The Sumud Flotilla’s Challenge: Civilians' Sailing Brings Shame to the Garrison of Muslim Armies

News:

Renowned photographer Shahidul Alam joined the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s latest mission on Sunday, becoming the first Bangladeshi to take part in the international effort to break ‘Israel’s’ siege of Gaza. An educator, media institution builder, and activist, Alam, 70, has received numerous accolades for his work documenting human rights abuses and political upheaval across Bangladesh for over four decades. A Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2018, he was also the first person of color to chair the World Press Photo jury. He flew from Dhaka on Sunday for Sicily, where a new wave of boats is following the route of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which sailed from Italy, Spain, and Tunisia in late August and early September with around 500 activists from 44 countries. “I want to represent Bangladeshi people and express the fact that Bangladeshis have this love for Palestine, and there is this resistance,” Alam told Arab News. (“World-renowned photographer joins Gaza flotilla as first from Bangladesh”, arabnews.com, September 28, 2025). 

Comment:

The courageous decision of renowned Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s latest mission resonates deeply with the emotions of the Muslims of Bangladesh. For them, the cause of Palestine is not a distant geopolitical issue but a profound emotional commitment, inseparably linked to the sanctity of the blessed Al-Aqsa. This emotional connection, however, must transcend sentiment and evolve into concrete political and military resolve. Because, despite the civilians apprehended and harassed by the illegal Jewish entity on the flotilla, the betraying rulers of the Muslim nation-states continue to feel no guilt. While general citizens risk their lives on ordinary ships, the modern armies of the Muslim world stand as silent, heavily armed spectators. It is said that Sumud Flotilla to Gaza is a campaign to awaken the world conscience regarding the genocide in Gaza. Also, now is the time for civilians to awaken the conscience of the Muslim military armies. With increasing urgency, they must ask: if unarmed civilians can sail towards a blockade, why cannot the combined naval vessels of Muslim nations, loaded with faithful armies and zealous youth, be dispatched to liberate Al-Aqsa and end the plight of the blessed Muslims over there?

The path to the liberation of Palestine requires more than humanitarian missions; it demands a fundamental reorientation of power within the Muslim world. The power should be taken away from authoritarian regimes in the Muslim world that are backed by Western powers and given to the sincere and courageous hand of the only true guardian of the faithful Muslims - the Khalifah (Caliph) under the second righteous Khilafah Rashidah (rightly guided Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood. So, the people must march towards the army barracks of their own countries, not in protest, but to awaken the military’s conscience to its duty towards the Ummah. Sincere officers must realize that their true loyalty belongs to the liberation of Islam's third holiest site, not to the puppet rulers who serve the colonialist West. By sitting idle, these armies are effectively shielding their rulers, who then put their own self-interest ahead of their people's collective desire.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Irtiza Chowdhury – Wilayah Bangladesh