When speaking of great transformations in world history, one may speak of the conquest of Istanbul, the French Revolution, the birth of the modern age or technological revolutions.

In this context, the rise of the modern era brought certain assumptions: that religion belonged to history, and that outside modernity, nothing remained worthy of being called civilization.

This shift was particularly evident in the West, where the relegation of religion to the margins of social life also gave rise to a distorted understanding of faith – one shaped by fringe and deviant underground movements.

Operating outside the framework of states and on the margins of society – particularly alongside currents associated with Kabbalah and Zionism – a worldview emerged in which human beings began to place themselves in the role of God.

Islam, Christianity and Judaism, known as the Abrahamic religions, have clearly shaped the world in many ways. However, over the past 40 or 50 years, it seems that people have started to follow the "religion of consumption" and the "religion of capitalism" instead.

Chasing pleasure, buying more, earning more, owning more, and focusing only on material life has almost become a common goal for people everywhere.

An unusual community

Amid all this, the genocide launched by Israel in Gaza revealed the existence of a different kind of Muslim community in Gaza.

An American doctor recently described in detail how his time in Gaza transformed him personally, saying the experience helped him recover a sense of humanity he believed he had lost.

Against this brutal genocide, exclusion and destruction, the humane stance, Muslim identity, and patience shown by the people of Gaza drew the attention of people across the world. Imagine a people subjected to a massacre. Their fighters resist. Two million people endure hunger, thirst and death with patience.

At the same time, support for Gaza has expanded across the globe – from Latin America and the Middle East to East Asia, European capitals, and university campuses in the U.S. In countries such as Türkiye, large-scale demonstrations and public rallies have been organized in protest against Israeli actions in Gaza and in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Young Americans' stance

The Gaza genocide also began to affect U.S. policy directly. During the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, the U.S. struggled to convince its own people of the legitimacy of war. The impact of the Gaza war was already being felt, and especially among younger Americans, opposition to what they saw as the unjust genocide in Gaza became widespread. When asked if they would choose Hamas or Israel, many stated that they preferred Hamas.

Meanwhile, the Gaza genocide fundamentally shattered the European/Western paradigm. Since the 1960s, concepts such as democratization, freedom, human rights, women’s rights, environmental rights and animal rights have shaped global discourse. Yet a growing conviction emerged that many of these principles remained only on paper. Today, the West that remained silent in the face of the Gaza genocide is internally questioning itself.

In the 1970s, the Palestinian cause used to shape the ideological conflicts between left and right in world politics and university campuses. Fifty years later, the world has once again split in two over Gaza and Israel’s actions there – dividing into those with conscience and those without.

In Istanbul, we put together an initiative called "the Recorded for Humanity Initiative” and organized several events. One of them was a documentary on Al-Shifa Hospital. The documentary, handled rationally by the Al-Jazeera group, exposed all violations against humanity. Without relying on emotional rhetoric, journalists documented the occupation of the hospital step by step, producing an account that many viewed as a stark lesson in humanity.

What Gaza taught

At a time when consumerism and desensitization shape societies more and more and moral values are eroded, Gaza presented the world with a different example – one centered on human dignity, endurance, patience and faith in God.

If one asks what Gaza taught humanity, the answer is this: It awakened conscientious people across the world, reminded them of who they are, and revived the instinct to stand with the oppressed.

Last month, speaking about Palestine, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that regardless of the circumstances or the cost, he would continue standing with the oppressed and would always take pride in supporting the oppressed people of Gaza.

Gaza is a lesson in humanity. One cannot destroy humanness through genocide, nor through the destructive efforts of Zionists who have lost their sense of human conscience. The people living in Gaza will continue reminding the world what humanity truly means.

During this Eid holiday week, as Muslims around the world try to celebrate the holiday with joy and enthusiasm, we will not forget that a part of every heart remains in Gaza.