The holiday season and transition to the New Year brought no respite for the population of Gaza, where the death toll now exceeds 30,000. The bombing continues, as the lack of water, food, medicine and electricity only worsens. What is most troubling for people in the West is how their governments can condone – or even worse approve of – such blatant barbarism. And to do so, all the while claiming to defend Human Rights, and insisting on the moral superiority of Western Values. Nonetheless, a chorus of voices is being raised to demand action now.

Reverend Dr Munther Isaac, the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, addressed the issue most poignantly in his sermon on December 23, 2023. “We are tormented by the silence of the world. Leaders of the so-called ‘free’ (world) lined up one after the other to give the green light for this genocide against a captive population. They gave the cover. Not only did they make sure to pay the bill in advance, they veiled the truth and context, providing political cover. And, yet another layer has been added: the theological cover with the Western Church stepping into the spotlight,” he stressed. Dr Munther Isaac also said: “The hypocrisy and racism of the Western world is transparent and appalling! To our European friends. I never ever want to hear you lecture us on Human Rights or international law again. We are outraged by the complicity of the church. Let it be clear: Silence is complicity, and empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and end to occupation, and the shallow words of empathy without direct action – are all under the banner of complicity. So here is my message: Gaza today has become the moral compass of the world.”

The pastor further said: “If you are not appalled by what is happening; if you are not shaken to your core – there is something wrong with your humanity. If we, as Christians, are not outraged by this genocide, by the weaponizing of the Bible to justify it, there is something wrong with our Christian witness, and compromising the credibility of the Gospel.”

Retired US diplomat Chas Freeman is an outspoken dissident of Washington DC’s foreign policy. He has a great deal of experience in Southwest Asia. In an interview to the Daniel Davis Deep Dive podcast on December 27, 2023, he accused the Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu Government of carrying out “genocide with publicly stated intent”. He stated: “It is very clear they intend to depopulate Gaza and the West Bank. Real estate agents’ promotions are beginning to appear in Israel, which promise to build you a beachfront villa on the shore of Gaza.” Freeman further said that Israel would “emerge from this war a pariah state (among nations of the entire region), with very limited support even in the US after a time”.

According to Freeman, it will be a disaster for the US that has given Netanyahu a blank check. He continued: “The minute the US starts to talk about democracy, Human Rights, the Rule of Law, etc., it is going to be laughed out of court. No one will take it seriously… It will be seen by the rest of the world as rank hypocrisy.”

Opposition To Netanyahu Growing Within Israel
New polls have revealed that 70% of the Israeli population want Prime Minister Netanyahu to resign. ‘Dethrone King Bibi Now’ is the title of the December 25 (2023) lead editorial in Haaretz. The daily argues that the conditions now exist to resume the huge protests against Netanyahu and his Government that shook Israel for months before October 7, 2023. At that time, the protests were focused on Bibi’s dictatorial judicial reform, which the Supreme Court has now blocked.

Haaretz wrote: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the one who bears the greatest blame for the security, diplomatic and social failures that led to the October 7 massacre and the outbreak of war.” Therefore, “There is nothing more warranted than deposing him.” Most importantly, in the December 28 (2023) issue of Haaretz, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (2006-09) called for Israel to put a complete end to the fighting, as well as for a full exchange of hostages and prisoners, and for Egypt to mediate negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. It may be noted that Olmert has neither a Labour Party nor a Leftist background.

South Africa Formally Files Charges against Israel for Genocide
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague announced on December 30, 2023 that the South African Government filed charges against Israel for genocide in Gaza, calling for provisional measures to be taken to end it. In a statement, the ICJ mentioned that the filing alleged that “acts and omissions by Israel… are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent… to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group”. South Africa also claimed that Israel’s behaviour “is in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention”.

The Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) first published this article in its Strategic Alert Weekly Newsletter (Volume 38, No. 1) on January 4, 2024.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das