The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Palestinian

  • Israel delays Palestinian prisoners’ release over Hamas’ treatment of hostages

    Israel delays Palestinian prisoners’ release over Hamas’ treatment of hostages

    Israel will delay the seventh hostage-prisoner exchange in protest of Hamas’ “humiliating” treatment of hostages, according to Israeli officials.

    The release of 620 Palestinian prisoners, which was scheduled for Saturday, was postponed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yesterday morning, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement condemning Hamas propaganda generated during the exchange.

    “In light of Hamas’s repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes, it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies,” the office’s statement said.

    The statement came after reports of Hamas fighters exploiting Israeli prisoners while they were being released. On Saturday, five of the six freed hostages were accompanied by armed militants in front of a crowd, including three Israeli hostages who posed alongside terrorists.

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    Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen were among the hostages forced to pose with the terrorists. Shem Tov was also forced to appear cheerful, kiss two militants on the head and blew kisses to the crowd.

    The three also wore fake army uniforms, though they were not enlisted when they were captured by Hamas.

    In another recent ceremony orchestrated by Hamas, four coffins were placed in front of a caricature of Netanyahu with a banner that said, “The war criminal Netanyahu & his Nazi army killed them with missiles from Zionist warplanes.”

    Hamas condemned Israel’s decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, arguing that Israel’s claim that the hostages’ handover ceremonies are “humiliating” was false and a pretext to evade obligations under the ceasefire agreement.

  • Palestinian statehood, defining liminal moment of our time

    Palestinian statehood, defining liminal moment of our time

    • By Yusuf Maitama Tuggar

    A liminal moment is a time of realization that the way things are is no longer sustainable, yet the way thing will become is yet to happen. In other words, a liminal moment is a period of transition. The quest of Palestinians for statehood and the right to exist is going through a transition period in which the world is awakening to the fact that Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and the institutionalised system of segregation used to administer the territories is neither tenable nor sustainable.

    Although the violence and carnage being meted out to the Palestinians appears at first glance to strengthen the hands of the Israeli government and provides opportunity for settlers to expand territorial ambitions, a closer examination reveals it to be a pyrrhic victory. The resolve of the innocent civilians on the receiving end is only getting stronger, determined to avert another Nakba, the term referring to the exodus that followed the 1948 partitioning that created the state of Israel. Many Palestinians lost their homes in the event, never to return again. Families still clutch on to the keys of their houses as mementos of a mistake passed down from one generation to another that must never be repeated again. The struggle for Palestinian statehood is the liminal moment of our time.

    When it comes to standing up against injustice and racial discrimination, Nigeria has maintained an admirable consistency. We deployed resources and energy over three decades towards the liberation of Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Apartheid South Africa. Nigeria follows the dictum of international relations guru, Hans Morgenthau of making ethical foreign policy behaviour an integral part of its state objective.

    President Bola Tinubu continued this tradition when he spoke out equably for an end to the violence in Palestine and Lebanon during the Arab-OIC Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh on November 11, calling for the actual implementation of the two-state solution that has been the subject of several UN Resolutions, dating back to Resolutions 242 and 338 of 1967. President Tinubu’s intervention was considered by other countries in attendance as providing the missing mechanism when he suggested the creation of a secretariat to monitor implementation of the Summit’s resolutions and provide regular reports to the leadership, until peace is achieved. This was unanimously adopted as a late addition to the draft resolution and hailed as a departure from previous ones that lacked implementation mechanisms.

    President Tinubu has remained deeply concerned by the human suffering in Gaza, especially of children and women. For this reason, Nigeria worked with Red Cross officials and employed its diplomatic channels to facilitate the evacuation of sick and injured children to Egypt, UAE and Jordan. Today three-year-old Alaa Madhon, nine-month-old Salma Chagu of Khan Yunus, another three-month-old baby Alaa and baby Suhail are all alive with the help of Nigeria’s back channel diplomatic efforts. In his speech, President Tinubu reminded the world that the conflict did not begin on October 7, contrary to media reporting that often gives the impression that the Hamas attack and kidnapping of civilians was the casus belli that justified Israeli aggression and discounting the daily aggression meted out to Palestinians living under the apartheid system in Gaza and the West Bank.  He   candidly challenged leaders by stating it was not enough to issue empty condemnations and although all countries in a rules-based international order had the right to self-defence, they had to take into account the proportionality of violence they applied, especially on innocent civilians.

