.
They’ve been doing this for more than 7 decades, just that the silence of the world was never been rocked to its core. It’s never been about just Hamas either as they continue sniping fathers walking their daughters in West Bank, continue expanding their illegal settlements and endless destruction of fertile land and olive farms.
The self-adapting narrative
Now they want to shift the narrative on ‘expelling’ natives who have been there for generations and stopping their right for self-determination. They go through lengths and depth to play the victim card when all they do is to normalise illegal occupation, denying that any genocide is taking place, play host to ‘right of return’ to people with no link whatsoever to the region and treating Palestinians regardless of their religion, as subhuman. With all this going not for the first time, why did it hit us harder this time around..? To some other, maybe not so much. I understand the reality of this as us slowly but surely realising that our complacency with peace should not be taken for granted. Every little tests we face, now, seem small and not worth our grief anymore compared to the atrocities faced by the Palestinians.
Beyond that, history is known for repeating itself. Almost a game of hit and miss on the ‘Battleship’ grid. We are at risk if we never want to partake in enlightening ourselves with history and end up receiving shots after shots feom the opponent. Bewildered and clueless strategists we are! Strategy and resilience is truly built over time, through learning, experience and taking wisdom from it. History has never been limited to the confinea of academics and textbooks, and never should be limited to the academia. History literature but we’ve barely scratched its surface. Its learning and application is a life-long process in all domains, and scenarios. How much we know depends on how much we have learnt. History gives a broader look to human history, and the limitation to its access, should bring about fear, in one way or another.
‘Right to remain occupying‘
Look, conniving oppressors will continue to oppress, occupiers will always be stuck in their occupying mind-set and ‘right’ to remain occupying, Zionism continues to piggy ride Judaism, and apartheid operations & ethnic cleansing happen due to the strategic, long term execution of propaganda machines with the support of many enablers. In the 21st century, this is obvious for those who can see it as it is. There is a relief as we witness across the globe, people are already seeing it as it is thanks to the narrative shifts away from West dominance.
Some may turn a blind eye, and as though there is a truly opaque barrier between what’s happening real time, and us continuing our lives with an unfortunate degree of ignorance. As though we have grown accustomed to post colonisation– for the nations who have experienced colonisation, i) normalisation with Western values regardless and ii) being permissive to ‘keep up’ to being increasingly tolerant just to be accepted– both undermining heritage, culture and values originally from the land, and closer to us than imported culture. Culture and ideologies raining on us and our youths through the guise of soft globalisation and advancement of information technology. ‘Take it all in, we’re tolerant’ !
Ways to remain being colonised post-colonisation
We are truly ‘colonised’ when we see nothing worthy coming from within and having to rely on adopting wholly, rather than integrating what’s truly inline with our values and identity. The weaker and loose that core, the essier for it to be ripped or replaced. We remain ‘colonised’ when we fail to look back at our legacies worth mentioning. Suppressing those memories are indeed imperialists and colonisers’ success stories. Think ‘Perjanjian Pangkor’ in 1874, the first of many steps to British dominion over the Malay states. Let’s not forget too the events of December 1941 which saw the Thailand crystallising its policy from a neutral one to sympathising with the Japanese.
Thailand was given the ultimatum which led to Thailand agreeing Japanese forces to use Thai soil as an army base for its 150,000 troops and allow Japan to send their troops to Malaya through Thailand. This region has definitely seen its time through wars, betrayals and survival- costing both lives and nations’ fate. We are indeed those stories, or history; surviving many episodes of wars and colonisation. Our identity however did not start with the start or end with the colonisation. Neither did it end in 1511 nor did it start in August 1957.
Do we still have it?
Rewind that memory and we will see how much we have fought, achieved, endured and partook in forming what today is called ‘world history’. What did this region contribute to the world of literature, as a maritime civilisation and center of international trade? We had the cultural and psychological make-up to achieve what we did, did it not? The Malays ‘kapal jung’ vehemently touted by many distinguished historians as much more capable than the Spanish and Portugese galleons, did it not? These achievements were not confined to the border of a nation-state but rather a result of regional excellence- Malay archipelago and Nusantara among its many names.
We had the ingredients and essence of what it took to be at the top of the world then and lraving a significant mark—way before the digital era, pre-colonisation too. The question is, do we still have it in us, and have we ‘regained’ what was lost after all this time? Can we still stand through against all the odds of 21st century? Or do we let the tireless tide of globalisation swallow us with the undercurrent so strong we do not realised we are being swept away through thus malignant process? Slowly but surely if we are not too careful!
This undercurrent which I can relate to here was mentioned by Almarhum Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Mohd. Kamal Hassan on the state of affairs of the Muslim world and its leaders on i) hankering hedonistic lifestyle, ii) pursuit of power through Machiavellian politics, iii) immense love of worldly pleasure and iv) closing an eye to corruption. Leaders and citizens, what state of affairs are we in at the moment…? Where is that gap we need to fill to become what we were before our history were blacked out from us? Given to what we have achieved and lost so far, how thirsty are we to become great again?
Unity for humanity
Like Palestine, we know their story didn’t start on October 7. The world woke up on October 7. Creating a momentum we never thought would be possible, pulling some of us out of that undercurrent even. Even leaders of the once apartheid state of South Africa are putting their stamp on this history by putting forth their claim against Zionist state. Malaysians; our armed forces have played significant roles too in peacekeeping. 39 United Nations peacekeeping operations since the 1960s and involving nearly 40,000 Malaysian Armed Forces and Royal Malaysian Police. In the 1990s our troops participated in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and hosted temporary settling Bosnians families in Malaysia. Meeting and hearing first hand accounts from our Lt Col Ajaya Kumar (Rtd) who played an important peacekeeping role during the 1999 referendum for Timor Timur’s independence and the bloody aftermath after the results were announced, have made me realise we are much more capable than we think.
Fast forward 2023, to what the Palestinians are being put through, our support for their survival, freedom and right to self-determination shouldn’t even be a question. Malaysians are known to support the Palestinian cause, and see our support through the lenses of a civilised nation. Since October 7,I truly believe we have ‘gained’ more in terms of the hikmah from all that has unfolded. Our country’s name is warm to the Palestinian ears, and we should continue to support them and take pro-active stance in the name of humanity and being a responsible ummah.
If we continue with a blind eye and lukewarm heart though, we risk of being sucked in further in the ‘undercurrent’, never mind losing our identity, values and truly relevant history such as the Malay World and Civilisation, and the Moriscos of Al-Andalus Civilisation. This genocide has to STOP and Palestinians have every right for their liberation. Let not another nation lose its identity and never allow the oppressors escape accountability. Palestine will always be dear to our hearts as it should and lets hope all those being oppressed around the world to one day become free. The world community and us can make a change by truly aligning our humanity compass and take on the course of history by doing what is right.
Juliana Ali
6 Jan 2024
Kuala Lumpur
missJewelz 
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