By Abdur Rahman, legal analyst.
The UK government in response to the overwhelming fury from the British public to the genocide being committed in Gaza has declared a war on any opposition. This is the position across the two main political parties given the suspension of even their own elected members (Paul Bristow, a Tory, and Andy MacDonald from Labour) because of their muted calls for sanity. The message is clear that both political parties will not give any quarter to opposition to their support for genocide.
The death of international humanitarian law
The political class may seek short term gain in succumbing to the Israeli lobby, but the long-term impact will be profound. The UK together with the US and allies are decimating any pretence of a rules based international order. The vehement vocalising of grotesque justifications and undermining of the rule of law is also exposing the irrelevance of the United Nations. The General Assembly has voted for a ceasefire and urgent humanitarian intervention given the scale of death and destruction sustained by the civilian population in Gaza – the number of deaths is getting close to 9,000, half of them being children. The Security Council is unmoved by the dropping of more than 18,000 tons of bombs on the world’s biggest open concentration camp, it is stymied and unable to pass any resolution because of opposition by the UK and US.
We are therefore witnessing the dismantling of international law on a scale hitherto never witnessed and this has not escaped the attention of the public opinion, particularly in the global South. Only a diehard hypocrite would dare to argue that there remains any respect for human rights by the West. The same arguments that are dismissed as regards Palestine were and are still being deployed in a brazen fashion to support Ukraine. It is an understatement to point out that this evidence ranks hypocrisy and double standards. The mass hysteria generated throughout all western countries in support of Ukraine seems to have evaporated in the case of Palestine.
Neo colonialism
The global order will never be the same after such duplicitous conduct driven by the avaricious settler colonialist project founded on racism and the dehumanisation of the Palestinian people. Historians have documented the European scramble for colonial domains around the world. The past is littered with the corpses of victims of the genocide carried out under the banner of colonialism. For centuries, colonial expansion and exploitation, driven by a thirst for resources and geo-political dominance, defined Western history. A select few European states divided the world between themselves, stealing resources, brutalising, and enslaving people. Western states considered sovereignty and self-determination were their privileges which could not be extended to other people. They brought in slavery, rape, and torture on an industrial scale. Never in the history of the world has such brutality been witnessed nor has the truth been whitewashed by a complicit elite that justified its conquest on the basis of racial superiority and its dominant civilisation. White supremacy has been an evil that has destroyed, not only the planet, but brought misery, pain, and destruction to all its inhabitants.
The two European tribal wars (arrogantly termed world wars) led to a deterioration of their control and disrupted their subjugation of other nations. As a result, European states found it convenient to erase the past and pretend that a new rules based international order had begun – this led to the formation of the United Nations and the International Courts of Justice. However, neo-colonialism did not cure the barbarity of Western powers and they continued to practise their habit of controlling, stealing from, and exploiting other nations. They weaponised the ‘rules based’ international order to further their colonial policies and attack their Communist rivals. As Britain lost its place as the most vicious power, the US took over and wreaked havoc in Latin America throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, toppling democratically elected governments and propping up dictators. The creation of client and garrison states has continued as the lynchpin of Western foreign policy.
In the post-world war era, the United States has been the leader of the bandits with interventions across the world – starting with Latin America, Indochina and now the Muslim world. Failing to heed the defeat in Vietnam, the USA was chastened by Iraqi militias and humiliated by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Perhaps the ferocity of the violence in Palestine is a reaction to that disgrace because it laid bare the conceit of the US as the world’s superpower.
Israel – the rogue state
Israel, the jewel in the crown of barbarity, was created to illegally steal Palestinian land, displace its people, and create an apartheid state. It serves US interests to Balkanise the Muslim world and create instability to prevent the resurrection of a transnational Islamic entity. The strategic location and the region’s wealth in terms of oil and gas reserves served as a magnet. Today, natural gas reserves off the coast of Gaza have attracted the attention of British Petroleum and Chevron. The stakes for the West mean that the opportunity presents itself for a final solution – the expulsion of the Palestinian people into the Sinai desert to clear the way for the exploitation of the natural resources. The Abraham accords provide a cover for the Arab states, including Qatar which hosts the biggest US base, to deceive their own populations.