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    President Tinubu pointed out that an entire civilian population cannot be dismissed as collateral, in meting out revenge for October 7. The contradiction of justifying the Israeli aggression against innocent civilians within the context of a rules-based international law and order is that the whole point of international law is to rule out revenge. Justice is antithetical to revenge.

    Those who attempt to give religious colouration to standing up for what is right and just betray a lack of understanding of the Palestinian quest for statehood. Some of the most prominent figures in that struggle have been Christians; academic Edward Said, PLFP founder, George Habash and political activist Hanan Ashrawi are among the recognisable names. And within the state of Israel exist Arabs that are Muslim, Christian and Druze. The Republic of South Africa that instituted a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice is 82% Christian. The nationhood journey of South Africa and the struggle against apartheid make it the most morally appropriate nation to file such a case against Israel where a similar apartheid system confines over 2.2 million people in an open-air prison called Gaza. Like South African Bantustans or homelands, those living within require passes to move around, their fundamental human rights restricted. So South Africans can identify more easily with the plight of the Palestinians as non-citizens on their own land.

    But Nigeria can also identify with such a system and share the pain because of our own journey to nationhood. Apartheid was simply an extreme form of indirect rule. The system designed by Lord Lugard and Jan Smuts to answer the native question was to segregate a black majority, creating Sabon Garis and Zangos that restricted movement and mingling among the owners of the land. Black people were not allowed to venture into the Government Reservation Areas (GRAs) of Ikoyi in Lagos and Nasarawa in Kano else one would be arrested for “wandering”. Late Ibrahim Gusau (who later became a minister in the first republic) was punished by the colonial authorities for being found in Sabon Gari, with a copy of the West African Pilot, published by anti-colonial agitator Nnamdi Azikiwe.

    It was therefore not surprising that after gaining independence, Nigeria’s foreign policy maintained a proclivity for standing up against discrimination and injustice. Apart from supporting liberation movements to free others from the colonial choke hold, Nigeria refused to sell oil to Apartheid South Africa and penalised businesses that dealt with racist regimes on the continent.

    The Balewa government lobbied for the expulsion of South Africa from the Commonwealth and set up the National Committee Against Apartheid across the country, the Gowon government helped strengthen the United Nations Committee Against Apartheid and pushed for recognition of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde as independent states, the Murtala/Obasanjo administration created the Southern Africa Relief Fund (SAFR) or Mandela tax as it was popularly known, and the Shagari government engineered the Lancaster House Conference that paved the way for Zimbabwe’s independence. President Tinubu continues this noble tradition by standing up for the actualisation of the two-state solution.

    Nigeria’s diversity gives it an advantage on the world stage in consensus building through the hard work of conversation and virtues of principled compromise. Though this may be taken for granted at home because it comes naturally to us, it remains an uncommon trait abroad much admired by others. It is a gift that we must continue to tap into in our share political project both at home and abroad.

    •Tuggar is Minister of Foreign Affairs

  • Palestinian authority should govern Gaza, says Macron

    Palestinian authority should govern Gaza, says Macron

    French President, Emmanuel Macron has urged Israeli Prime, Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the Palestinian Authority to govern the Gaza Strip.

    In a phone conversation, Macron expressed his support for a Gaza ceasefire and a hostage release deal proposed by U.S President, Joe Biden.

    Macron emphasised that this agreement could pave the way for a two-state solution, which he believes is essential for ensuring Israel’s security and addressing the aspirations of Palestinians.

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    “Gaza must be an integral part of a future Palestinian state,” Macron stated, adding that a reformed and strengthened Palestinian Authority, with international support, should take charge of Gaza’s governance.

    President Biden recently outlined a new three-stage roadmap to facilitate mediation efforts after nearly eight months of conflict.

    The plan includes an initial six-week phase where Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza, coupled with a hostage-prisoner exchange. This would be followed by negotiations for a lasting ceasefire, which would persist as long as talks continue.

