What else is Yazidiyyat – What Else is Karbala-By Dr. Haider Mehdi

What else is Yazidiyyat – What Else is Karbala!
By Dr. Haider Mehdi

I have known the grief and anguish of the mourners of Karbala (the martyrdom of Imam Hussain) and have emotionally, religiously, spiritually, psychologically, sociologically and politically understood the outpouring of “marsiya- khani” (lamentation commemorating Imam Hussain’s martyrdom) that has continued until today for over 1400 years. I am a Muslim. I am a Shi’a. I have protested all my life against the human savagery in Karbala and my communal participation in “marsiya khani” is an unending transcendental and generational expression of political protest against Yazidiyyat – the ultimate brutality in human spirit for the sake of power, oppression and malevolent domination over others.

Yazidiyyat is a symbol of an obvious barbaric penchant towards human massacre and carnage to satisfy a compulsion to megalomania deeply rooted as a motive in the mentality of those who practice it. It is an intentional process to seek clearly defined objectives – the victims of this doctrine are helpless, innocent and powerless human beings. It is a barbaric creed.

I had never thought in my wildest imagination that I would see, at this stage of human civilization, the doctrine of “Yazidiyyat” so blatantly and so deliberately used against humanity and a “Karbala” witnessed on my TV screen right in front of my eyes in my own living room. But such has been, hopelessly, the reality of the 23-day “Gaza holocaust” and massacre of Palestinians including children, women and men, the young and old, the sick and the starving. And the world remained a spectator during this horrifying human carnage. What else is Yazidiyyat – what else is Karbala?

A knock at a door (Zeitoun, Gaza, January 4th) where the frightened members of an extended family were hiding from Israeli bombardment and ground assault as Attiyah, 46, (husband) and Zinad Samourri, 35, (wife) mother of eight children opened the door, the Israeli soldiers in cold blood shot Attiyah dead and then went on a rampage to massacre the other members of the family in this small hiding place.

“So far dozens of bodies, mostly women, children and elderly, have been recovered, almost all from the same extended family. The 48th corpse – horribly decomposed – was found on Monday but there are fears others lie under the rubble and soil churned up by Israeli armoured vehicles,” reported Tim Butcher of The Telegraph Group of London. Navi Pillay, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights has already called for war crimes investigations against Israel for the massacre that took place in Zeitoun on January 4th and 5th.

The question is: Isn’t this the “holocaust” of the 21st century? Isn’t it Yazidiyyat? Isn’t this the “Karbala” of our times? Should not the entire humanity be protesting, mourning and condemning this savagery, this inhumanity – this kind of approach to a political doctrine explicitly and intentionally espoused by the powerful nations in their conduct of international relations and their horrifying lack of respect for human life other than their own people?

The ultimate irony and human tragedy of the “Gaza holocaust” is that it was planned, executed and supported by an absolute complacency of the outgoing and incoming American administrations and the incumbent British government. The entire West remained silently in cahoots with the Israeli-American-British plan, what the Israeli Zionist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called “a re-formulation of objective reality” – another addition to the US-Western arsenal of inhumane political doctrines in global politics.

As a human being with enhanced consciousness and advanced awareness of human conditions and as a member of the segment of the contemporary world that wishes to place high value on human life, I had expected that the entire global civilization would turn upside down with anguish, condemn the “Gaza holocaust,” and demand an abrupt cessation to the repressive political creeds of our times. But it did not happen that way.

I had hoped that Barrack Hussain Obama, in his inaugural presidential speech, would have acknowledged Israeli brutality and categorically condemned it. I had hoped that Obama would say something along the lines of repudiation of the past American foreign policy approach to bring transformations to his country’s future direction in global politics. I had hoped that he would say: ‘The massacre of Palestinians has taken place in Gaza under our watch and America and the American people are ashamed of it. I pledge to the Palestinian victims and their families that America will do justice to them now, and my administration will not allow now and ever again such use of brutal military force and political doctrine against any people anywhere in the world. This is my pledge, the pledge of all Americans and I want to assure the entire global community that, as of this moment, America has changed – change has finally come.’ Now that would have been the declaration of a true statesman committed to the fundamental change that Obama has promised to the American voters and the people around the world.

But nothing of the sort was said or promised. Instead Obama did not condemn Israel’s barbarism in Gaza. He later spoke to Mahmoud Abbas and promised “to work with him as partners to establish a durable peace in the region.” But that is the classic repetition of American rhetoric of the past: no substance, no results, no change, no commitment to a policy of fairness to the Palestinian people – the usual political manipulation to continue the status-quo of Israel’s dominance in the Middle East and beyond.

I had hoped that Hilary Clinton would be horrified at Israel’s audacity of placing the new American administration, at the very outset, in a political conundrum and global crisis. I had hoped that Clinton would unleash her anger by recognizing the American part in the “Gaza holocaust.” I had envisioned that, in a reflective mindset pursuing “change” in the US foreign policy doctrine, Clinton would admit and lament that President Bush and Secretary Rice’s last-minute assault on the American image world-wide by collaborating with Israel in its “Gaza holocaust” has brought disaster and shame to the cherished values of freedom, justice, fairness and peace for all people everywhere. I had hoped that she would say that the Gaza massacre is inexcusable – and that the Obama administration apologizes on behalf of the American people. I imagined that she would have assured all people everywhere that this incoming administration had no complicity, role or part in this horrendous act of savagery against an innocent population – and she would commit herself in making sure, by supporting international law and human-rights conventions, that such an outrageous onslaught against any people anywhere will not happen again in the annuals of future human history.

