Ashraf AboArafe writes
WHILE the Israeli occupation continues its invasion of Syrian territories and deepens the tragedy of genocide in Palestine and Lebanon, Zionist defiance reaches its peak by treating the Arab system with humiliating arrogance, placing its boot over international resolutions. This ranges from barring the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States from visiting the Palestinian Authority, to enforcing a systematic “slow execution” gallows for national leaders inside the dungeons of death. How long will we content ourselves with condemnation and denunciation while the aggression desecrates everything?! Is it not time yet?!
Silent Assassination in the Darkness of Dungeons: Barghouti Targeted by a Point-Blank Bullet
In a statement dripping with helplessness and outrage, the League of Arab States (Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories Sector) exposed atrocities that disgrace human conscience, taking place behind the occupation’s bars. A heinous new war crime unfolded days ago, when Israeli suppression forces fired a rubber bullet at point-blank range below the knee of the prominent national leader and one of the most vital symbols of the Palestinian national movement, prisoner Marwan Barghouti (Abu Al-Qassam), causing severe bleeding and a critical injury that narrowly avoided leaving him with a permanent disability.
The horrific assault, reported by Barghouti’s wife following a visit by his attorney, Mr. Feldman, is no isolated incident, but rather a link in a sadistic chain:
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Less than two months ago: Barghouti was subjected to a sound bomb thrown inside his cell, causing severe burns to his hand.
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Intelligence incitement campaigns: These direct physical assaults translate explicit and public Israeli intelligence reports inciting the elimination of Barghouti.
For Whom are the Arab Armies? And Where is the Echo of “Wa Mu’tasimah” in the Age of Silence?
Faced with this tragic spectacle and the cold tone of denunciations, the most bitter question in modern Arab history arises: For whom have the Arab armies been mobilized? And why were the documents of the “Joint Arab Defense Treaty” drafted if they fail to protect Gaza, Beirut, and Damascus, or even rescue an imprisoned icon being liquidated in cold blood?!
History repeats itself with bitter irony. In the past, the cry of a single woman mobilized massive armies that shook the thrones of tyrants under the cries of “Wa Mu’tasimah!” and “Wa Islamah!”. Today, hundreds of thousands of women, children, and prisoners scream at the top of their lungs in the bastions of Palestinian resistance and devastated cities, yet their cries echo back into corridors of silence and futile appeals. Has the echo of these groans not reached the capitals yet? Or have the clauses of joint defense become mere ink on forgotten paper?
The Shield Guarding Arab Security.. How are the “Bastions of Resistance” Left Alone Behind the Walls?
What is conspicuously absent from cold diplomatic calculations is that the prisoners languishing in the depths of dungeons are not mere numbers or casualties; they are the shield guarding Arab strategic security and the first line of defense for the nation’s dignity. Targeting the symbols of Palestinian resistance inside the walls of dark cells is a blatant Zionist attempt to break the towering will that has foiled—and continues to foil—plans of liquidation and displacement.
In the face of this legendary steadfastness of the resistance heroes behind the bars, the most painful question emerges: How are these honorable fighters left alone to face the machinery of oppression and abuse? Has the time not come for Arab capitals to realize that abandoning the prisoners of the resistance is an abandonment of the very depth of Arab national security?
A Cold-Blooded Slow Execution.. As the Arab League Settles for Denunciations and Shifting Responsibility
The Arab League confirmed that what Palestinian prisoners and detainees are subjected to reflects a deliberate criminal policy aimed at “slow execution” and breaking the will of the Palestinian people. Despite the enormity of the crime, Arab demands collide with the wall of international silence, as the statement contained repetitive appeals, including:
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Considering the assaults as war crimes and crimes against humanity, holding the occupation government fully responsible for Barghouti’s life.
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Demanding the urgent formation of an international investigation committee to bring the perpetrators to international justice.
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Demanding immediate access for a neutral, independent medical visit and transferring the prisoner to a hospital outside the prisons if his health condition requires it.
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The immediate and unconditional release of Marwan Barghouti, as a political prisoner detained for his struggle.
A Complicit International Community and a Silence Nurturing Genocide
Before this tragic scene, international promises evaporate, and the nakedness of “International Humanitarian Law” and the Geneva Conventions is exposed, trampled under the boots of the occupation. The silence of the international community has turned into overt complicity that can no longer be accepted. This prompted the Arab League’s Palestine Sector to issue a final appeal to the United Nations, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court to act before it is too late.
Yet, the shocking and pressing question continues to echo through the corridors of Arab capitals: How long will the official Arab system settle for condemning “in the strongest terms,” while the occupation continues to devour land, invade Syria, annihilate Lebanon and Palestine, and assassinate our prisoners in cold blood?! Is it not time yet for these fires to stir the diplomatic and military stagnation, rising to the level of these heroes’ sacrifices and restoring the nation’s squandered dignity?!
