The airstrikes are abated. The aid flowing sporadically into the Palestinian territories. And the infrastructure being pondered over for a desperate revival. Nothing stands out compared to the previous intifadas. The ceasefire holding up like a thread, withering each day as protestors are detained in East Jerusalem and the draconian Zionist expansion continues in the neighborhood. However, the world seems to have some remnants of morality – at least to an extent. While giants like the United States stood bystanders to the apartheid peddled by the State of Israel, the recent turn of events in politics around Europe has flickered a ray of hope in humanity.
The Irish Parliament passed a motion to subject the state of Israel as a violating party in the ongoing territorial aggression. The motion tabled by the socialist political party, Sinn Féin, outrightly condemned the Israeli expansion in Palestine. The motion also deemed the expanding Israeli settlements on the West Bank as “de facto annexation” of the Palestinian land. The motion set a furor as the Israeli Foreign Ministry slammed the motion as an “outrageous and baseless position”. Yet, the move was commended widely as the first European condemnation of Israel over its persistent war crimes and the 11-day genocide that left an estimated 254 Palestinians dead and thousands displaced from their homeland.
The recent chick was the motion voted in majority by Dali (parliament) in Dublin as a contraversion of the international law. However, the Israeli fascism was further debilitated in Geneva. The special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was in session and a resolution was presented in collusion of the OIC, Pakistan, and Palestine. The resolution was adopted with 24 votes in favor, 9 votes against, and 14 countries abstaining from the vote. The resolution dictates the establishment of a commission to investigate the possible war crimes committed during the 11-day violence spree. Along with the probe, the council called upon the states around the world as well as the humanitarian agencies to sponsor aid and welfare to support the victims in West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.
The commission formed is subjected to run a granular inquest in the war-torn region to uncover the human rights abuses followed by the tension surge of 13th April. Moreover, the commission is responsible for probing the rudimentary causes of the conflict alongside documenting any evidence alluding to systematic discrimination or repression of any ethnic, national, or religious identity in the occupied territories.
The United Kingdom, in contrast to Ireland, was one of the 9 countries to vote against the commission, asserting that the investigation would have no basis to reach a conclusive position next year: the provisional deadline set by the council. Similarly, the United States, which doesn’t enjoy a right to vote but just observe in the UNHRC, resented the commission in a rather dismal tone. The US mission in Geneva expressed: “The United States deeply regrets today’s decision by the Human Rights Council to establish an open-ended commission of inquiry into the recent violence between Israel and Palestine”. The statement further added: “The resolution would not contribute to peace. It would not bring about lasting solutions”.
Ironic, since the same United States turned haywire when the Chinese genocide in Xinjiang came into the spotlight. Harkening the same council to probe into the human rights violations on an immediate basis. More ironic is the fact that the US is the same country that deferred a mere statement by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), vetoing the draft thrice, and letting the violence run rampant for 11 consecutive days as children were slaughtered by deadly airstrikes on Gaza.
While the UNHRC passed a resolution condemning both the actions of Israel and Hamas, the Irish parliament – specifically the Sinn Féin Party – refused to condemn the actions of Hamas. While these two separate motions might not hold detrimental value, their combination in a broader perspective highlights the perilous position of Israel in global politics, particularly in Europe. A relatively small nation edged in the Middle East, the state is quickly losing out support garnered over decades. While OIC is beginning to show frustration concerning the brazen actions of Israel, even Europe is joining the anti-Zionist narrative. While the UK voted against the motion, the conviction was rather towards the feasibility of the commission instead of a show of alliance with Israel.
While the US called against either resolution, it failed to defend Israel in the international forums as well as faced the brunt for pouring estimated $38 billion worth of military aid to Israel, only to let them run raucous. The US even failed to provide evidence of a military presence in the buildings bombed by Israel, justified by claiming to target the Hamas hotspots in civilian localities.
And while the Republic of Ireland was the only country in Europe to adopt a hard, monolithic stance against Israeli atrocities, the fissures in the carefully crafted armor are showing. As was deftly encapsulated by Ronan Burtenshaw, editor of the UK’s socialist Tribune Magazine, the progressing reality could be entrapped in the following words: “A landmark on the road to isolating an apartheid state [Israel] as we did in the 1980s. Next stop: Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions”. Such strong anti-Israel tone was hardly ever adopted by the European countries in recent decades. Coupled with a progressive United States and frustrated regional powers, Israel is in no position of comfort as it originally envisioned.
