Muhammet Tarhan and Asiye Latife Yilmaz
31 May 2025•Update: 31 May 2025
ISTANBUL
Palestine is a demand for greater justice throughout the world, according to British academic Salman Sayyid from the University of Leeds.
Speaking to Anadolu at the Reorienting Resistance, the fourth Critical Muslim Studies conference in Istanbul, Sayyid emphasized that the event united academics and researchers from around the world.
Sayyid described the purpose of the conference as rethinking the knowledge produced about Islam and Muslims in light of current global circumstances.
Sayyid said that what is happening in Palestine reveals the limits of the ability of Muslims to influence the world and their own governments, and added that having little power to respond raises serious questions about governance and exposes the failure of the liberal international order to serve its purpose for Muslims.
“If we cannot protect people suffering live on our TVs from the horrors, then the international order itself needs to be rethought in a way that Palestinian people are facing the last Western colonial settler state,” Sayyid said.
He said the Palestinian struggle resonates across the world, noting the growing international support, including Latin American governments cutting ties with Tel Aviv.
Sayyid pointed out that the concept of resistance has been marginalized in Western media and academia since the Cold War, and the belief in equal treatment under the liberal order has failed to address injustices.
He stated that those events help move beyond nationalist perspectives by bringing together scholars and participants worldwide, highlighting that many challenges and opportunities are global.
Sayyid emphasized the need to build transnational solidarities to achieve a just world.
Highlighting that the theme of the event, decolonization and emancipation, is the most critical issue facing Muslim societies, he noted that although many Islamic countries gained formal independence 50 to 70 years ago, they have yet to achieve true sovereignty.
Stressing the direct link to democracy, he stated that if governments cannot make independent decisions, then voting does not contribute to real decision-making.
Sayyid stressed that genuine popular will requires governments capable of autonomous decision-making “rather than having to listen to external powers.”