  • Palestinian envoy lambasts US for arresting protesters

    Palestinian envoy lambasts US for arresting protesters

    The Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullahi Shawesh, on Thursday, May 16, lambasted the Western World for clamping down on student protesters who were expressing solidarity and sympathy with his country.

    Shawesh said the clampdown is nothing but hypocrisy and double standards.

    He stressed that the arrest and clampdown on protesters negates the Western world’s stand as promoters of freedom of speech.

    He said: “When college students express their solidarity and sympathy with the Palestinians, it is labelled as hate speech and anti-Semitism. These students are beaten and harshly treated. Threatened with expulsion from universities, severe sanctions in the future, imprisonment, and facing trial.

    “This is the exact meaning of hypocrisy and double standards.”

    Shawesh who gave a review of the 223-day battle between the Israeli forces and Hamas, said no fewer than 45,091 Palestinians have been killed, including 15,103 children and 9,961 women.

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    He also said the battle has consumed 142 journalists and 492 medical staff.

    The envoy said no fewer than 10,000 persons have been declared missing.

    He added: “78,404 wounded and injured, with 72% of the victims being children and women. 17,000 children live without one or both of their parents.”

    Beside the human casualties, Shawesh also listed a number of destructions recorded, which include “243 mosques destroyed and 321 partially damaged. 3 Churches targeted and destroyed, 86,000 housing units completely destroyed and 294,000 partially damaged. 103 schools and universities destroyed. 206 archaeological and heritage sites destroyed, 75,000 tons of explosives materials dropped on Gaza.

    “33 hospitals along with 54 health centres were taken out of service. A total of 160 health institutions and 126 ambulances were targeted by the Israeli occupation.”

    He said the state of infrastructure devastation has forced 11,000 wounded people to travel for treatment to undergo operations.

    He also said that no fewer than “10,000 cancer patients face death due to the lack of medical treatment. 1,095,000 are infected with infectious diseases as a result of displacement. 20,000 cases of viral hepatitis infection due to displacement. Tens of thousands of pregnant women are at risk due to a lack of access to healthcare. There have been 310 cases of health personnel being arrested.”

  • Palestinian envoy seeks international help to rescue people under debris

    Palestinian envoy seeks international help to rescue people under debris

    The Palestinian Ambasssador to Nigeria, Abdullah Shawesh, has called on the international community to assist in rescuing people still under debris. 

    Shawesh said a specialised team is required to save life’s and also remove the dead bodies.

    He spoke in Abuja while addressing the press on the ongoing hostility between his country and Israel. 

    He said: “Urgent international actions are needed to set up special mechanisms and specialized teams to remove debris from homes and buildings that Israel’s army has bombed, rescue those trapped alive under the rubble and retrieve the thousands of dead bodies stuck under it.

    “13, 000 Palestinian are reportedly missing in the Gaza Strip.”

    The Palestinian Ambassador also said the damages to critical infrastructure as a result of the continuous attacks by the Israeli forces is in the tune of $18.5 billion. 

    Shawesh who was quoting the World Bank and the UN joint report said that it is equivalent to 97% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. 

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    He pointed out that over one million people are without homes, while 75 percent of the population is displaced.

    Beside the fact that majority of the population no longer have access to health facilities as the ambassador said that 84% of the country’s health facilities are destroyed.

    He said the education sector has collapsed as 100% of the children are out of school. 

    Giving an update of the hostility which has lasted 192 days, Shawesh said as at 12 April  2024, no fewer than 33,634 Palestinian had been killed and at least 76,214 wounded in the Gaza Strip.

    He said over 462 Palestinian were also killed in the occupied west bank and East Jerusalem. 

    He added that as of Tuesday, April 9, the number of the Palestinian detained since October 7 is 8,165 from the occupied West Bank only,  including 272 women, 500 children and 66 journalists, 45 of whom are still under arrest and 24 of whom are sentenced to administrative detention.

  • Do Palestinian lives matter?

    Do Palestinian lives matter?

