EDITORIAL: First things first, Qatar has told Hamas and Israel it will stall its efforts to mediate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until they show “willingness and seriousness” to resume talks.
No doubt, it isn’t good news at all in view of the fact that this Gulf country had been working ceaselessly for months to broker a deal between Israel and Palestinians. Qatar seems to have suspended its efforts out of sheer frustration and dejection, to say the least.
Be that as it may, it is shameful that the United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) has verified that women and children comprise nearly 70 percent of the 44,000-odd war casualties in Gaza, yet nobody can do a thing to stop Israel’s genocidal onslaught in the strip.
The reason is America’s blank cheque to the Israeli leadership and top western countries’ decision to continue providing arms to the Israeli Military even as the UN has repeatedly called Israel’s actions war crimes, crimes against humanity, possible genocide and atrocity crimes.
It has also accused the Jewish state of “systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law”, pointing out that 80 percent of the deaths so far have come from attacks on residential buildings and children aged between five and nine years have made up the largest group of victims.
Yet all Israel has to do is deny all such reports, play the victim, accuse the UN of “demonising” it, and let the powerful western corporate media take it from there as bombs continue to rain on innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon.
Things are likely to get much worse with Donald Trump’s return to the White House and fears that Benjamin Netanyahu will finally succeed in expanding the war to Iran might well come true. Should that happen, more civilians will get caught in the crossfire and this humanitarian nightmare will continue to grow; just because the world’s sole superpower is blinded by Israeli influence in Capitol Hill.
Everybody knows about the reach of Israeli influence in Washington, just like everybody understands by now that Netanyahu is pushing for more war just to keep his political career alive because he faces criminal charges and an almost certain prison sentence the moment this war ends and his government collapses.
Everybody can also see that he is using this moment to cleanse the occupied territories of as many native Palestinians as possible, and he has no qualms about women and children making up most of the casualties.
But nobody can stop him. Even the UN, which has been categorical in its criticism of Israel’s war tactics, especially killings of civilians and closure of humanitarian aid, faces severe criticism from not just Israel but also the states that set it up all those years ago to ensure compliance with international laws; only because it dares to challenge the Israel, and therefore mainstream western, narrative about this genocide.
The world has come to a very important crossroads. If the international community does not stop Israel, and go a step further and make it pay for its crimes, then it will set a very ugly and extremely dangerous precedent.
As the UN also noted in its latest report — which Israel and its friends have rejected, of course — governments supplying Israel with weapons are “undermining their credibility as defenders of international law and human rights as well as the credibility of the international system”. It went on to warn that other states which abuse human rights are watching that there are “no consequences” for such blatant crimes, and are feeling emboldened.
It’s also very disturbing that most Muslim nations that surround Israel and dominate the Middle East’s geography continue to stay silent. They should be clear that should things get any worse, especially in case Iran is drawn into active war, then they will not be able to escape the fallout. They should have taken a united position at the start of the war. Yet now, with tens of thousands of innocent women and children leading the count of dead and maimed, such silence is no longer acceptable.
Last but not least, the October 7 happened and there is a legitimate context to the Hamas attacks inside Israel. Likewise, the recent hit-and-run attacks on Israeli football supporters in Amsterdam are not without any plausible context either.
According to the Amsterdam police, for example, there were incidents in Amsterdam the night before “on both sides” with Maccabi fans seen tearing down a flag and later chanting anti-Arab slogans. But to put it more appropriately and objectively, one must not lose sight of the fact that Maccabi supporters had in fact attacked a taxi in Amsterdam and set a Palestinian flag on fire without any provocation whatsoever.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024