But Clinton did not commit herself to any “change” in the US foreign-policy doctrine of status-quo. What she said was alarmingly resonant of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. Clinton said that this administration will not talk to Hamas. The problem is that Hamas is the legitimate democratically elected representative of the Palestinian people. How can a serious negotiator of peace for the Palestinians sideline Hamas? Indeed, Clinton’s statement is yet another indicator of future American foreign policy failure in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. And this failure will happen not because of misunderstanding the nature of this conflict; it is going to be the result of an intentional policy to further push forward Israeli dominance in the Middle East. Clinton envisages the so-called peace in the entire Middle East on American terms – fairness or justice is not an ingredient in this equation.

I had also hoped that Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General, after his visit to the Gaza Strip, would have issued an ultimatum to the UN Security-Council that he would resign in protest of Israeli brutality in Gaza unless the Security-Council immediately sanctioned Israel.

But that did not happen either. Perhaps, the UN Secretary General was not moved consequentially by the human tragedy he saw. What he said was, “These are heartbreaking scenes I have seen and I am deeply grieved by what I have seen today…” But why not grab the bull by the horns and destroy its wickedness? In the meantime, as for decades, the UN political establishment keeps on working as an extended arm of American foreign policy and overall Western interests. No change there either. Sad, isn’t it?

I had hoped that all Arab regimes would have acted decisively and collectively to gain powerful and important political roles in global politics to mend the international system and make it more responsive to the larger interests of their countries and their people.

But they have virtually let the opportunity slip away yet again. It seems that oil money and American threats to destabilize their regimes are perceived more powerful than the desire and confidence to acquire commanding prowess in the global political system. Consequently, it seems that the Arab world will remain subservient to American-Western dictates for years to come. The Palestinian people will continue to suffer and Israeli military adventurism will expand in its scope as an ally of the US-West the Middle East, spreading its reach to Southeast Asia and the Central Asian Islamic States.

I had hoped that India would sever its diplomatic relations with Israel. It would do so as the largest democracy, denouncing the brutality and genocide of an innocent people in the 21st century. But it did nothing of the sort despite the fact that India is unwilling to forget the Mumbai violence for a fraction of a moment. Rightfully so. But how can it remain a passive non-actor in the global political system so as to not punish Israel for its heinous crimes against humanity? It is the ultimate contempt and neglect of the human condition and an act of absolute hypocrisy, isn’t it?

I had hoped that Pakistan’s incumbent leadership would immediately cut off military supplies to the US-Nato forces in Afghanistan that go through Pakistan’s territory unless the Bush administration forced Israel to stop its carnage in Gaza. Ask any Pakistani and you would get the same opinion. But, it seems, that the incumbent government in Pakistan does not care much for its public opinion, especially when it comes to dealing with the US. Indeed, it is alarmingly un-democratic for a regime that claims democratic credentials. Ironic, isn’t it?

I had hoped that billions of black flags would fly over billions of homes all over the Muslim world as an expression of solidarity with the Palestinians, sharing their grief and anguish over the Israeli-inflicted “holocaust” on them. But it did not happen. Hence, it confirms that the entire Muslim world is politically dead, expressionless, indifferent to the violation of their “beings” – and their political leadership and governments are “agents” of American imperialism. Unbelievably sad, isn’t it?

The only voice raised in this empty and pathetic political wilderness of the Muslim world came from the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who, in a open letter to Obama, wrote the following on January 1st, 2009:

“1) Stop killing people. The United States is too fond of killing people in order to achieve its objectives… War is primitive, the cavemen’s way of dealing with a problem. Stop your arms build up and your planning for future wars.

2) Stop indiscriminate support of Israeli killers with your money and your weapons. The planes and the bombs killing the people of Gaza are from you.”

I wonder if my readers agree with Dr. Mahathir Mohamad? If you do, then express it – forcefully and assertively. If you don’t, imagine a Gaza-like “holocaust” in your backyard – most probably in Swat, somewhere in NWFP or Afghanistan. The wise thing is to act now – before it’s too late.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the American President, said in 1933: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyses needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

What are you afraid of? What is your fear? Remember, they are trying to paralyze your advance…subjugate you to their will…implant fear in your hearts …and get away with it! Don’t let them do it to you!

Wake up and stand for yourself and your intrinsic faith in humanitarian principles – your right to justice, fairness and peace…! Mind it, that is what Karbala was all about…!


The “Gaza Holocaust” is a tragedy of a monumental scale because it has happened in our own lifetime – right in front of our eyes…! It is the Karbala of our times!!

Protest it…! Feel grief for it…! Mourn it…! Let “them” know you are not going to take it anymore…!



The writer is a professor, political analyst and a conflict-resolution expert.