Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : They said humanity would stand by while Gaza was starved. They said states would avert their eyes as children cried for bread and water. Yet when Muslim governments folded, when Western nations chose silence, and when the United Nations looked on powerless, civil society — that stubborn conscience of the world — took up the mantle. In this desperate week of insensitivity and inability, ordinary men and women filled the vacuum left by governments, setting sail with aid that should have been delivered through corridors of diplomacy and justice.
Thus emerged the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of resolve as much as vessels, charting a dangerous course across the Mediterranean. Some fifty small ships and boats, crewed by activists, lawyers, journalists, parliamentarians, and volunteers from over forty countries, embarked on a mission larger than their holds. They carried roughly a hundred tons of food, medical supplies, and water, but above all they carried the moral weight of seven billion people whose red blood still insists that dignity and survival are not negotiable.
Israel had not expected such defiance from civil society. Used to intimidating states and dictating conditions, it now faced fragile ships bearing the courage of the people. Almost immediately, the flotilla was harassed. Off Greek waters, drones swooped low; explosions and stun devices rattled decks, activists claimed. In Tunisia, a fire consumed a key aid boat, which organizers blamed on a drone strike though authorities denied it. Mechanical breakdowns added to the peril — one vessel, the Family Boat, suffered catastrophic failure and lagged behind. Yet despite disruption and fear, the flotilla pressed forward. Their blood was red, their purpose unwavering, and no intimidation could deter them.
As the convoy pushed closer to Gaza, the unexpected happened: two European governments decided to stand visibly with it. Spain ordered a naval ship from Cartagena to monitor and assist the flotilla, declaring that the aid boats posed “no threat to Israel.” Italy, condemning the drone attacks as “intolerable,” dispatched a frigate to protect its nationals onboard and signaled its support for a humanitarian sea corridor. Their escorts are not overwhelming fleets, but their symbolism looms large. For the first time in years, EU states placed themselves — even cautiously — between Israel’s blockade and the conscience of the world.
Yet symbolism alone cannot carry the weight of a humanitarian crisis. Now is the moment for powerful states that still possess diplomatic and kinetic leverage — Turkey, Saudi Arabia, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Pakistan and others — to move beyond statements and commit real protection and logistical support. If these nations deploy naval escorts, open safe corridors, offer port facilities, and use every lawful means at their disposal to protect civilian ships, the flotilla’s mission could be made safer and the principle of saving lives reinforced. Such collective resolve would signal that the world’s conscience is not merely rhetorical but backed by governments willing to defend humanitarian action.
Israel’s response has been unyielding. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned in stark terms that Gaza’s coastal waters are a “combat zone” and that no ship will be allowed to enter. Officials insist that if aid is genuine, it should be offloaded at Ashkelon port, under Israeli control, from where Israel promises to transfer it into Gaza. Yet the promise rings hollow: for months Israel has restricted and slowed aid to a trickle, starving civilians under siege. For the flotilla, docking at Ashkelon would betray the very principle of their voyage — delivering aid directly to the starving without Israel’s interference. The organizers have therefore refused.
Now the confrontation nears its climax. The flotilla lies a few hundred nautical miles from Gaza, with organizers estimating arrival within days. Israeli naval forces are reportedly mobilized to intercept them, echoing the bloody precedent of 2010 when a raid on the Mavi Marmara left activists dead and the world in uproar. The fear is palpable that history could repeat itself, that once more peaceful civilians will meet armed commandos in international waters.
But whether or not the ships succeed in reaching Gaza’s shore, the symbolic victory is already secured. This flotilla embodies the conscience abandoned by states. It represents the mothers in Europe, the students in Asia, the workers in Africa, the citizens of the United States — all who see starvation as an abomination and refuse to reduce Palestinian survival to a bargaining chip. By taking the risk states would not, the Global Sumud Flotilla has already pierced the blockade of indifference.
