So much has happened this week… I could talk about MAGA’s hypocritical decision to “cancel” anyone who didn’t drop to the ground and sob at Charlie Kirk’s killing, despite the fact that they openly mocked the murder of George Floyd and applauded people who committed heinous acts of political violence, like Kyle Rittenhouse. Or what about the fact that Trump is considering labelling Antifa a domestic terrorist group? ‘Antifa’ just means ‘anti-fascist’; it isn’t a group or even an ideology. It is a political stance that various different groups from across the political spectrum share. In other words, this would allow Trump to label anyone who opposes him a terrorist and abuse them beyond belief. But there is a bigger, more impactful story at play right now, and no one seems to be listening.
A few days ago, the UN commission announced that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. No shit, Sherlock. Huge numbers of humanitarian lawyers, virtually all human rights charities, and the vast majority of genocide scholars have recognised this as a genocide for months. But with the UN finally providing its stance, we have now reached an inarguable consensus: this is a genocide.
So, why is that a bigger news story than the tidal wave of fascism flooding the most powerful nation on Earth?
Two reasons.
This verdict means that nearly every Western nation is currently breaking international law. And not by a little. We are talking rogue state levels here.
You see, the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, of which most nations on Earth are signatories, makes it illegal for nations to fail to intervene when a genocide occurs. The first article of this convention states, “Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.” So, as a UN spokesperson said, “All states are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
Yet the US, UK, France, Germany, and much of the Western world still supply weapons, military training, military support, and political coverage of Israel’s genocide. Sure, they may have taken some small, piecemeal actions, like airdropping aid or threatening to recognise Palestine as a state, but Israel can only conduct this heinous act with the funding and support of these countries. If they wanted it to stop today, they could.
This fact is especially true of Trump. The US is by far the most prominent supporter and funder of the IDF and the Israeli state. Indeed, without the US’ support, Israel would not be anywhere near as prosperous as it is today. Trump holds all the power and leverage in this relationship. Yet he has done nothing to stop the worst crime against humanity.
There are a tiny number of Western countries that have abided by the convention and are actively trying to end this genocide, with Ireland and Spain being the most prominent of them. But this finding by the UN means that the vast majority of Western states and their leaders are currently breaking the foundational conventions of the UN.
This means that in the coming years, it won’t just be Netanyahu and his cronies being dragged to the Hague. Starmer, Macron, Merz, Meloni, and Trump may soon have to uselessly plead guilty before the ICJ.
That puts significant pressure on these leaders.
But there is a second reason, and it is linked to the tyrannical actions I mentioned in the introduction.
Gaza is not far away. It is the colonial fascist forces that have been bubbling up in our society for decades, testing the waters. Because if they can pull off this genocide and extract the wealth from that land, what do you think they will be able to do back home?
The forces and ideology that are enabling this horrific genocide are the same ones enabling Trump’s tyranny, enabling the crackdown of dissent in Britain, and forcing the transfer of even more wealth to the 1%. This strange pan-national, neo-fascist, post-capitalist, neo-colonialism is effectively looking to oppress anyone, foreign or domestic, to extract as much power and wealth as possible, and shove it up the pyramid so that their bottom line continues to increase. It is a small group looking for infinite growth in a finite system, no matter the damage to society. It is literally cancer.
That is why, despite Trump’s now daily violation of free speech and democracy, it is important we don’t get too reactionary. Don’t get me wrong, call him out and resist. But if you want this to stop, we need to attack the root of the problem with something huge. Gaza achieves just that. Holding the West to account for its complicity threatens those who propagate this cancer, from the left, centre and right, but it also pushes back against tyranny and its horrifying methods. Pushing for this accountability won’t topple the tower on its own, but it will remove a Jenga block from the bottom.
So, for the sake of Palestinians, international law, democracy, and Western society, do not forget about Gaza.
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Sources: ETI, The Guardian, The Guardian, UN