli bombings and the killing and maiming of hundreds of Palestinian women and children. The blame for the tragedy was, as always, placed on the Arabs, particularly extremists and militant Muslims. Given that, they had the gall to suggest that it’s the Arabs themselves who are responsible for finding the solution to this violence. Israel’s criminal actions and America’s complicity were not mentioned, and neither were the brutality and mistakes of Western powers in the Middle East in the last 100 years.

Meanwhile, Malaysia and the rest of the world are watching in silence, making only the most facile condemnations just as they have done in the past. The UN Security Council took a week just to come out with the usual line that “Israel has a right to defend itself”, as if the Palestinians were not human. The rest of us can only watch in horror as mothers lose their children, as communities disappear, as homes and hospitals are destroyed; as entire families are killed by Israeli bombs. Our leaders have obviously not seen the disturbing pictures being broadcast on Al Jazeera, perhaps because they’ve been too distracted by the World Cup. They’ve been busy gathering at Dataran Merdeka for the football party and celebrating whose predictions turned out to be correct.

I find the conduct of our leaders (both political and religious) to be farcical, cowardly and pathetic. Muslims are being slaughtered in broad daylight and America isn’t even bothering to stop the lunatic Netanyahu from bombing Gaza to bits, and still they say and do nothing. What happened to all their concern about protecting Muslims from the evils of the world?

Maybe in a few days they will get their youth leaders to assemble after Friday prayers and then march to the American Embassy to show their disapproval by shouting “Death to the Jews” like they always do. In the speeches that will follow their leaders will call on Muslims to unite. But after that everything will be forgotten and they will be back in the office, waiting for another invite to Washington DC or London.

They are not defenders of Islam or heroes of the ummah. It looks to me like their attempts to be heroes are limited to doing the umrah (with TV coverage of course) as many times as possible, threatening Christians against using the word “Allah” and calling the scholar Kassim Ahmad a deviant and an apostate. Their whole idea of being an Islamic warrior is based on playing God over the lives of others. They don’t dare talk about how America has destroyed Muslim lands and Muslim dignity.

You may wonder what we, as a small country, can do in this situation. Yes we are small, and certainly our resources are limited, but we must not sacrifice our independence and our dignity as a nation. Even a small country must defend justice and not be cowardly in the face US hypocrisy on Palestine. Even a small country must speak out against the injustices perpetrated by a so-called superpower. We just need to be courageous.

There are several ways to do this. First we must be prepared to condemn the US for its callous disregard for the lives of Muslims and Arabs. We must be unequivocal about the fact that friendship has its limits and that we Malaysians are not the puppets of America. If we have to scrap the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement or TPPA to make our point, then we must do so. If we have to summon the American Ambassador or ask him to go home, then we must do so. If we have to suffer economically for a while for our recalcitrance, then we must do so. If we have to lobby Indonesia and other Third World countries for their support, then we must do so.

What we must not be is a helpless coward and allow others to trample on our heads. The Muslim world is looking for leadership, but many Muslim leaders are afraid to offend Washington and to find answers to the tragedy articulated by the Economist.

There are risks of course when you assert your independence and reclaim your dignity. Salvador Allende gave his life to give democracy to Chile, as have many others who have dared to take on America. I am not suggesting that our Prime Minister be another Allende or Hugo Chavez: just be firm and unafraid to communicate with Obama and Cameron. Call them daily if necessary. Ask Rosmah to call the Arab sheikhs who are friendly with her so they can help the Palestinians.

Help Iran if necessary so Iran can do more for the Palestinians and Hamas. Help the refugees with government allocations and don’t depend just on Mercy Malaysia. If we as a nation can show courage, then perhaps we can attract the attention of other moderate countries like Indonesia. By our outspokenness and our commitment to creating a safer world order, Washington might do more to stop its brother Israel from committing mass murder. We must help save the Palestinians from extinction. It’s not enough to be the jaguh kampung like ISMA, but to be real Muslim heroes.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.