The death toll in Gaza has now risen to over 18,000, although that number may quickly be eclipsed by a growing health emergency which is beginning to reach catastrophic proportions. “The perfect storm for disease has begun. Now it’s about, ‘How bad will it get?’” stated James Elder, chief spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Gaza’s population is being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas in the south of the Gaza Split, with decreasing access to toilets, showers, or drinking water of any kind—just as the cold season is approaching. Diseases are rising across the board, and nutrition levels are plummeting. Meanwhile Israel is continuing its bombardment on the largely civilian population. Where are the human rights defenders? Who is standing up for innocent life?
This reality along with an increasing global pressure is bearing down on Western nations that have turned a blind eye to Israel’s egregious actions. That could be seen in last week’s vote at the United Nations General Assembly, where 153 nations voted in favor of an immediate ceasefire, while only 10 opposed. Another indication is the disgusting cover-stories which have been issued by European and Western governments, posturing in the face of the growing tide of global opinion which clearly sees this as a genocide. The latest iteration is by the foreign ministers of the U.K. and Germany, in an article in the London Sunday Times, where they attempt to persuade the world why calls for an immediate ceasefire is a bad idea. An immediate ceasefire “quickly collapsing into further violence, would only make it harder to build the confidence needed for peace,” they write. If such double-talk is not changed, Western leadership in the world is truly over.
A counterpoint was provided by China’s United Nations Ambassador Zhang Jun, who cut through the hypocrisy on Dec. 15 and showed what real statesmanship looks like. Speaking at the extended debate about the UNGA ceasefire resolution passed on Dec. 12, Zhang said: “Moral superiority-charged slogans about human rights, humanitarianism, and protection of women and children and what have you, which some people used to glibly spout, have now taken an absurd twist all of a sudden.” And now, he added, “even the most basic ceasefire has become a bitter pill too unpalatable for them to swallow.”
International law must be equally applied to everyone, ambassador Zhang stressed, including Palestinians. The Israel-Palestine conflict is a “stress-test for the conscience of humankind,” and a ceasefire must be a preeminent focus and the international community’s common goal.
As one mother of a slain IDF soldier said: Achieving justice is not the same thing as achieving peace. A different intention is sometimes required.
That different intention is ultimately the creation of a different paradigm for this region and the world—and fast. A ceasefire is urgently required, with the insistence that all lives are valuable—even those we don’t always agree with or which have done us wrong. This can pave the way for the implementation of a two-state solution, paired with plans for the needed power and water infrastructure, which can open the door to long term growth and the chance to live a life with dignity for every person in the region. This is the only real “sustainable peace,” contrary to what the political whores of so-called “civilized” governments say today.
As Christmas approaches, let us remember what it truly means to be human, and act accordingly.
