WASHINGTON WATCH
We’ve reached a sort of tipping point in the way political leaders in the West are reacting to Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza. It’s maddening for two reasons: that it took this long to get an official response from Western capitals; and that, once the magnitude of the tragedy became clear, the responses have been so decidedly ineffectual.
The nightmare in Gaza has been unfolding for 22 months and during this entire time Israel’s savage use of violence and its punishment of innocent Palestinians has been unrelenting. Early on, Israel’s genocidal intent became clear as they demolished hospitals, universities, and entire neighborhoods using 2000-pound bombs; forced hundreds of thousands to flee their neighbourhoods and homes; and ordered electricity and water cut off and blocked the entry of food and medical supplies.
All this was known in 2023, and yet no action was taken. Back then, when we called for a ceasefire, the US Secretary of State told me that a ceasefire would be deplorable and the USA would not support such a move. In mid-2024, when the United Nations Security Council twice voted on a ceasefire resolution, only the USA opposed. A third attempt at a ceasefire resolution introduced by the USA passed, but it was never acted upon, because despite President Biden disingenuously saying Israel had agreed to this resolution, he knew they had not. The entire effort was nothing more than a public relations stunt.
The bottom line is that the world has long known that this war on Gaza’s people had to end and yet other than voting on dead-end UN resolutions, they did nothing. Worse still, they continued to do business with and sell weapons to Israel. So what has changed now?
The pictures of devastation and eyewitness testimonies, a staple for those who have been following the news on social media, are now featured in mainstream media. As a result, it has become more difficult for the manufacturers of Israeli hasbara to convince the public that the devastation is exaggerated and the stories of human suffering are fabricated. In most European countries, the percentage of those who support Israel’s actions in Gaza has fallen to less than one-third.
Despite the effort of Israeli propagandists, the reason behind this sharp decline in support for Israel isn’t the large number of Muslim immigrants in Western Europe, nor is it antisemitism. What has changed is that European and US publics now know and are horrified by what Israel is doing in Gaza. They are rejecting the lame excuses offered by their leaders, who had hoped they wouldn’t need to respond with anything more than an occasional UN vote of disapproval, expressions of concern, or toothless condemnations of isolated Israeli acts.
At this point, what is required to end the genocide, save lives, and restore respect for international law and some level of sanity to the region, is for Western nations to take concrete steps to punish Israel, demanding changes in policy. These must include an end to the assault on Gaza, a ceasefire and withdrawal of Israel forces, and allowing the entry of international peacekeepers and aid, and the start of reconstruction efforts.
As the pressure has grown— with pictures of starving Palestinian children and aerial photos of mass devastation now dominating media coverage of the war on Gaza— Western leaders are struggling to find ways to react. Most disturbing is that their motivation appears to be more a need to be seen as acting than finding ways to actually effectuate change.
For example, the British threat to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire is, at best, a hollow gesture. The German threat to review cultural and trade ties amounts to the same. And the continuing lame calls for “renewed negotiations leading to a two-state solution” (when it is well known that Israel has no interest in nor feels any pressure to submit to such an outcome). These gestures are more performative than effective. Even if the entire United Nations (except, of course, the USA) were to recognize a Palestinian State, little would change on the ground, except possibly enraging the Israelis to take more drastic measures in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
At this point, what is required to end the genocide, save lives, and restore respect for international law and some level of sanity to the region, is for Western nations to take concrete steps to punish Israel, demanding changes in policy. These must include an end to the assault on Gaza, a ceasefire and withdrawal of Israel forces, and allowing the entry of international peacekeepers and aid, and the start of reconstruction efforts.
While the above steps are in line with the Arab peace plan, a group of 30 nations meeting in Colombia have gone a step further by endorsing a comprehensive package of proposals designed to end the “the era of impunity…and enforce international law,” with 13 of the participants agreeing to measures that would prohibit the transfer of arms and other forms of support to Israel that enable Israel’s assault on Gaza and violations of law in the West Bank. Calling themselves The Hague Group, they pledge concrete actions “to ensure justice for victims of crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
They will bring their compact to the UN in September urging other nations to join them. Instead of hollow declarations of recognition or calls for renewed negotiations for a two-state solution, this is the reaction needed to end Israel’s crimes.
