A powerful meme has been making the rounds on social media, depicting a law-enforcement officer holding up a skin-colour chart as though trying to determine whether someone qualifies as a ‘terrorist’. Originally taken from the animated series Family Guy, the meme has evolved into a biting critique of how Muslims and people from the Global South are routinely subjected to racial and religious profiling in Western narratives. What was once confined to digital echo chambers has now found its way into institutional discourse, prompting much-needed reflection at the international level.
This shift was strikingly evident in a recent speech at the United Nations Security Council, where Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, delivered a candid indictment of the global discourse on terrorism. He highlighted what he termed a “dangerous stigmatisation of Islam and Muslims,” drawing attention to the disturbing fact that nearly every name on the Security Council’s terrorism watchlists is Muslim—while violent extremists elsewhere, including in the West, often escape such scrutiny. This stark imbalance has not only distorted global security narratives but also contributed to real-world tragedies, where discriminatory lenses justify systemic violence and shield perpetrators from accountability.
Nowhere is this imbalance more evident than in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Since October 2023, Israel has launched a relentless military campaign on the region, with the backing—or silence—of powerful allies. While official estimates put the death toll at over 60,000 Palestinians, independent observers suggest the actual numbers could be far higher, with thousands still buried beneath rubble. Yet, rather than being seen as victims of a brutal occupation, Palestinians are too often portrayed as threats, while the narrative around their oppressors remains sanitized. This inversion of truth—where the oppressed are painted as menacing and the aggressors as victims—lays bare the hypocrisy that fuels and sustains modern-day tragedies.
Ambassador Iftikhar warned that such hypocrisy does more than distort distant conflicts—it endangers Muslim lives globally. A telling example is the world’s reaction to the brief Israel-Iran confrontation just months ago. While any aggressive stance by Iran is immediately painted as a threat to global peace, Israel’s actions, no matter how provocative or violent, are often overlooked or justified. Iran, already burdened by sanctions and internal unrest, is vilified not necessarily for what it does, but for what it represents—a Muslim-majority nation that challenges the status quo. The human suffering in such places is sidelined, and the global gaze remains fixated on political narratives, not humanitarian ones.
This state of affairs cannot continue. At an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held recently in Jeddah, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, issued a firm rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s so-called ‘Greater Israel’ vision. Dar described it as the product of an “annexationist and rogue mindset” and warned that any redrawing of regional borders would only further destabilise an already fragile region. As Gaza reels under genocide and famine, Dar condemned the claim of a “humanitarian framework” under occupation as a cruel illusion—pointing out that civilians are being targeted and killed even as they try to gather food for survival.
In a collective stand, Pakistan, backed by 31 Arab and Islamic nations, as well as the OIC, the Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, unequivocally rejected Netanyahu’s statements, labelling them as a dangerous escalation. Pakistan also proposed a comprehensive seven-point plan to address the crisis: an immediate and lasting ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access, a halt to forced displacements, an end to illegal settlements and annexations, accountability for war crimes, full adherence to international law, and, ultimately, the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
At the heart of this moment lies a convergence of two urgent issues—identity and action. The same mindset that has long weaponised Muslim identity to marginalise and criminalise entire populations now defends state policies that systematically erase communities. The idea of a ‘Greater Israel’ is not a fringe myth but an active policy agenda that reinforces impunity, hatred, and the double standards that plague international responses to violence and terrorism.
But that narrative is being challenged. At the United Nations, Pakistan is voicing its refusal to accept this distorted worldview. At the OIC, it is demanding that the world draw a moral line. The road ahead must be one of justice and reconstruction. All faiths must have the freedom to exist and be practiced with dignity. The global community must move beyond symbolic gestures and performative outrage. It must act—to end the bloodshed, to uphold rights, and to build bridges across religions and nations.
This is where meme meets meaning. This is when satire becomes moral urgency. And this is the moment when the world must choose to see not the caricatures imposed by centuries of prejudice, but the humanity that binds us all. Not what we are labelled, but what we truly are: human.
Shafaqna Pakistan
pakistan.shafaqna.com
Note: Shafaqna do not endorse the views expressed in the article
