Shock, horror, and a sense of despair followed the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Delhi-based Hindustan Express, in an editorial entitled, ‘Israeli barbarism and the world’s helplessness’ (Jan 5), writes: “Very small innocent children are getting killed in the laps of their mothers... Humanity is ashamed, and is crying. But if there is anyone not agonised by this mercilessness, cruelty and barbarism, it is the world powers... The role of Arab countries too is extremely disappointing.” The “tacit support” for Israeli action by the US and the UK, the ineffectiveness of the UN and inaction of Muslim countries have been severely criticised.

Hyderabad-based Rahnuma-e-Deccan (Jan 1) writes: “In the Gaza strip now humanity is pitted against satanism (shaitaniat) and the entire civilised world is watching this encounter closely, particularly the newly elected US President, Barack Hussein Obama, who is tight-lipped and tongue-tied.” The paper talks of Obama’s “severe condemnation” of the terrorist attack on Mumbai in contrast with his silence on Gaza killings. “This gives an indication of how the Jewish lobby dominates the thinking of the world’s most powerful head of state”, the paper believes.

Some papers have described the Israeli action in Gaza as a case of “state terrorism” and “worse”. Mumbai’s leading Urdu daily, Inquilab, in its editorial entitled, ‘Israel will not succeed’ (Dec. 31) is not pessimistic about the fate of Hamas: “If members of this organisation (Hamas) were to be intimidated by attacks by cannons and tanks it would not have tried to match forces (panja laranein ki koshish) with a very strong military power like Israel”.

... contd.