Attacks on foreign brands have ruined the country's image

Israeli bombs are now destroying not only houses, but also human bodies flying in the sky along with the debris of destroyed buildings. An unimaginable and heartbreaking scene. No one could stop Israel, nor will they be able to. Helpless ordinary Muslims have been begging, praying, and begging for the mercy of the Almighty God for the past 76 years. Palestinians without homes for seventy-six years, Gaza with two million residents has been torn apart by American and Israeli bombs for the past fifteen months, people are dying and getting injured every day, countless bodies are buried under buildings, there are no food, no electricity, no water. So many bodies, no place to bury them. The destitute Gazans have lost their relatives, wealth, and shelter. Even after seeing such a thrilling scene, the world remains silent. It seems that the Palestinians are not human beings, if they were human beings, the war would have stopped long ago with the deaths of hundreds of children. Humans are the most violent creatures in the world, it is easy to prove this with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Of course, Hamas has driven this violent man crazy. Due to its excessive confidence and belief in its own power, Hamas has suddenly attacked inside Israel and killed, tortured, and taken hostage Israeli civilians. In retaliation, Israeli soldiers are shooting wherever there is movement inside Gaza, silencing it. There is no hesitation in the words of the Israeli soldiers, Hamas fighters killed them in October 2023, now they are killing Palestinians. One soldier said, ‘We came to kill them. We are killing their wives, children, dogs, cats - everything.'

The world has assumed that Israel has the right to kill Palestinians; because even if the American president changes, America's support for Israel does not change. The pride of the Muslim community is only in themselves. Their joy knows no bounds when Pakistan makes an atomic bomb, they spread their happiness when the number of Muslims increases; but what is the use of increasing the number! 2 billion Muslims are being beaten by 15 million Jews. If there is a war of sticks and swords, of course, the victory of the Muslims cannot be prevented; but the sword is useless in facing the challenges of the most modern technology. War is not only fought with weapons, intelligence is the main thing. Israel is the best in creating sophisticated equipment for collecting intelligence. The Muslim nation, which is averse to science, is past-oriented, and wants to conquer the present with the pride of the past.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia aspire to become the caliphs of the Muslim world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was seen as the savior of the frustrated Muslims, everyone was disappointed by his inaction in the campaign to eliminate the people of Gaza. We were hopeful when we saw Iran's huge ammunition; but Iran has become completely silent after seeing the example of Israel's attack on Iran. Of the three hundred missiles and drones launched by Iran, only three fell on Israeli soil, the rest were destroyed in the sky.

What is sad for Hamas is that the bombs launched by Iran were destroyed by the Muslim country Jordan. One of the forums of Muslim countries is called the 'Arab League'. This forum has met several times after Israel's attack on Gaza, no one knows why. The situation of 56 Muslim countries is also the same, none of them accept anyone's authority, they accept the authority of America or Russia. The Muslim countries of the Middle East have destroyed Iraq and Libya, two prosperous countries, together with America, and are destroying Syria and Yemen. Except for the Houthis of Yemen, Hezbollah of Lebanon, and Iran, the rest of the Muslim countries want the destruction of Hamas; because Hamas is a disciple of the Brotherhood organization of Egypt. The Brotherhood is extremist, and despite winning the elections, they could not remain in power due to the opposition of America. The kings and emperors of the Middle East think that Israel is much safer for their kingdom than Hamas.

Everyone knows very well why the Palestinians are suffering like this. So we should be patient; but instead of doing so, we are destroying foreign investment in the country. We are attacking, vandalizing, and looting various institutions including KFC and Bata. Thousands of people work in these institutions, Bangladesh has investments in these institutions, what harm will Israel do if they are destroyed? If KFC food is haram, will it become halal if we loot it and take it home and eat it? Why are we looting the shoes of the Jews and taking them home? We had raised the slogan of boycotting Indian products, if Indian products are undesirable, then Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also be undesirable; but why are we so eager to join him? We were also intoxicated for a while in the frenzy of boycotting Coca-Cola, although Coca-Cola has no connection with Israel or Jews.

Muslims have a good quality, despite being deprived of all the judgments of the world, they expect to get justice from Allah. To find solace, they look for the cause of every event, calling the earthquake in Myanmar ‘Allah’s wrath’, and the earthquake in Turkey or the destruction of Gaza ‘Allah’s test’. Even though they are standing on the verge of destruction, the Palestinians of Gaza think that Israel will fall one day. Even though they know that Israel’s fall is certain, the people of Gaza are now fleeing in fear of their lives, seeing this scene of fleeing shows how much illusion life is. Among the countless Gazans fleeing for their lives, a four or five-year-old child stands in the street, looking around in dismay. His parents have disappeared, no one feels the urge to pick him up and run, and no one even has time to look at him. Another scene is even more tragic: a woman in the middle of the street carrying a baby with abandoned milk in her arms and running. This picture of the plight of the people of Gaza reminds us of 1971.

In 1971, Pakistani soldiers and their Razakars, like Israeli soldiers, tortured, oppressed and killed us by bombing, shooting, and bayoneting us. I have not yet heard of Israeli soldiers raping us; but Pakistani soldiers raped between 200,000 and 400,000 mothers and sisters, and kept the captured girls naked in bunkers for fear of being exposed. Two days before the victory, the Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams, the allies of the Pakistani soldiers, searched every house and caught the country's intellectuals, tied their eyes and hands, took them to an unknown place, and tortured them with bayonets. Disappearances and kidnappings have begun in Bangladesh since then. After the victory, a pitiful scene was seen in the Royer Bazar slaughterhouse in Dhaka, where foxes and dogs were fighting over the rotting corpses of intellectuals. If Jewish products are boycotted for Israel's barbarity, why not boycott their products for the atrocities of Pakistanis in 1971? Pakistani products should also be banned like Israeli products. Since America might be dissatisfied, BNP did not make a single statement against Israel on the advice of Tarique Rahman.

Creating an atmosphere of unrest in the country in the name of boycotting Israel has become a festival for some people. In this festival, Jewish products are used as 'Facebook' to call for destroying Bangladesh's wealth, Bata, KFC, Coca-Cola, in the name of Jewish products. It cannot be said that they are less intelligent, because this is the era of talent; but the lack of talent in determining the products to boycott disappoints us. Bata, KFC or Coca-Cola are not Israeli products. On the other hand, William A. S. Oderland, the production manager of Bata Shoe Company, not only fought with weapons in the 1971 Liberation War, Bir Pratik not only fought with weapons, his shoe factory was a training center for freedom fighters.

America is supporting Israel, Bangladesh does not have the power to boycott America. To please US President Donald Trump, Elon Musk's Starlink internet service, which holds an important position in the Republican administration, has been brought in at an accelerated pace. More will be brought in if necessary to keep America happy. When the vandalism and looting were going on, more than five hundred representatives of various investment institutions from 50 countries were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dhaka. Attacks on foreign brands in such an expensive initiative to overcome the stagnation in investment in Bangladesh have damaged the country's image. They should be stopped for the good of the country and the nation, otherwise it will not be possible for Nobel laureate Dr. Mohammad Yunus to protect the country's image.

Ziauddin Ahmed: Former Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank.