The ongoing massacre of the Palestinians in Gaza and the illegal grab of Palestinian lands in occupied West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem is a damned indictment of the international community and the OIC.
The virtual meeting of the UNSC to address the soaring violence between Israel and the Palestinians was first blocked by the US. When finally held on Sunday, the US barred it from issuing a joint statement. Meanwhile, President Joe Bident put his weight behind Israel, maintaining that Israel has a right to defend itself against thousands of rockets flying into its territory. Biden, however, chose to ignore the Israeli rockets that flattened high-rise buildings and killed Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including a large number of women and children. Unconditional US military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel, irrespective of which party occupied the presidency, has made the Israeli governments more intransigent regarding the occupation of Palestinian territory and human rights abuses.
A militarized Israeli state provides a solid base for US power in the region. This explains why there is bipartisan support for Israel’s strategies of terror and expulsion to expand its territory, by killing and displacing the Palestinians. Amidst calls for making US aid to the Netanyahu government conditional on Israeli adherence to human rights law, 330 members of the US House of Representatives, including 125 Democrats signed a letter last month insisting that the $3.8 billion in annual military aid the US provides Israel remain unconditional. The move brings under focus the hollowness of the American claims regarding human rights and the rule of law.
The Gulf Arab states are in close embrace with the Israeli government, which has the blood of their fellow Arabs on its hand. Most of these regimes have direct or indirect economic or strategic relations with Israel and are unwilling to go beyond passing ineffective resolutions.
While a grandstanding Imran Khan tweeted “I am PM of Pakistan. We stand with Gaza, we stand with Palestine,” his FM told Secretary of State, Blinken, that Pakistan desires “a broad-based and comprehensive” partnership with America, the patron of Israel.
This explains why the Israeli government continued with bloodshed during and after the UNSC and OIC meetings. In a televised address, Netanyahu said that the attacks were continuing at full force and Israel “wants to levy a heavy price” from Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
