Muslim Thinker Blames US for Continuing Blind Support for Israel

Zafar Bangash

Rajab 29, 1434 2013-06-08

by Zafar Bangash

TEHRAN (FNA)- Prominent Muslim thinker, Zafar Bangash, lashed out at the US for continuing its dishonest and dual-track approach towards Muslims and pursuing a completely biased position on Israel's large-scale invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip.

"The US ruling system, Barack Obama in particular, has once again shown that it is completely dishonest in its dealings with the Muslim world. America's official response that it wants to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israel and the statement that 'Israel has the right to defend itself' is a complete distortion of the ground realities. The US position is completely biased and it supports Israel blindly," Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT) Zafar Bangash told Fars News Agency in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

What follows is the text of Fars News Agency's interview with Zafar Bangash about the US reaction and approach to the current Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip which has claimed the lives of many Gazans, including women and children.

Q: How do you evaluate the US reaction and performance towards this assault?

A: The US government and Barack Obama in particular, has once again shown that it is completely dishonest in its dealings with the Muslim world. American official response that it wants to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israel and the statement that "Israel has the right to defend itself" completely distorts ground realities. Are Palestinians not entitled to defend themselves when they are being bombed by F-16 planes and their homes, offices and factories are being destroyed? As of Sunday morning, Palestinian casualties had surpassed 48 dead and hundreds injured. Among the dead are at least nine children, one an 11-month baby boy Ahmed Omar Masharawi and another, a four-year-old girl Hanan Arafat. Contrary to official American distortions that are amplified by the media, it was not the Palestinians that started this latest round of attacks. Conflict did not erupt on November 14; instead, on November 4 Israeli soldiers had shot and killed a mentally challenged Palestinian man who had approached the border fence in Gaza. Four days later, Israeli soldiers shot a 13-year-old boy while he was playing soccer. When other boys rushed to help him, two more were shot dead. The following day, the Israelis bombed funeral ceremonies for the boys killing two men. Despite this information being available through the Palestinian media sources, the US has ignored such facts and continues to support the Zionist crimes.

The US prevented any discussion of the Israeli onslaught during a meeting of the UN Security Council on November 14. Two days later, Obama spoke to Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asking them to put pressure on Hamas to "stop rocket attacks" on Israel. There was no mention of Israel stopping its murderous attacks on innocent Palestinians. The US position is completely biased and it supports Israel blindly.

Courtesy: Fars News