    Thirty-five thousand innocent and defenceless Palestinians, including 15,000 children, have been targetted and killed in Gaza by Israel over the last six months, yet it was only after seven western aid workers of the World Central Kitchen were tragically and callously targetted and murdered in cold blood by the Israeli Defence Force last week that western governments and the western media are beginning to recognise the fact that the Jewish state has turned into a monstrous and uncontrollable beast.

    This begs the following questions:

    Does blood not flow through the veins of Arabs and Muslims in the same way that it flows through the veins of westerners and Christians? 

    Is the blood of westerners redder than the blood of Arabs?

    Do Palestinian lives not matter?

    Are American, British, Australian and French lives more precious than the lives of Palestinian men, women and children?

    How can one explain or wish away this glaring display of emotional selectivity, hypocrisy and double standards?

    Is it not racism in its most glaring and ugly form?

    Is this not a case of psychological apartheid in motion and have the leaders of the West not developed a classic sociopathic and psychopathic disposition when it comes to the suffering of the Palestinians.

    Even after 75 years of barbarous servitude and occupation followed by the mass murder and genocide that we are witnessing in Gaza today few notable western leaders give a damn and most of them have not only turned a blind eye to it but are also willing partners and complicit in the most graphic and barbaric expression of man’s inhumanity to man and sheer wickedness since the Nazi holocaust of World War 11.

    Given this all-embracing endorsement and unconditional support that they enjoy is it any wonder that the Zionists believe that they have the divine right to give life and take it at will and at their pleasure?

    Is it any wonder that the Jewish state believes that it can get away with mass murder and ethnic cleansing?

    Is it any wonder that the Zionists believe that they are divine beings with a divine purpose, the master race, God’s chosen people?

    Is it any wonder that they believe that they are totally and completely above the law and untouchable given the unconditional support and tacit approval that they enjoy from NATO and the powers that be in the west?

    Over the last six months western leaders have applauded Israel for slaughtering the Palestinians and destroying all their infrastructures yet they only started questioning their devilish collusion with what can only be decribed as unadulterated evil when seven of their own citizens who were doing charity work and helping to feed the starved and beleaguered children of Gaza were also butchered in a hail of precision rockets that brutally cut them down one after the other.

    These same people did not shed a tear or say a word when Israeli jets mowed down hundreds of Palestinian civilians as they tried to grab food from aid trucks that came in from Egypt.

    To them that did not matter and neither did they view it as an atrocity or describe it as a war crime or a crime against humanity because those that were murdered were “mainly Muslims and only Arabs”.

    Is this fair? Can it be justified or defended?

    Is it not a perfidious display of double speak, double standards and devilry?

    Is it not a gratuitous insult to our collective humanity and a monumental shame?

    Are Arabs, Africans, Asians and the people of the “global South” not human beings too?

    Again for the last few months western leaders stuck to their oars and stubbornly refused to acknowledge the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a wild and rabid dog that cannot be controlled and that no longer listens to its master.

    They refused to accept the fact that he had become the proverbial falcon that was no longer prepared to listen to the falconer.

    They refused to recognise the fact that the genocide in Gaza was not about religion but rather about the implementation of an insidious, sinister, religious and racist agenda and an unconscionable attempt by a horrendous and deluded horde of callous, bitter and vengeful Zionist barbarians to decimate, displace and exterminate the Palestinian people and steal their land.

    So drunk are Netanyahu and those around him on the blood of Palestinian children that not even American President Joe Biden, their biggest and greatest friend and ally, can control them.

    Will the Zionists ever accept the fact that killing women, children, refugees, journalists, clerics, doctors, nurses, hospital workers, United Nations staff, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally challenged, the weak and other innocent and defenceless civilians in the name of world Jewry and the Israeli state is not only unacceptable but also an abomination and an affront to our collective humanity.

    They say when a dog loses its mind and not only refuses to listen to its master but also turns on him and attempts to bite him one is constrained to put a bullet in its head and put it out of its misery.

    Perhaps the same solution should be applied to the Zionist state. Perhaps it is time for it to be put down like a sick, dangerous and rabid old dog and removed from the face of the earth.

