As the new war between Israel and Palestine rages on, the world is once again hopelessly polarized between their respective supporters. It has split governments, the religions, the mainstream media and the social media. But there is a crucial difference: it is the supporters of Israel who call the shots. They don’t just make the noise but also provide material support to the Jewish country and create justification for doing so. This despite the fact that Israel, a Middle East superpower, may not require this support in war against a poorly armed rag-tag militia operating from a tiny strip of land measuring 25 mile long, 7.5 mile wide where around two million people live cheek-by-jowl.
It is a familiar script that plays out every time the hostilities break out. Since 2008, Israel has carried out four major military operations in Gaza – 2008, 2012, 2014, and most recently in 2021 – resulting in killing of 6407 Palestinians including children and widespread destruction. Besides, thousands of homes, schools, and office buildings were reduced to rubble. Rebuilding efforts have been severely hampered by a blockade that prevents essential construction materials like steel and cement from reaching Gaza.
The 2008 operation raised international alarm as Israel was accused of using internationally banned weaponry, including phosphorus gas. In 2014, the conflict, known as Operation Protective Edge by the Israelis, lasted for 50 days and resulted in over 2,100 Palestinian casualties, with 1,462 civilians and almost 500 children. Besides, around 11,000 Palestinians were injured, and the destruction of 20,000 homes left half a million people displaced.
True, the fresh conflict has been triggered by the Hamas attacks in Israel which, according to media reports, have claimed 1200 lives. This is the first time in its history that Israel has suffered an atrocity of this scale, something that surpasses the losses it has endured during its wars with its neighbouring Arab states. This has lent legitimacy to Tel Aviv’s current invasion of Gaza which is being cheered on by most western countries, particularly the United States, Israel’s chief backer. The US president Joe Biden even confirmed the story of the beheading of 40 Jewish babies despite the Israeli government itself denying any proof for it.
In the past week, swathes of Gaza have been leveled and more than 3000 Palestinians have been killed, with Israel being accused of killing over 500 Palestinians in a strike on a Gaza hospital. But the western powers have mainly been apoplectically outraged by the killings in Israel. The invasion of Gaza is framed as Israel’s exercise of its right to self-defense in response to Hamas’ actions. If that be so, the action-reaction argument could also be seamlessly extended to the Hamas attack, which, in turn, stems from Israel’s brutal decade-long siege of Gaza. But this has now become a cliched contention which has fewer takers among Israel’s backers or in their powerful media.
That said, it is certainly not the moral arguments that matter at the end of the day, it is the power. And why shouldn’t it. It is not easy to acquire power. It needs a systematic effort over decades, sometimes centuries, by a nation to develop the economic, technological and military might that gives it a regional and global sway. Power comes from education, creativity, and human ingenuity which, in turn, unleash the potential of human beings to explore, to create and to invent. And then when you achieve power, you get the means to remake the world in your image. You get the ability to control the narrative, to decide the good from bad according to your own convenience. Weak don’t stand a chance as they don’t have the resources to match the disproportionate strength of the powerful nor do they have means to promote their discourse.
The point is why shouldn’t the powerful be entitled to this unfair play by virtue of their strength? After all, the power doesn’t come easy. The West went through a drawn process – Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, American Revolution, French Revolution – over centuries while Islamic world went into a free fall, more so, over the past three centuries. Without going into details of the west’s climb to the top of the pile, the truth is that it now effectively runs the world – in fact, has been doing so since European powers such as Britain, Germany and France fanned out and colonized the major parts of the rest of the world. America, a state built by European immigrants, took over as the successor dominant power following World War 2. It is now America’s world and its narrative is the world’s overriding gospel.
As geopolitics plays out over the Israeli-Palestinian war, one must keep in mind the disproportionate power differential between the two sides. The result of a conflict, including matters of morality, is seldom determined by the righteousness of a cause; rather, it is often shaped by a dominant power. Those in power not only construct their own version of truth but also cultivate a willing audience for it. So, give power its privileges.
- Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
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