By Abdan Safi
In international politics, some decisions are not merely political; they also expose a state’s religious, intellectual, moral, and historical direction. Pakistan’s inclusion in Trump’s Gaza “peace board” is one such decision. It is not an ordinary diplomatic step, but a choice through which Pakistan’s military has placed itself—contrary to the Islamic Ummah, national consciousness, and historical position—within the ranks of U.S. and Israeli strategic interests.
For decades, Pakistan’s foreign policy has been beyond the control of civilian institutions and has effectively been subject to the strategic calculations of the military. On Palestine as well, Pakistan’s official stance has not always reflected popular sentiment, but has instead been shaped according to Washington’s preferences by the Pakistani military. Participation in Trump’s Gaza peace board is the latest link in this chain, once again showing that the military sacrifices sensitive issues of the Islamic world for its own survival and the approval of its foreign patron.
Under Trump’s leadership, this so-called “peace board” is designed not for peace, but to eliminate Palestinian resistance. Its fundamental aim is to disarm Hamas, break Palestinian political will, and legitimize Israeli security interests. Participation in such a framework is, in practical terms, support for Israeli occupation and a stance against Palestinian resistance.
The most dangerous aspect here is the role of Pakistan’s military. The military, which presents itself as an “Islamic nuclear power” and guardian of the “Two Holy Mosques,” has in practice become a proxy instrument for forces that are among the greatest supporters of the killing of Muslims. This decision not only shows that the military is indifferent to the will of the people, but also that it uses Islam as a slogan rather than for the unity or survival of the Ummah.
If the duty of a Muslim or an Islamic state is to uphold Islam, support the oppressed, oppose occupation, and stand against injustice, then membership in Trump’s Gaza peace board is clearly in conflict with every fundamental Islamic principle. Here, Pakistan’s military is not defending Islam but undermining Islam and the collective credibility of the Ummah. This is an act that has lowered Pakistan, in the eyes of the Islamic world, from even the last step of trust.
This action has presented Pakistan to the world not as an independent state, but as an obedient subordinate. It is like rubbing salt into the wounds of the martyred children, women, and helpless people of Gaza. If anyone claims that the military’s role will be for peace, they should listen to Trump’s recent statements describing the role of countries included in the peace board; these statements show that Pakistan is once again neither a representative of peace nor a mediator, but part of the oppressor’s and occupier’s plan and narrative.
After this decision, the feeling among the public has deepened that the military is not the representative of the nation, but a force imposed upon it. The perception that the military makes decisions for the U.S. and Israel while ignoring the faith, dignity, and sentiments of its own people is a deadly poison for Pakistan’s already fragile national unity.
History will not record this decision as a “peace effort,” but as a document of the political humiliation of a military whose practical loyalty lay with Washington and Tel Aviv behind Islamic slogans. The military may impose this decision on the people today through power, but tomorrow it will be the very page on which the foundation of public accountability against the military will be built.
Accepting Trump’s Gaza peace board is not merely a political mistake for Pakistan; it is an official declaration of the military’s intellectual, moral, and Islamic decline. This decision further reinforces the impression that Pakistan’s military is not part of, nor a protector of, the Islamic Ummah, but rather a link in the global power structure acting against it. The only “positive” aspect of this decision is that it has removed any remaining ambiguity in the hearts of Muslims about the military and clarified who stands in which camp.