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    I have said it before and I will say it again: in light of the events of the last six months Israel has lost her right to exist. And if calling out Israel for the atrocities they are committing in Gaza & insisting on an immediate & unconditional ceasefire makes me anti-semitic then so be it.  As a matter of fact it is a badge and label that I would wear proudly.

    I do not believe that it is acceptable for the Jewish state to consistently break international humanitarian law and commit war crimes. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that aid workers and journalists should be targetted and killed. If that makes me anti-Semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that it is right for Bibi Netanyahu to smirk and grin on national television as he tells the world how the 7 western aid workers were targetted and murdered in Gaza by his army. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that it is right and proper for the Iranian Embassy in Damascus should be targetted and bombed by the Israeli Defence Force or that senior Iranian military commanders that were staying there should be murdered in cold blood. If that makes me anti-Semitic, then so be it.

    I do not think it is acceptable for Israel to bomb the city of Allepo in Syria and kill 42 people including defenceless civilians. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

    I do not believe that the Jews have a licence from God to kill innocent & defenceless civilians. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that it is right for the western nations to continue to supply arms to Israel and to be complicit in and an enabler of genocide. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

    I do not believe that the Jews are the master race that has been specially chosen above others by God. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that Christians and Muslims will burn in hell or that the Prophet of Islam & our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ were fake. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that saying “Christ is King” is a crime. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

    I do not believe that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was a liar and charlatan who is now boiling in human excrement in hell. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that demolishing the Al Aqsa Mosque, sacrificing three red heifers where it presently stands & building the third Jewish Temple on exactly the same spot is just, right & proper. If that makes me anti-semitic , then so be it.

    I do not believe that the Jews and the State of Israel should exert so much influence over the affairs of the United States of America, the western democracies, International politics, world banking & finance & the Western media. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that an attack on Israel, no matter how horrific, gives the Jewish state the right to wipe out, exterminate or drive into the desert or the sea the entire Palestinian race or kill every single man, woman and child in Gaza. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

    I do not believe that Zionism is of God & I consider the Zionists to be far worse & more insidious, cruel & unrelenting than Hitler’s Nazis. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that Candace Owens should have been fired from the Daily Wire for criticising Israel & I do not believe that Ben Shapiro & Rabi Shmuly are human beings. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that Bibi Netanyahu is sane & I do not believe that he is acting in the best interest of the Jews or the State of Israel. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that South Africa & Ireland have done anything wrong by taking Israel to the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing & genocide. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that it is right for Israel to prevent food supplies from going into Gaza and for starving the people to death. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe that ALL MUSLIM countries should unite against Israel but rather I believe that ALL countries, whether Muslim, Christian, Hindu or anything else should unite against Israel. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    I do not believe in ethnic cleansing and the elimination and extermination of an entire race of people as a formula for the resolution of international disputes and I wholeheartedly condemn the holocaust that is being inflicted on the people of Gaza. If that makes me anti-semitic, so be it.

    Finally, I no longer believe that Israel has the right to exist & I believe that they forfeited that right when they chose to bathe in the blood of Palestinian women, drink the blood of Palestinian children & butcher the Palestinian people. If that makes me anti-semitic, then so be it.

    75 years ago God in His infinite mercy & wisdom gave the Jews a new beginning, a new country and restored them to their former glory.

    This was a great blessing but they squandered it by orchestrating the  Nakba, by refusing to share the land and live in peace with the Palestinians that they met there & by refusing to desist from treating them like animals, occupying their land & slaughtering them with impunity.

    Sadly with their own hands they destroyed the great opportunity that God gave them & instead chose to visit the same unadulterated evil that the German Nazis once visited on them on the Palestinians.

    If the truth be told, contrary to popular opinion, Israel is not a democracy but rather a vicious, heartless, bloodthirsty, parasitic, vampiric & blood-lusting apartheid state that applies one set of laws to the European Jewish colonial settlers that own & run it & another to everyone else.

    To be an Arab, a Muslim or a Christian in Israel is hell & to be any of the above living in either Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East means that you could well be subjected to genocide, ethnic cleansing or mass murder by the Jewish state whenever they deem it fit.

    It is for this reason that the entire civilised world is enraged with Israel  and that every right-thinking person expresses the following words from the inner recesses of their souls and with every fiber of their being.

