Shujaat Hamza
It has been over six months since Israel launched its gruesome offensive in Palestine which has led to tens of thousands of casualties, including innocent children. According to latest figures, more than 14,500 children and 8,400 women have been killed in this ongoing Israeli slaughter. For a perspective, the overall Israeli death toll hasn’t reached 2000 yet.
These horrific atrocities, however, don’t seem to bother the champions of humanity, led by the U.S. The same western bloc which has been actively arming and aiding the Ukrainians to defend their homeland against ‘foreign aggressors and occupiers’ have unsurprisingly been standing on the wrong side; arming and aiding the occupiers themselves! The U.S. has always been shielding crimes of Israel, and is still blindfolded to Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.
Ironically, the US government became more critical of Israel and its stance slowly began to change as civilian casualties rose and opposition grew. Nonetheless, on March 29, 2024, the Biden administration once again authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel. The U.S. has also repeatedly vetoed multiple UNSC votes on ending the nearly six-month war. In December, the administration approved the sale of nearly 14,000 tank ammunition cartridges and equipment to Israel, worth $106.5 million, and the sale of 155mm artillery shells and related equipment worth $147.5 million. The White House bypassed congressional approval for both sales by invoking emergency authority. Among the weapons sold were precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker-buster rockets and other lethal aid. The State Department has also authorized the transfer of 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines, U.S. media reported citing U.S. officials. U.K. and Germany have also been supporting Israeli actions in Gaza. Though the tone of their support has changed gradually with the mounting pressure, still there is no chance that the atrocities and crimes would be accounted for. The U.S. State Department has already said there is no need to launch any formal domestic investigation into whether Israel has committed war crimes, even though the weapons it uses are supplied by the US. Israeli officials may be worried about the winds changing with the International Criminal Court (ICC) reportedly planning to charge top Israeli military and political figures with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israeli media reports indicate that arrest warrants could be issued as soon as this week and that Israel has asked the US to pressure the court to not issue them. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already decried the possible arrest warrants as ‘scandal on a historic scale’.
Aside from politics and foreign policies, a wave of anti-genocide protests have begun in numerous US universities and states. Renewed protests have swept across college campuses in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza. Students call for university leaders to divest from Israel and for government officials to call for a ceasefire.
Israel has got away with killing and oppressing Palestinians for decades, it naturally believes that its ongoing repression will also go sans accountability. However, this time, the situation is becoming way too complicated for the Zionist regime itself.
Furthermore, Israel’s increasingly radicalized and anti-democratic trajectory will
ultimately lose it the international friends it has always relied upon for financial and military support. Through America and Europe condoning and facilitating its actions, Israel became the over-demanding spoilt child of the West. If the West really is still a friend, it is morally obliged to draw Israel back from the brink of self-destruction.
The Zionist regime everyday engages in grave and continuous human rights violations. The failure of Islamic and Arab world in securing a favourable ceasefire, let alone in the best interests of Gaza, is regretful. The moves by various Arab and African states to normalize ties with Israel have embolden the Zionist regime to carry out even more cruelties upon the defenceless Gazans. If one is to take any counter measure against this kind of senseless aggression, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a counter strike. The Arabs, led by Saudi Arabia had ceased oil shipments from the Middle East to the United States and other Western countries in October 1973 in retaliation for support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. This oil embargo had created a huge impact on international economy and petroleum prices, thus pressurizing United States and its allies over the war. Its about time the sane world must adapt certain measures to halt this senseless slaughter of Palestinian children.
