Recently, commemorations of last year’s atrocities in the Gaza strip were held the world over, with online campaigns to show solidarity with the people of the beleaguered strip of land. While most in the Muslim world and beyond share the pain of their Palestinian brethren, I have met many Pakistanis who believe that Palestinian Arabs should be left to fend for themselves. This thinking prevailed when Egypt was making things difficult for those associated with Viva Palestina and preventing them from taking truckloads of aid into Gaza.

At a recent wedding in Lahore, I took note of a conversation about Palestine’s predicament. The main protagonist claimed there was no point supporting or showing solidarity for the Palestinian cause since they have never mentioned the Kashmir issue or supported the state’s liberation from Indian rule. He added that instead of supporting their fellow Muslims in a similar struggle, the Palestinians enjoyed close ties with India. The speaker also pointed to Yasser Arafat as the main culprit in forging ties with our arch nemesis.

Besides, the speaker argued, Arabs treat us ajamis (non-Arabs, like us Pakistanis) with disdain and think they are superior to us. In spite of this sense of entitlement, the Arab world has not been able to dent Israeli aspirations even an inch; in fact, Egypt has great relations with the Jewish state and is participating in the oppression of Palestinians. The speaker revealed the extent of his anger towards Arabs, commenting on their lack of achievement that contrasts greatly with their arrogance, which in turn stems from the fortunate discovery of oil in the region. Switching gears, he also accused them of harbouring a superiority complex over ajamis in matters of religion.

I listened intently to this conversation, waiting for someone to interrupt him. The attempts to counter his arguments were largely futile as they tried to contest the factual basis of the arguments presented, which were generally sound. Eventually, almost everyone was in reluctant agreement. Astounded at the ease with which this message riddled with xenophobic and racist tendencies had been disseminated to an educated crowd, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was how equally intolerant rationales were preached by terrorists to unsuspecting listeners. It seems that all that’s needed is a predisposition to support a point of view.

Unfortunately, no one seated at the table took offense or objected to the hateful conclusions this individual was reaching based on his personal experience and general observations. If you are one of the people swayed by such arguments, I encourage you to read further. Racism is universally frowned upon and for good reason. Hating Arabs, Jews, ajamis or any other general categorisation of human beings is both myopic and pathetic. No individual with a functioning conscience can defend racism while equipped with the knowledge that its ultimate manifestation is genocide.

Additionally, on a purely moral level, how can one turn a blind eye towards atrocities being doled out to a hapless people who are forced to live in an open-air cage? They may have close ties with India and they may not overtly support our claims on Kashmir, but if they are not meeting our expectations as Muslim brethren, why should we shirk our obligations towards their suffering? Doing so will relinquish any moral high ground we may have and will effectively be a vote in favour of tyranny, something we ourselves are battling to avoid. Not to mention that by assuming a tit-for-tat position we effectively become what we loathe in them. The prescribed medicine hardly remedies the symptoms.

The fact is, we can ill-afford to abandon the Palestinian cause on a humanistic as well as an Islamic level. This does not mean, however, that we should continue to refuse to recognise the state of Israel. It’s stupid to deny that there is an elephant in the room when there is an elephant in the room, and it plans to stay put. Significantly, our government has been moving towards the Arab world’s rationale that it’s better to engage than ignore; indeed, it’s the authorities became more transparent about clandestine meetings that have been held with their Israeli counterparts on occasion.

Ultimately, we do ourselves no favours by being hateful towards Jews or Arabs, nor by instituting a reactive ajami superiority complex. And we cannot remorselessly turn our backs to the oppressed. Our moral compass may be skewed, but it isn’t completely irreparable. Messages of hate and extremism (an extension of xenophobia) are ripping through our bazaars with disgusting regularity, leaving death and destruction in their wake. As we persevere and continue to hope in the face of this violence, how can we tolerate doctrines of hate in our marriage halls from a variety of armchair theorists? How can we as a society be so hypocritical?

This is not a situation where we can fight fire with fire. Doing so would only rouse the flames. We should simply be vigilant and challenge messages of hate, intolerance, racism, and xenophobia whenever they arise. The fact is, there is no place for racism in this century, and we must quash it in whatever way or form we are able.