    They proudly proclaim, “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!”

    And despite the double standards of the leaders of the western democracies, so it shall be to the glory of the Living God!

    .●Chief Fani-Kayode, the Sadaukin Shinkafi and the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, is a lawyer, a former Minister of Aviation and a former Minister of Culture and Tourism

  • 50-for-150: Just what is the worth of a Palestinian life?

    50-for-150: Just what is the worth of a Palestinian life?

    • By vitus ozoke

    Today’s breaking news all over the world is that a tentative hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. Hamas will release 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. That is welcome news! It is welcome news but only because any agreement that secures the freedom of hostages should be celebrated as good news. Which then makes the question I am about to ask a bit academic: Which side should consider itself as having achieved a better outcome in this 50-for-150 deal – Israel or Hamas?

    Obviously, in a 50-for-150 deal, the side that gets 150 of its people released by the other side in exchange for releasing “only” 50 of the other side’s hostages will seem to have scored a bigger win than the other side. But that is only if numerical quantity is what you are looking at. Unfortunately, I am looking at more than just numbers. I am using a more profound calculation.

    The strange truth, if you are looking at more than numbers, like I am, is that the real winner in this deal is Israel. You see, when it comes to the exchange of human beings by two parties in conflict, the party that gives up fewer in return for more is the real loser in the exchange deal. And this is where the Qatari mediators who brokered this deal should have done more – but did not.

    What does it say about the comparative worth of a Palestinian life to an Israeli life? In a 50-for-150 human exchange deal, what you are effectively saying is that one Israeli life is worth three Palestinian lives. The tragedy in that is that you have effectively reinforced an existing dangerous stereotype. You have effectively accepted the qualitative superiority of an Israeli life to a Palestinian life. Sadly, that is a bad deal for Palestinian lives, as every life is equal to the other.

    Sadly again, this would not be the first time a human exchange deal that cheapened and devalued Palestinian lives, in comparison to Israeli lives, would be brokered. The 2005 war that involved Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah ended with a prisoner exchange deal. The deal signed in Cairo was brokered by German and Egyptian mediators. A single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas, was released in exchange for 1,027 Israeli-held Palestinian security prisoners. 280 of these prisoners were serving life sentences for various terror attacks against the State of Israel.

    And if you argue that there is a qualitative difference, because this is an exchange of innocent Israeli hostages held by Hamas for convicted Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, it will be a very weak argument. I do not have the list of the 150 Palestinian prisoners that Israel plans to set free as part of this exchange deal, but I can safely speculate that 97 percent of them will be young Palestinian men. I can further speculate that these are not young Palestinian men held prisoners in Israel because they broke into and robbed Israeli banks or engaged in crimes of opportunity.

    No, these will be young Palestinian men who were arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced by Israel for conducts considered inimical to the safety and welfare of the Israeli state. For Palestinians, however, these are young men engaged in the struggle for the liberation of the Palestinian people. So, as far as Hamas and Palestine are concerned, these are their heroes. Yet, in a 50-for-150 (1-for-3) exchange deal, that is not the message you send. Heroes are not supposed to be a dime a dozen.

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    Like I said, this is where the Qatari mediators who brokered this deal came short. Had the Qatari mediators made this life worth argument to Hamas, perhaps, the outcome would have been a better one. Had they reminded Hamas that a 50-for-150 exchange deal meant a triple higher worth of an Israeli life than a Palestinian life, and also reinforces a dangerous dehumanization stereotype, the Qataris might have secured a parity of 150-for-150 exchange deal.

    In other words, if Hamas had insisted on the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, it would have had to release 150 Israeli hostages in return. Alternatively, if all that Hamas was willing to do at this time was the release of 50 Israeli hostages, then the equal life worth argument would have meant the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Whether it was a 150-for-150 or 50-for-50 human exchange deal, it would have been a strong statement of equality of worth and a denunciation of an existing stereotype. The Qataris failed to achieve that. The stereotype that values an Israeli life far more than a Palestinian life will remain. And the dehumanization may just continue.

