The Lead

The Leadership Required To Chart a Pathway Forward

by Stewart Battle (EIRNS) — Feb. 22, 2024

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has already warned that Israel is in grave danger of committing a genocide in Gaza—and that was before the threatened invasion of Rafah, the only remaining safe zone for Gaza’s refugees. The leaders of 18 humanitarian aid organizations have now issued a statement warning of “mass casualties” if Israel proceeds with its ground invasion. This reality is increasingly clear to the world, yet this still has not stopped Israel and its supporters from moving ahead.

At the same time, the Anglo-American war faction is continuing to advance plans toward a war with Russia, despite the worsening failure of their proxy-war in Ukraine. Even following Ukraine’s glaring defeat in Avdeyevka, and the increasing supply-chain and funding problems they face, this has not stopped their insistence that Russia must be reduced to nothing. And, as if that weren’t enough, the view is growing amongst the neoliberal elites in the West that we must begin gearing up for war with China in the long run.

Clearly, a madness reigns in much of the West which is “oppressing” people around the world, a madness which risks marching the entire world into war, and that at a rapid pace. If that madness is not amended, the world stands little chance of survival, nor do any of the individual countries within it.

However, don’t delude yourself that this alone is where the problem lies. Consider these remarks from Lyndon LaRouche, made in 1996 at a Schiller Institute conference:

“What is dooming us is not George Bush—much as he tries. What is dooming us is our people; what our people believe…. We talk about the ‘crooked politicians,’ we talk about the conspirators on Wall Street, we talk about this, we talk about that, always blaming someone else….

“Now, the job of a leader is not to blame leaders. We can point out some are bad, some are defective, some are utterly immoral, some are barely human. But the problem lies in the people, not in the leaders. The problem, often, of oppression, lies in the oppressed. Because they will not accept any proposition that is not consistent with the assumption that they must remain ‘the oppressed.’”

Beginning earlier this week the ICJ was again filled, but this time with representatives of more than 50 nations, testifying against the illegality of the Israeli occupation over Palestinian lands. Country after country rejected the oppression, making the point that international law must be brought to bear—in this case, in Palestine.

World opinion is shifting overwhelmingly and quickly. But this is not simply related to Israel’s activity in Gaza or to NATO’s war in Ukraine. This is a reflection of a new world coming into existence which is whole-heartedly rejecting the madness. It may not be perfect, but nations are “acting independently and insisting on fair consideration of their interests,” as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Brazil. The G20 itself is being transformed under the leadership of BRICS nations, a fact which was made even more clear by Brazil’s Foreign Minister in this week’s G20 meetings. Keep in mind there are now over 40 countries interested in joining the BRICS, a grouping which has now far surpassed the GDP of the G7 “advanced” countries.

This dynamic is the only pathway in which a future for Gaza, Palestinians, or any nation for that matter, exists. Anything less—such as squabbling over borders or attempting to patch together the previously existing framework of managed stability in the Middle East—will never work. A new paradigm of nations committed to working together in peace and friendship and with a shared humanity is needed.

Overcoming the oppression means seizing and acting upon a vision which was not allowed by the so-called imperial masters. The LaRouche Oasis Plan does this, putting Gaza and the rest of Southwest Asia in the middle of its rightful future as the crossroads of civilization, and a participant in the sort of transformative economic development which that entails. This, ultimately, is the meaning of a “Free Palestine.”

In this spirit, a Schiller Institute delegation held a demonstration at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters on Feb. 22, which called on UNESCO to re-establish relations with Afghanistan in order to help save the vast cultural relics of that nation. They distributed a statement and a petition with the names of over 500 experts, which insisted: “The progress of scientific knowledge, in a positive climate permitting all to share it, is by its very nature beneficial to each and to all, and to the very foundation of a true peace.” Out front, they demanded that UNESCO lift the ban on collaboration with Afghanistan, and reject the “geopolitical game which has been played with Afghanistan for a very long time,” as one of the demonstrators, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, said in a video statement.

Notably, Thursday also saw the return of an American craft to the Moon after more than 50 years. The future is there for the taking, so long as we have the foresight to seize it.