And yet the test is cruelly real. On one side, determined civilians sail with supplies of life. On the other, a powerful military insists they must be stopped. Between them lies not only the fate of cargo, but the very question of whether humanity still has meaning in the face of brute force. If Israel crushes the flotilla, it will deepen the stain already seared onto its name: the deliberate starvation of two million souls. If the flotilla prevails, it will write a chapter where people, not governments, rose to redeem humanity.
This is no longer about tonnage of aid. It is about moral freight. It is about whether law serves power or whether it can still protect the powerless. It is about whether the hunger of children can outweigh the pride of armies. And as the boats draw closer to Gaza, the world is forced into its own reckoning: stand with humanity, or stand aside as cruelty sails unhindered.
Let us hope, in these decisive hours, that the flotilla prevails. Let us hope that the dignity of human life triumphs over siege, that courage outweighs cruelty, and that the Mediterranean does not become yet another graveyard of hope. For in these boats, humanity itself is on board. And history will judge not only what becomes of them, but what becomes of us all.

Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : On August 3, 2025, the Belgian Air Force conducted a humanitarian act that reverberated far beyond the skies of Gaza. In coordination with Jordan, Belgium airdropped 15 tonnes of urgently needed food and medical supplies to the besieged Palestinian territory, followed by another 16 tonnes the next day. This was not a routine delivery, nor a symbolic gesture wrapped in diplomatic language. It was a deliberate and defiant intervention into one of the most militarized and politically contentious airspaces on earth—controlled by Israel and monitored by the United States.
Until this moment, humanitarian aid into Gaza was often paralyzed by bureaucracy, stalled at Israeli-controlled checkpoints, or denied outright under the pretext of security. Belgium changed that narrative. Operating through Jordan’s logistical support but acting on its own sovereign judgment, it broke a decades-old deadlock. In doing so, it risked not only its aircraft but its diplomatic credibility, confronting two global powers that have maintained a tight grip over any movement into or out of the Palestinian enclave.
What followed was equally remarkable. Belgium’s courage ignited a wave of international solidarity. France soon launched its own airdrops, delivering more than 40 tonnes of supplies. Spain, Germany, and Italy committed to logistical and material support. Canada conducted its own airdrop, independently delivering 21,600 pounds of food and medical cargo. Jordan, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates served as regional facilitators. The United Kingdom publicly announced its intention to follow suit, while Saudi Arabia began preparing for participation. In total, more than a dozen countries are either actively engaged in the operation or finalizing their plans.
Unlike previous gestures of concern, these acts are concrete. They do not depend on negotiated corridors or Israel’s discretionary approval. These are real packages of food and medicine dropped into a war zone without diplomatic clearance from Tel Aviv or Washington. They signal a moral awakening and a tectonic shift in how global powers respond to humanitarian crises under occupation.
For decades, Israel has claimed that unauthorized deliveries into Gaza violate its sovereignty. The United States has echoed that sentiment, shielding Israel from international accountability. But with Belgium and other European democracies taking independent action, that consensus is fracturing. The long-standing Israeli-American control over humanitarian access is being directly challenged—not with resolutions or rhetorical statements, but with aircraft and parachutes.
Even within the United States, signs of dissent are emerging. Public frustration is mounting as Americans question why their tax dollars fund weapons but not food. Congress, typically unified in approving military aid to Israel, is now confronted by images of European nations acting with the kind of moral clarity once associated with the U.S. itself.
The implications are profound. Once humanitarian aid becomes unstoppable, the siege itself becomes indefensible. As more nations bypass traditional channels and deliver relief directly, Israel’s blockade narrative loses legitimacy. Likewise, the United States finds itself increasingly isolated—continuing to defend an ally accused of systematic war crimes while its own reputation as a defender of international law continues to erode.
And yet, the most glaring absence remains the Islamic world.