    • Dr. Ozoke is a lawyer, a civil and human rights activist, and a public commentator based in the United States.
  • Cleric to FG: Don’t take sides in Isreal, Palestinian war

    Cleric to FG: Don’t take sides in Isreal, Palestinian war

    Founder and Lead Pastor of the Transforming Church, Rev. Sam Oye, has advised the federal government not to take sides in the Isreal, Palestinian war.

    The cleric said FG should rather play the role of a mediator with other world leaders in finding lasting solutions to the age-long conflict.

    Oye gave the advice while briefing reporters ahead of the church’s annual programme tagged “The Encounter” slated for Friday, November 3.

    He said the programme was aimed at inspiring Nigerians to have hope despite the current economic challenges facing the country.

    While advising the government to take the path of mediation, instead of identification, Oye said peace between Israel and Palestine is necessary for global peace.

    He said: “I believe that Nigeria as a country has its political stance on matters like this. I am not privy to the details of that in terms of our bilateral relationships with Israel and the Palestinians. Now, one of the things that I want to say is that there are Christians in Palestine and there are Christians in Israel. There are Muslims in Israel and there are Muslims in Palestine.

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    “The whole idea which is powered by ignorance is an assumption that Palestine is all about Muslims forgetting that right there in the Gaza Strip, we have Christians there too. So I would say rather than take sides, why don’t we just help resolve the conflict?

    “So I will say Nigeria should follow the path of mediation, not the part of identification. I will not suggest that Nigeria identifies with Palestine or identify with Israel. I will say Nigeria should mediate to make sure that there is peace between Israel and Palestine. It’s very important that there’s peace between both countries

    “Whatever has to be done, whatever role we can play, I will encourage we play such role but I will not encourage Nigeria to take side. For humanity’s sake, let us all work together towards peace and reconciliation”.

    Explaining the reason for the programme organised by his church, the religious leader lamented the high rate of depression and suicide in the country.

    According to him, there is no better time to refocus people’s energy and minds than the time of turbulence.

    He said: “The encounter has been an annual programme of our church and the practice for the past 10 years. It is all about inspiring people. Most times, the most depressing part of the year is always towards the end of the year when many dreams and goals people think they would achieve are not forthcoming.

    “We realise that there is a high rate of depression and suicide this time and we thought that there is no better time to refocus people’s energy and minds to let them know that there is something to be thankful about both now and years to come. So The Encounter is that period of inspiration. It is a time when we gather to inspire hope in people and we do that through the instrument that is universal which music is.

    “We bring people together in an atmosphere where they got to listen to those singers they like to listen. This year’s edition will be different. It is now public knowledge that depression is so high in this country because of the economy and political situation. Our people are committing suicide like never before. There is depression, hopelessness, banditry, naira fall and all that.

    “We are facing multiple problems at this time. But there is one thing that uplifts an average Nigerian which is good Music. What we are trying to do is to put everyone together and get inspired by God. This year our goal is to make sure that an average that comes to the event is encouraged.

    “One of the things that has really encouraged us from our last editions is that people have testified that they found solutions to their problems by attending this programme. Above that, we believe that people come here and receive both physical and mental healing”.

    He said the church had reached out to government officials, especially those in the security sector, saying the programme was also to prompt the government to take the issue of insecurity seriously.

    “I have reached out to the person in charge of military operations and I am expecting him to come. Security is a collective thing. It is about all of us finding the coming

    “People go into crazy things because they have lost hope in the country. We trust that most of the people in the security sector attend the programme and when they hear us pray, they will know that there is something of great concern. If they doing their job, perhaps we won’t be talking to God about security.

    “When people pray to God for security, it is a stylish indictment of the entire security architecture in the country. When people are turning to God for safety, it means they have lost hope in the government”, he added.

  • Palestinian death toll tops 5,000

    Palestinian death toll tops 5,000

    • Israel launches ground raids in Gaza

    Israeli soldiers have launched several small-scale ground incursions into Gaza, clashing with Hamas fighters during raids into the besieged Palestinian enclave where the death toll has passed 5,000 and civilians are trapped in harrowing conditions amid relentless aerial bombardment.

