News & Comment
The International Community is Dead

News:

Renewed bombing of hospitals in Syria’s six-year civil war by forces loyal to the government of Bashar al-Assad has sparked strong condemnations by human rights groups and despair among local doctors, who have accused the international community of ignoring attacks on medical facilities. (Guardian News, 29/09/2017)

Comment:

War planes bomb Idlib and remind us once again that Syria is still under bombardment and being obliterated. Coverage and reaction are far less than the siege of Aleppo, with the same independent journalists and on the ground aid workers rushing to assist and report where they can.

The bombing of hospitals is a red line that is repeatedly crossed and the doctors are no longer wishing to waste their energy telling reporters what is known. Syria has been sold out for years and it is dying a slow and torturous death.

The Guardian reported that repeated attacks in recent days have led to despair among local doctors, some of whom declined to offer details of the bombings to the newspaper, saying their calls for protection of civilians will fall on deaf ears. “My message to the international community is to go ahead, why is it taking you so long to finish us off?” said one aid official who helps manage local hospitals, and who asked to remain anonymous because, he said, calling on the international community to act was useless and he did not want to subject his hospitals to further bombings.

The International community is fully exposed many times over and the crisis in Syria is a nail in the coffin. Human rights and where attention is given, where aid goes, where military goes to assist and so on are all clearly down to political interests and in no way linked to the suffering endured by innocent civilians. The International Community is dead.

As stated by a doctor whose hospital in Idlib was damaged, “You are partners in our killing with your silence and your failure to save innocent civilians.”

The current capitalist system supports tyrants and approves the military solutions that ensure the balance of power to remain as it is, and will never assist the Muslims in Syria to remove Assad if he is good for them. Idlib is home to many internal refugees and it is evident that there is no safe place to hide. After forcing people into one area, it is easy to kill them as a collective punishment for daring to stand up to the tyrant, Assad.

For those who have assisted financially and raised awareness of the situation in Idlib and Syria in general, it must now be evident that the people in Syria are totally abandoned by every Muslim government and the so called “International Community”. Allah (swt) guidance is clear for such a situation. Protection for those being exterminated is only going to be practical by a state with an army and not by individuals, aid workers, journalist and doctors. May Allah reward them all but their limitations are clearly evident. They need a shield to protect and defend their efforts. As RasulAllah (saw) stated,«إِنَّمَا الْإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ، يُقَاتَلُ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ، وَيُتَّقَى بِهِ»“Indeed, the Imam (Khaleefah) is a shield, from behind whom you fight and by whom you are protected.” [Muslim]

The situation in Syria and its horrors require our urgent focus on raising awareness and working with our full effort for the re-establishment of the second Khilafah Rashidah (righteous Caliphate). The Khilafah is the only mechanism that will send armies to defend the innocents and it is the only hope for those oppressed in every land today. We should not sit thinking the doctors, workers and civilians on the ground will have to fix this.

﴿وَمَا لَكُمْ لاَ تُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَالْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاء وَالْوِلْدَانِ الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْ هَـذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ الظَّالِمِ أَهْلُهَا وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّا وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ نَصِيرًا﴾

“And what is [the matter] with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, "Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a helper?"” [an-Nisa:75]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Nazia Rehman