It is for this reason that the Palestinian struggle is not only a struggle against occupation, apartheid, and colonialism but a struggle against imperialism. Moreover, when it succeeds, it will pave the way for the establishment of an Islamic entity that will eradicate borders between the Muslim nation states. The fear is that with the decline of American supremacy, the only option is the return of an Islamic regional structure founded on the values of justice and tolerance.
In Western countries, the populations exploited by its elite into desperation see in the resistance of the Palestinians a sign of hope, not only for the occupied but also themselves. It is no wonder therefore that Western politicians have been relentless in echoing the propaganda churned out by the Israeli state. The proven false accusation of ’40 babies beheaded’ with its obvious Biblical connotations was repeated, and then retracted by the senile Joe Biden. Nevertheless, it was amplified and embellished by every media outlet in the West.
The resistance of the people
In desperation to control the narrative, public demonstrations have been banned or curtailed, particularly in France and Germany despite constitutional safeguards. In the UK, a truly fascist Home Secretary has pressured compliant Chief Constables to target those who express support for Palestinian rights and described protests as ‘hate marches. The echoes of George Orwell’s 1984 are there to see in her every utterance. In response to the demands for total suppression from the political class the police have sought, but failed to criminalise, the waving of the Palestinian flag and any reference to the genocide on the basis that it is intimidating and a threat to others. We live in an age where telling the truth has become frightening. The discourse in the media reflects the misinformation manufactured by the Israeli state with its army of cyber warriors deployed to spread false narratives and counter the outrage pouring out on social media. The pretence of impartiality on the part of the mainstream media, public bodies, sports federations, and global corporations has been annihilated. Every part of western society has been polluted so that the complicity for the genocide and racism runs deep.
The mainstream media can never again be viewed as a reliable source of information, and political parties will forever be seen as the puppets of unscrupulous global corporations.
In desperation, the anti-terror lobby, sensing an opportunity, is intent on resurrecting past scurrilous attempts to re-define extremism so that any dissent is met with ferocious force on the streets, in the workplace, in immigration decisions and even in schools. The overwhelming resources of the state are being positioned in every area to smash any dissenting voices against the barbarity that is being broadcast in real time. Western governments are committed to erecting oppressive infrastructure in which all public and private institutions are aligned.
This is a continuation of the war on terror which brought us torture, rendition, and Guantanamo. The degradation of society continues so that the ecosystem of human rights, independent journalism, democratic institutions, and political dissent is diminished.
The next phase
Nevertheless, the anger of the public has not dissipated, and the opposition continues to grow. We are in the midst of an epic battle in the West between those who seek to destroy the remnants of tolerant, equal, and fair societies and righteous people who hold on to those values. For now, we see a phenomenon in which the more egregious the attacks the more resilient the outrage. It is clear that the vast majority of the global population is resolved to support the resistance and the awakening is spreading far and fast.
Whatever the outcome, the faces of the monsters have been revealed and while the effects may not be immediate there is no doubt that the world will never forgive the war criminals and their supporters. Be in no doubt that this is a seismic moment because of the courage of the Palestinian people. Their bravery has woken the world from its delusional belief that change could be brought about incrementally rather than through revolution.
The stark choice we have is to either allow the forces of darkness to prevail or continue the fight against oppression. Mass demonstrations have their place, but every right-thinking person should at the least engage in boycotting and calling for disinvestment and sanctions against any individual or entity collaborating with the Israeli apartheid state. After that we need to build alliances and structures that will challenge and overthrow the demons that rule over us. The Palestinians have shown that we can be victorious against seemingly insurmountable odds, and that we should never give up the struggle against injustice.
We owe it to the people of Palestine to never allow their sacrifices to have been in vain.