    Gaza’s health ministry said 436 people had been killed in bombardments over the past 24 hours, most of them in the south of the narrow, densely populated territory. With the territory’s 2.3 million people running short of basics, European leaders looked set to follow the United Nations and Arab nations in calling for a “humanitarian pause” in hostilities so aid could reach them.

    As Israeli troops and tanks mass on the Israeli-Gaza border, readying to launch a much-publicized incursion into the tiny Palestinian enclave, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said that a pause in Gaza military operations would mean a temporary interruption of military activity and was “a less ambitious demand” than a proper ceasefire.

    Meanwhile, the conflict is escalating beyond Gaza, as Israeli aircraft also hit positions in south Lebanon held by Hezbollah, which, like Hamas, is a group allied to Israel’s regional foe Iran. Almost 20,000 people have been internally displaced in south Lebanon and elsewhere since early October due to the tensions building at the Lebanese-Israeli border, a UN agency said yesterday.

    Two U.S. officials said that American troops in Syria were targeted by drones but there were no injuries, the latest in a series of attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack took place at Al-Tanf base, near Syria’s borders with Iraq and Jordan. When grilled on the attacks, the Pentagon said it had not seen a direct order from Iran – a regional ally of Hamas – to attack U.S. troops in the region.

    Israeli forces also killed several Palestinians in clashes in the occupied West Bank, while Hamas said it had fired rockets into Israel in response to the alleged targeting of Palestinian civilians. The UN said desperate Gazans lacked food, water, medicines and places to shelter from the unrelenting pounding that has flattened swathes of the enclave.

    Some aid was trickling over one border crossing into Gaza, but only a small fraction of the amount needed.

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    At least 5,087 Palestinians have been killed in two weeks of strikes, including 2,055 children, the health ministry said.

    U.S. forces shot down two drones that were attempting to attack a Central Command base in southern Syria yesterday, the Pentagon said.

    The attempted attack is the latest in a series of recent strikes on U.S. forces in the Middle East believed to have been carried out by groups backed by Iran.

    The drones were headed towards Al Tanf, located in a strategic area near the Syrian border crossing with Iraq and Jordan.

    “I can confirm that there was an attempted drone attack at Al Tanf in Syria. Two, one-way attack drones, taken down,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig Gen Pat Ryder told reporters, noting there were no injuries to U.S. forces.

    He said the drones were destroyed with “defensive systems”.

    Also yesterday, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed with Western leaders regarding the recent hospital blast in Gaza. Sunak announced that British Intelligence has found a missile launched from Gaza into Israel likely caused the devastation at Al Ahli hospital.

    “The British government judges that the explosion was likely caused by a missile, or part of one, that was launched from within Gaza towards Israel,” Sunak said in the parliament.

    “The misreporting of this incident had a negative effect in the region, including on a vital U.S. diplomatic effort and on tensions here at home,” he added.

    Britain’s intelligence findings are in line with Canada, France and United States.

    While speaking in the parliament, Sunak also pointed out an additional £20m humanitarian aid is being provided to Gaza civilians.

  • We won’t leave our land, says Palestinian leader

    We won’t leave our land, says Palestinian leader

    The issue of de-escalation of the Israel-Gaza war topped discussion as a number of leaders from the Middle East and Europe have gathered in Cairo, Egypt, The Nation learnt. 

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his opening remarks was quoted to have said that Palestinians will not be forced off their land.

    “We will never accept relocation, we will remain on our land whatever the challenges,” he said.

    Abbas is head of the Palestinian Authority, which has control over areas of the occupied West Bank, but not the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

    Egypt and other Arab states have previously said a massive influx of Palestinian refugees fleeing the war would be unacceptable because it would amount to the expulsion of Palestinians from their land.

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    The meeting, which is called a Summit for Peace, also includes officials from Jordan, Qatar, Italy, Spain, the EU and UK. But, key notable absentees include Israel, the US and Iran.

    The number of Israel hostages in Gaza is said to be 210. 

    According to a BBC report quoting a spokesman from the Israeli military, who says they have so far notified the families of 210 hostages that they are being held in the Gaza Strip.

    This does not include American mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan, who were released by Hamas last night.