by Zafar Bangash (Opinion, Crescent International Vol. 42, No. 8, Dhu al-Qa'dah, 1434)
With Syria having signed on the Chemical Weapons Ban Treaty, it is time to divest the Zionist entity of its massive arsenal of nuclear weapons as well to make the Middle East region a nuclear weapons-free zone.
With the Syrian government’s pledge to give up its chemical weapons, it is time to shine the light on the only nuclear state in the Muslim East: Zionist Israel. It is known to have between 200 to 400 nuclear weapons. The Zionist entity also possesses chemical and biological weapons. The US and its Western allies have gone hoarse shouting about Iran’s non-existent nuclear weapons program but they would not even mention Israeli weapons. Why this hypocrisy?
Israel is the biggest source of instability in the region. It has attacked almost every one of its neighbours and has occupied the territory of not only the Palestinians but also that of Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. It continues to threaten others while holding millions of Palestinians hostage in appalling conditions. Tiny Gaza is under siege while the Palestinians on the West Bank live in abject poverty because the illegal Zionist squatters from North America and Europe usurp 90% of the water resources for themselves. The Zionists have swimming pools in their illegally built homes while the Palestinians do not have enough water even to drink, much less for their fields and farms.
Israel’s appalling mistreatment of Palestinians is well documented. Amnesty International has said, “there is no country in the world in which the use of official and sustained torture [of Palestinian detainees] is as well established and documented as in the case of Israel.” Even the pro-Israeli Washington Post reported, “Upon arrest, a detainee undergoes a period of starvation, deprivation of sleep by organized methods and prolonged periods during which the prisoner is made to stand with his hands cuffed and raised, a filthy sack covering the head. Prisoners are dragged on the ground, beaten with objects, kicked, stripped and placed under ice-cold showers.”
These appalling conditions have been imposed on the Palestinians in defiance of scores of UN Security Council resolutions yet it is Zionist Israel that has the gall to accuse others of acting illegally. The fact is Zionists are habitual whiners; they indulge in all kinds of crimes yet accuse others of being guilty. This is most glaringly obvious in its vast arsenal of nuclear weapons yet it makes wild allegations against Iran, which is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Israel refuses to sign the NPT or open its nuclear facilities for international inspection.
It can get away with this atrocious behaviour because its patron saint, the US, shields it from criticism at such forums as the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency. In view of Syria’s agreement to sign the Chemical Weapons Ban Treaty and hand over all its chemical weapons for destruction, there is no reason why Zionist Israel should be allowed to keep its arsenal. This pariah state ought to be exposed and isolated if it refuses to abide by standards that are so rigidly applied to others, even to the point of imposing punishing sanctions merely on the allegation that the country (Iran) may be moving toward making nuclear weapons. Another country — Iraq — was completely destroyed on a pack of lies.
There is absolutely no reason why Zionist Israel should be allowed to retain its vast arsenal of nuclear weapons and continue to blackmail regional countries. Divesting it of its nuclear weapons would also pave the way for ending its racist policies and establishing a society in which all people — Muslims, Christians and Jews — can live as equal citizens under the law.