Continuing diplomatic impotency over Gaza reveals a ‘moral collapse’ in the West
US aid airdrops cannot be allowed to divert attention away from our leaders’ complicity in the genocide that is unfolding in Palestine
LATE last year as Israel’s war in Gaza intensified, the former British ambassador to Lebanon, Tom Fletcher, delivered a certain diplomatic truism about the Middle East.
“Intervene in the Middle East, it bites you back. Fail to intervene, it bites you back. Swing between the two, it bites you back,” observed the man who wrote the acclaimed book, The Naked Diplomat.
As a long-term up-close Middle East watcher, I can’t help but recognise Fletcher’s characterisation of the region when it comes to international response and diplomacy in times of crisis.
Heaven knows there has been no shortage of historical precedents that have proved such an observation accurate.
The unmitigated disaster that was the Iraq War and the West’s response to the Arab Spring uprisings being only two of many that come to mind.
In fact, it’s probably fair to say that so often has the West been bitten in the Middle East – albeit largely of its own making – that when faced with any flare-up there, our response has been whittled down to two equally negative options.
For either we tend to wade in with a knee-jerk recklessness or the opposite is true and the Middle East’s “bite” induces a kind of diplomatic paralysis. Either way it’s the innocents caught up on the ground that end up bearing the brunt of the pain. And so it is with Gaza.
In going on 40 years of covering foreign affairs, especially the Middle East, I don’t think I can recall a more shameful episode in the region than what is going on right now with the West’s response to the genocide that is unfolding in Gaza.
And can I also say from the outset,
I don’t use that word “genocide” loosely, having often encountered its inappropriate or misuse in other global crises.
For the inescapable fact, as Amnesty International has recently reminded, is that over one month on from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip from the risk of genocide by ensuring sufficient humanitarian assistance and enabling basic services, Israel continues to defy the ICJ ruling.
But knowing Israel’s track record with the Palestinians and given the toxic complexion of its government right now I can’t say that surprises me.
And before anyone thinks that this is purely a result of political high office, consider for a moment the latest shocking data compiled by the Israel Democracy Institute, which shows that 67.5% of people oppose Israel allowing humanitarian aid to reach Gazans through international organisations unconnected to Hamas or UNRWA the relief and human development agency millions of Palestinians depend on.
I can’t say I’m surprised either by the West’s diplomatic inertia or impotency, even if I confess to being gobsmacked by the breathtakingly hypocritical low it has now reached.
As the Palestinian-American journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Dr Ramzy Baroud, rightly observed the other day, and this is in no way hyperbole, “the Israeli genocide in Gaza will be remembered as the moral collapse of the West.”
As Baroud points out, for far too long, but especially since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Western governments, starting with the US, “have violated every last set of ethics, morality and laws that they themselves developed, drafted, promoted, even imposed on the rest of the world for many decades.”
In short, currently, they are practically dismantling their own laws, and the very ethical standards that led to their formation. If ever one singe act exemplified the West’s hypocrisy in action then it was the sight of those US planes airdropping humanitarian aid by parachute to desperate Gazans. On every conceivable level this was a monumentally crass example of what not to do.
Yes, I understand the argument that it’s vital to get food to Gazans any way we can. I get too the argument that this is no time for political niceties and it’s all very well for someone not experiencing the hunger plaguing countless Gazans to get on their political high horse about Western hypocrisy here.
If those airdrops save one life then that’s well and good. But even humanitarian professionals admit that this cannot meet soaring needs.
Then there is the question of who it reaches.
I’ve spent enough time in faminehit countries to know for a fact how difficult it can be to get food aid to the people that need it most and not simply into the arms of
A HOT chocolate company is set to launch its first two stores in Scotland.
Knoops, a British brand known for its completely customisable hot chocolate menu, is launching its first locations outside of England, with the opening of two new stores in Edinburgh. The opening of its 16th and 17th stores continues Knoops’ expansion across the UK.
Opening its doors today at 11-15 Victoria Street in Edinburgh’s Old Town and March 15 at 106 George Street in the New Town, Edinburgh locals will be able to customise their ideal hot chocolate, iced chocolate or milkshake.
Knoops has more than 20 different chocolate percentages – from 28% white to 100% extra dark. It also has nine different dairy and plant-based milks and over 20 extras, including sea salt, orange zest, chilli and cinnamon.
CEO William Gordon-Harris said: “Embarking on our journey beyond the borders of England is a significant milestone for Knoops.
“Edinburgh is the perfect next city for the brand, with its historic charm and rich cultural heritage, so it is fitting that we open here in two iconic locations, in close succession. We are excited to start on this new chapter and are looking forward to bringing something new and different to the food and drink scene of the city.”