End All Forms of Genocide & Crime Against Humanity – In Memory of Ismail Haniyeh (1962-2024)
Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
Opinion - Bacalah Malaysia
August 2, 2024
Since 2019, Ismail Haniyeh, 62, Hamas highest ranking official, lived in self-imposed exile in Qatar. No matter how many threats there are against his life, however, it did not prevent him from asserting his tour of duty.
Thus reportedly, he maintained good relations with many heads of the various Palestinian factions – including rivals to Hamas to consolidate the power base in Gaza. He was very much the international image of the group that strengthened the regional posture.
"Before his death, the Qatar-based Hamas leader said at the time, about 60 members of his larger family had been killed since the war with Israel broke out on October 7. At least ten members of Haniyeh’s family, including his sister, were lost in a Zionist air strike earlier this year.
The strike hit the Haniyeh family home in the Al-Shati refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, just last month. That attack came just weeks after he lost three sons and four grandchildren in another barbaric air strike on their car.
Indicating their utmost vulnerability. Yet unrelenting! Haniyeh was believed to have had 13 sons and daughters.
On the fateful Wednesday, July 31, Haniyeh spent his final hours attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president at a ceremony in Tehran before he was ruthlessly assassinated in a suspected Israeli missile strike.
The murder is believed to have been conducted in a daring overnight missile strike directly on the building, killing the Hamas leader as he slept in his bed in the state guest house in Tehran.
‘Brother leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, head of movement, died in a Zionist strike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president,’ Hamas said in a statement.
Another statement quoted him as saying that the Palestinian cause has ‘costs’ and ‘we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and the sake of the dignity of this nation.’
He staunchly affirmed: ‘We will continue the resistance against this enemy until we liberate our land, all our land.’ Courageously unwavering that many want to piggyback on!
Yet his untimely death marked the endless Palestinian genocide toll which is fast approaching 40,000 with his being the most eminent, turning into a mere statistic among the senseless life wasted and counting.
"Because the most of the world stood helplessly for more than seven decades ago since 1948. Further reinforcing the complexity of the genocidal phenomena that have been sweeping the globe since its inception, in the name of colonialism!
Coincidentally, barely a week before the tragic incident, DECLARATION ON SANCTITY AND VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE simply known as the Gombak Declaration, was announced as an outcome of the International Conference on Sanctity and Value of Human Life on July 24, 2024, declared open by the Constitutional Head of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM ).
Read by the IIUM Rector, were nine declarations beginning with Declaration 1 – The value of human life is immeasurable and intrinsic to every individual, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or any other characteristic. Followed by Declaration 2 – The value of human life must not be based on economic or utilitarian considerations but rather on the inherent worth of every human being – priceless and unassailable.
It ended with Declaration 9 – We urge all nations to affirm their commitment to uphold the principles articulated in this Declaration and to enhance cooperation in efforts to prevent and respond to acts of genocide and other atrocities.
This event focuses on the importance of protecting human life and addressing issues such as genocide and other forms of violence against humanity. Overall, it covers five major concerns:
- Protection of Human Life: The declaration underscored the importance of safeguarding human life against all forms of violence, including genocide.
- Human Dignity: It highlighted the need to respect and uphold human dignity in all circumstances.
- International Cooperation: The declaration called for stronger international cooperation to prevent and address acts of genocide and other crimes against humanity.
- Education and Awareness: It stressed the role of education in promoting awareness about the sanctity of human life and the consequences of violence.
- Legal Frameworks: The declaration advocated for robust legal frameworks to prosecute and prevent genocide and related crimes.
Each reflects a commitment to universal human rights and the prevention of atrocities on a global scale.
The tragic demise of Haniyeh epitomises the complexity and clear barbarian nature of genocide and the relevance as well as the timeliness of the Gombak Declaration 240724 as nascent steps to ultimately ban genocide like that of slavery, and human trafficking by the international community.
In other words, it must deepen the language of peace and dialogue, as well as embrace empathy and compassion, not as a force that continues to annihilate and massacre to be genocidal.
But as a humane power to bury genocide once and for all. Towards this end, Declaration 4 emphasises that any actions that threaten or violate the right to life through genocide and other similar acts of genocide and atrocities, must be unequivocally condemned and persecuted to the fullest extent of international law.
It has been long overdue. The time for action is NOW! Alfatihah. – BACALAHMALAYSIA.MY
- The writer is former Rector, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
- The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the BacalahMalaysia.my