Image, screengrab courtesy of Quds News Network on X
<strong><em>By Abdur Rahman, legal analyst. </em></strong>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The UK government in response to the overwhelming fury from the British public to the genocide being committed in Gaza has declared a war on any opposition. This is the position across the two main political parties given the suspension of even their own elected members (Paul Bristow, a Tory, and Andy MacDonald from Labour) because of their muted calls for sanity. The message is clear that both political parties will not give any quarter to opposition to their support for genocide. </span>
<h3>The death of international humanitarian law</h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The political class may seek short term gain in succumbing to the Israeli lobby, but the long-term impact will be profound. The UK together with the US and allies are decimating any pretence of a rules based international order. The vehement vocalising of grotesque justifications and undermining of the rule of law is also exposing the irrelevance of the United Nations. The General Assembly has voted for a ceasefire and urgent humanitarian intervention given the scale of death and destruction sustained by the civilian population in Gaza – the number of deaths is getting close to 9,000, half of them being children. The Security Council is unmoved by the dropping of more than 18,000 tons of bombs on the world’s biggest open concentration camp, it is stymied and unable to pass any resolution because of opposition by the UK and US. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">We are therefore witnessing the dismantling of international law on a scale hitherto never witnessed and this has not escaped the attention of the public opinion, particularly in the global South. Only a diehard hypocrite would dare to argue that there remains any respect for human rights by the West. The same arguments that are dismissed as regards Palestine were and are still being deployed in a brazen fashion to support Ukraine. It is an understatement to point out that this evidence ranks hypocrisy and double standards. The mass hysteria generated throughout all western countries in support of Ukraine seems to have evaporated in the case of Palestine. </span>
<h3>Neo colonialism</h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The global order will never be the same after such duplicitous conduct driven by the avaricious settler colonialist project founded on racism and the dehumanisation of the Palestinian people. Historians have documented the European scramble for colonial domains around the world. The past is littered with the corpses of victims of the genocide carried out under the banner of colonialism. For centuries, colonial expansion and exploitation, driven by a thirst for resources and geo-political dominance, defined Western history. A select few European states divided the world between themselves, stealing resources, brutalising, and enslaving people. Western states considered sovereignty and self-determination were their privileges which could not be extended to other people. They brought in slavery, rape, and torture on an industrial scale. Never in the history of the world has such brutality been witnessed nor has the truth been whitewashed by a complicit elite that justified its conquest on the basis of racial superiority and its dominant civilisation. White supremacy has been an evil that has destroyed, not only the planet, but brought misery, pain, and destruction to all its inhabitants. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The two European tribal wars (arrogantly termed world wars) led to a deterioration of their control and disrupted their subjugation of other nations. As a result, European states found it convenient to erase the past and pretend that a new rules based international order had begun – this led to the formation of the United Nations and the International Courts of Justice. However, neo-colonialism did not cure the barbarity of Western powers and they continued to practise their habit of controlling, stealing from, and exploiting other nations. They weaponised the ‘rules based’ international order to further their colonial policies and attack their Communist rivals. As Britain lost its place as the most vicious power, the US took over and wreaked havoc in Latin America throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, toppling democratically elected governments and propping up dictators. The creation of client and garrison states has continued as the lynchpin of Western foreign policy. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">In the post-world war era, the United States has been the leader of the bandits with interventions across the world – starting with Latin America, Indochina and now the Muslim world. Failing to heed the defeat in Vietnam, the USA was chastened by Iraqi militias and humiliated by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Perhaps the ferocity of the violence in Palestine is a reaction to that disgrace because it laid bare the conceit of the US as the world’s superpower. </span>
