There is something worth pausing on when a government hosts international peace talks and simultaneously has its Defense Minister calling a UN member state “a curse for humanity.” That is precisely where Pakistan stood this week, and the contradiction deserves honest examination.
Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s Defense Minister, went on social media and called Israel “evil, ” blamed it for committing genocide not only in Gaza but also in Iran and Lebanon, and even wished the founders of Israel to “burn in hell. ” These weren’t the words of a street protester. It was a cabinet minister of a nuclear-armed country, publicly posting as diplomatic delegations were literally arriving in Islamabad.
History Does Not Support the Founding Myth Argument
The allegation that Israel was forcibly established on Palestinian land in order to get rid of Jews in Europe is contrary to the well-established historical evidence. In fact, Jewish communities have had a continuous presence in the area for more than 3,000 years. By 1920, ‘some 65,000 Jews were already living in Ottoman and then British Mandate Palestine – mostly through legal immigration and documented land purchases, not conquest. ‘
In November 1947, the United Nations voted to divide the land into two states, referring to the establishment of the Jewish state and the Arab state respectively. Arab states rejected it and launched a coordinated military invasion the morning after Israeli independence was declared on May 14, 1948. Five armies. One newly declared state. The aggressor in that founding war was not Israel.
The Civilian Casualty Conversation Needs Full Context
Asif called Israeli operations genocidal, a term that under the 1948 UN Convention comes with a strict legal definition and requires proving *intent* to destroy a group as such. In its highly publicized 2024 provisional ruling, the ICJ did not make a final determination of genocide. On the other hand, the population of Gaza has increased from around 394,000 in 1967 to over 2 310 000 by 2023, which is a population growth rate that does not fit the characterization of genocide.
Civilian suffering in Gaza is real and serious. The contradictory environment for the narrative is Hamas who according to UN investigators, have regularly used the cover of hospitals, schools and mosques to carry out their military operations. While tragic, the civilian deaths in such a situation are, from the legal and moral standpoint, quite different from the case of the deliberate killing of a group.
Lebanon Without the Missing Half of the Story
Asif criticized the Israeli attacks in Lebanon but did not even hint at Hezbollah, that is the same group that unleashed several tens of thousands of rockets into northern Israel after October 7, 2023 – resulting in the displacement of over 60,000 Israeli civilians from their homes for more than a year. Entire towns had to be abandoned. Children lost the opportunity to attend school for years.
Hezbollah launched those attacks in declared solidarity with Hamas after the October 7 massacre, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken hostage in a single morning. When Israel responded militarily to restore its border communities — a right explicitly covered under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued condemnations. For the 60,000 displaced Israelis, there was silence.
The Credibility Problem
Credible mediators do not wish founding figures of conflict parties into hellfire on social media. Qatar, which many criticize, still maintains working channels with Israel — that pragmatism has given Doha real influence. Norway brokered Oslo without demonizing either side. Pakistan appears to be playing to a domestic audience rather than building genuine diplomatic leverage.
Israel is a democracy of nearly 10 million people — including Arab citizens who sit in parliament, serve on its Supreme Court, and hold military commissions. A country that has contributed drip irrigation, life-saving medical technologies, and cybersecurity tools to the world, while absorbing millions of Jewish refugees expelled from Arab states, deserves to be engaged honestly — not caricatured for political points.
Rage is easy. Facts take more courage.