While Muslim-majority nations have issued strong verbal condemnations and convened emergency meetings, few have matched Belgium’s direct action. It is a painful paradox that Christian-majority countries like Belgium, France, and Spain have taken the lead in delivering life-saving aid to starving Muslim civilians. Their planes reached Gaza’s skies before many Muslim leaders could even finalize their joint communiqués.
But it is not too late for the Muslim world to assert its relevance. A unified humanitarian airlift—coordinated among Türkiye, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, and Egypt—could amplify the momentum initiated by Belgium. Simultaneously, Muslim countries could introduce targeted economic sanctions against both Israel and the United States until a ceasefire is implemented and the blockade is lifted.
The numbers are compelling. According to 2024 trade data, Muslim countries imported approximately $290 billion in goods and services from the United States and $23 billion from Israel. In return, they exported roughly $190 billion to the U.S. and $15 billion to Israel. That translates to a total bilateral trade volume of $480 billion with the United States and $38 billion with Israel. Even a partial embargo on strategic goods—oil, consumer products, or financial services—could produce seismic pressure. Reallocating trade toward nations supporting humanitarian initiatives would not only reward ethical diplomacy but also establish new global economic alliances rooted in justice.
Such measures could be complemented with preferential trade agreements. Belgium, for example, could be granted Most Favored Nation (MFN) status among Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states. Similar incentives could be offered to France, Spain, and any country demonstrating moral courage in the face of international inertia.
What Belgium has demonstrated is that one does not need to be a superpower to be a leader. By defying silence and cowardice, it reminded the world that aid does not require authorization when people are starving. It showed that neutrality in the face of oppression is complicity. And most importantly, it proved that humanity can still pierce through the clouds of political paralysis.
The West may label its ongoing military support to Israel as strategy, but history will remember it as sanctioned cruelty. No child dying from hunger is a combatant. No woman in a bombed-out hospital is a threat to national security. The slow starvation of civilians is not collateral damage—it is deliberate and systematic.
In a moment where domination has become policy, Belgium chose dignity. In skies long filled with drones, it dropped bread. In an arena shaped by fear, it delivered courage.
The time for statements is over. The time for action is now. History will ask: who came when Gaza starved? And Belgium will answer: we did.

Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : Instantly, both Israel and the United States have turned colorblind, deaf, and heartless, refusing to see the rivers of blood in Gaza or hear the cries of its dying children. They ignore the wailing of mothers clutching lifeless infants, the screams of youth writhing in agony as their limbs are amputated, their bodies shredded, their reproductive organs destroyed by sniper fire. They look away from children dying not only from bombs but from starvation, as two million people are herded from one ruined shelter to another, promised food only to find death. This is not war. This is a calculated slaughterhouse, a genocide carried out under the shield of “self-defense,” and the world knows it.
Yet Washington and Tel Aviv expect everyone else to mimic their silence—do not see, do not hear, do not speak. They want to render humanity numb to horror. But their dominance is fading. Donald Trump’s transactional diplomacy, where allies are insulted and international partnerships are reduced to trade-offs and arm-twisting, has driven even America’s closest friends to break free. Nations once compelled to echo U.S. narratives are now openly defying them, charting their own course, and rejecting the moral bankruptcy of shielding Israel’s crimes.
As French President Emmanuel Macron declared at the UN conference on Palestine, “The status quo is no longer acceptable. France will recognize a Palestinian state because peace cannot be postponed indefinitely while children die every day in Gaza.” Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock echoed this, saying, “Humanitarian law is not optional. No ally, no matter how powerful, can expect us to be complicit in mass starvation and endless occupation.” Even the United Kingdom, long America’s most loyal partner, now openly calls for an “irreversible pathway to Palestinian statehood,” signaling a break from Washington’s veto of justice.
Meanwhile, António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, tore through decades of diplomatic hypocrisy with unprecedented clarity: “Statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward… Gaza has descended into a cascade of catastrophes—tens of thousands dead, virtually the entire population displaced many times over, the shadow of starvation looming over everyone. These are not preconditions for peace. They are the foundation of it.”
Yet from Washington, the response is chillingly different. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mocked the 140 nations pledging to recognize Palestine: “They can’t even tell you where this Palestinian state is… At the end of the day, Hamas is sitting there saying: We’re winning the PR war. The Palestinian statehood side is the Hamas side.” In one sentence, Rubio dismissed the will of nearly the entire planet, equated Palestinian self-determination with terrorism, and gave Israel another blank check to continue its war crimes.
This arrogance exposes the deepening isolation of the U.S.-Israeli axis. On one side, 140 nations, the UN, humanitarian agencies, civil society, and millions in the streets of London, Paris, Berlin, and New York demand ceasefire, statehood, and accountability for atrocity crimes. On the other, two governments defy global law and morality, veto every path to peace, and unleash a narrative so grotesque that even mainstream U.S. media is cracking.
When Israel’s ambassador recently suggested that countries supporting Palestinian statehood should “take the Palestinians into their own lands,” Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade sarcastically asked, “Why doesn’t Israel migrate instead, leaving the land to its original owners, the Palestinians?” Such questions were once unthinkable in America but are now inevitable because the brutality is undeniable.
Europe’s defiance is not a sudden act of courage but the result of exhaustion with U.S. unilateralism. Trump’s foreign policy has humiliated allies, reduced partnerships to mere transactions, and insulted leaders across NATO. The last straw is Gaza: a live-streamed massacre defended relentlessly by Washington. Macron said it plainly: “The international order cannot survive if a superpower shields an occupying force from law while condemning others for far less.” Canada, once in lockstep with U.S. policy, now calls for sanctions on Israeli officials over settlement expansion and starvation tactics, defying its largest ally.
The tide is turning because the truth can no longer be buried. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s occupation, annexation, and forced displacement are illegal. The UN General Assembly passed resolutions demanding ceasefire and humanitarian access, only to be vetoed or ignored by Washington. Civil society, from London’s streets to Jakarta’s mosques, is united under one banner: Stop the genocide. Free Palestine. Social media has shattered propaganda walls, showing unfiltered images of bombed hospitals, starved infants, and mass graves. The world sees what America refuses to: deliberate extermination disguised as war.
Even within the U.S., voices of conscience rise despite political fear. Senator Bernie Sanders declared, “We cannot stand by while a whole people is bombed, starved, and erased from history under our funding and protection.” UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese described Israel’s actions as “a war of extermination against an occupied people,” earning U.S. sanctions for telling the truth. The line is now clear: stand with humanity and be punished by Washington, or stand with Washington and be complicit in atrocity.
This strategy is failing. U.S. power, once unquestionable, is now bought off with trade deals and investments as nations build independence from its dictates. Trump’s recent EU trade deal has been interpreted not as strength but as a payoff for European defiance over Gaza. The old world order, where America dictated morality, is dead. In its place is a multipolar conscience where even U.S. allies refuse to endorse blind support for Israel’s slaughterhouse policies.
And yet, Israel and the U.S. cling to a delusion: that Palestinians can be erased, either by bullets or by “resettlement,” stripping them of homeland and history. This delusion is what fuels resistance, global outrage, and calls for immediate statehood. As Guterres warned, “We cannot defer peace efforts until suffering becomes unbearable. We must act before it is too late.” The world has chosen to act, with or without Washington’s approval.
The conclusion is as inevitable as it is just. The momentum of history, powered by the conscience of humanity, is moving toward Palestinian freedom. The days when America and Israel could bully nations into silence are gone. Their veto cannot erase law. Their propaganda cannot hide mass graves. Their power cannot crush the will of a people who, despite decades of dispossession, refuse to vanish.
The day is coming—and now it feels close—when Palestinians will live in a sovereign state, when Israel will exist as a nation among equals instead of a colonizer above the law, and when the United States, stripped of its moral cloak, will face the shame of having stood on the wrong side of humanity’s last great struggle for justice.