<h3>Israel – the rogue state</h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Israel, the jewel in the crown of barbarity, was created to illegally steal Palestinian land, displace its people, and create an apartheid state. It serves US interests to Balkanise the Muslim world and create instability to prevent the resurrection of a transnational Islamic entity. The strategic location and the region’s wealth in terms of oil and gas reserves served as a magnet. Today, natural gas reserves off the coast of Gaza have attracted the attention of British Petroleum and Chevron. The stakes for the West mean that the opportunity presents itself for a final solution – the expulsion of the Palestinian people into the Sinai desert to clear the way for the exploitation of the natural resources. The Abraham accords provide a cover for the Arab states, including Qatar which hosts the biggest US base, to deceive their own populations.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">It is for this reason that the Palestinian struggle is not only a struggle against occupation, apartheid, and colonialism but a struggle against imperialism. Moreover, when it succeeds, it will pave the way for the establishment of an Islamic entity that will eradicate borders between the Muslim nation states. The fear is that with the decline of American supremacy, the only option is the return of an Islamic regional structure founded on the values of justice and tolerance.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">In Western countries, the populations exploited by its elite into desperation see in the resistance of the Palestinians a sign of hope, not only for the occupied but also themselves. It is no wonder therefore that Western politicians have been relentless in echoing the propaganda churned out by the Israeli state. The proven false accusation of ’40 babies beheaded’ with its obvious Biblical connotations was repeated, and then retracted by the senile Joe Biden. Nevertheless, it was amplified and embellished by every media outlet in the West. </span>
<h3>The resistance of the people</h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">In desperation to control the narrative, public demonstrations have been banned or curtailed, particularly in France and Germany despite constitutional safeguards. In the UK, a truly fascist Home Secretary has pressured compliant Chief Constables to target those who express support for Palestinian rights and described protests as ‘hate marches. The echoes of George Orwell’s 1984 are there to see in her every utterance. In response to the demands for total suppression from the political class the police have sought, but failed to criminalise, the waving of the Palestinian flag and any reference to the genocide on the basis that it is intimidating and a threat to others. We live in an age where telling the truth has become frightening. The discourse in the media reflects the misinformation manufactured by the Israeli state with its army of cyber warriors deployed to spread false narratives and counter the outrage pouring out on social media. The pretence of impartiality on the part of the mainstream media, public bodies, sports federations, and global corporations has been annihilated. Every part of western society has been polluted so that the complicity for the genocide and racism runs deep. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The mainstream media can never again be viewed as a reliable source of information, and political parties will forever be seen as the puppets of unscrupulous global corporations. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">In desperation, the anti-terror lobby, sensing an opportunity, is intent on resurrecting past scurrilous attempts to re-define extremism so that any dissent is met with ferocious force on the streets, in the workplace, in immigration decisions and even in schools. The overwhelming resources of the state are being positioned in every area to smash any dissenting voices against the barbarity that is being broadcast in real time. Western governments are committed to erecting oppressive infrastructure in which all public and private institutions are aligned. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a continuation of the war on terror which brought us torture, rendition, and Guantanamo. The degradation of society continues so that the ecosystem of human rights, independent journalism, democratic institutions, and political dissent is diminished.</span>
<h3>The next phase</h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Nevertheless, the anger of the public has not dissipated, and the opposition continues to grow. We are in the midst of an epic battle in the West between those who seek to destroy the remnants of tolerant, equal, and fair societies and righteous people who hold on to those values. For now, we see a phenomenon in which the more egregious the attacks the more resilient the outrage. It is clear that the vast majority of the global population is resolved to support the resistance and the awakening is spreading far and fast. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Whatever the outcome, the faces of the monsters have been revealed and while the effects may not be immediate there is no doubt that the world will never forgive the war criminals and their supporters. Be in no doubt that this is a seismic moment because of the courage of the Palestinian people. Their bravery has woken the world from its delusional belief that change could be brought about incrementally rather than through revolution. </span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The stark choice we have is to either allow the forces of darkness to prevail or continue the fight against oppression. Mass demonstrations have their place, but every right-thinking person should at the least engage in boycotting and calling for disinvestment and sanctions against any individual or entity collaborating with the Israeli apartheid state. After that we need to build alliances and structures that will challenge and overthrow the demons that rule over us. The Palestinians have shown that we can be victorious against seemingly insurmountable odds, and that we should never give up the struggle against injustice.</span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">We owe it to the people of Palestine to never allow their sacrifices to have been in vain. </span>
<em>Image, screengrab courtesy of <a href="https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1719678207345950835">Quds News Network</a> on X</em>
