Online Reporter
Gibson Nyikadzino, Zimpapers Politics Hub
GLOBAL sentiment is shifting in relation to the faltering humanitarian situation in Gaza. When October 7 happened, most Western nations were silent because they understood the scale of Israel’s pain and sympathised with the Zionist state.
Many nations also had nothing to say.
However, almost two years later, the bonds of sympathy are shifting, this time towards Palestinians in Gaza.
World leaders have even sharpened their words in condemnation of Israel’s genocidal operations in the Gaza Strip. They have used words as weapons of rebuke, expressing condemnation of Israel’s unjustified actions in the strip.
The latest shift has come from Canada which joins France, Malta and the United Kingdom (UK) in what they say are steps towards giving Palestine recognition as an independent state in September at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
They join three other Western countries to recognise Palestine; Ireland, Norway and Spain.
In recognising Palestine as a state, these countries are agreeing with the 1933 Montevideo Convention, the doctrine of statehood, which outlines four key requirements: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations. Palestine meets all these.
What has caused the shift in sentiment? It is the scale of suffering in Gaza. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says this is a man-made mass starvation scheme and more than 175 Palestinians have died, not from missiles and bullets, but due to hunger since October 2023. The United Nations (UN) has reported that apart from starving people, Israel has also killed more than 1 000 Palestinians seeking food aid.
It is also now easy to see why many nations are condemning Israel, even holocaust and genocide scholars have pointed out that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, giving weight to South Africa’s submissions against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israel, as an excuse, has accused western leaders ready to recognise Palestine of emboldening Hamas resistance fighters, remarking that “you are about to have multiple European nations reward an act of horrific terror”.
Even the Israeli public relations and propaganda machine has lost the plot in terms of creating new narratives and building public opinion to its support.
The Zionist state has lost global sympathy by frustrating and blocking a ceasefire deal, rolling out massive acts of starvation as a weapon of war, deliberately killing children and other non-combatants, and denying opening humanitarian corridors to save humanity.
Even US President Donald Trump, Isreal’s staunch backer, after watching the images of starving children expressed concern saying “you cannot fake that”. What Israel is doing is reminiscent of what Nazi Germany did at the Auschwitz, the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centres.
First, Nazis starved Jews and then took them to gas chambers.
Since the end of Nazi rule in Germany, western leaders vowed that they would not want to see a similar occurrence in the future, yet this is happening in Gaza against Palestinians.
However, the sincerity of the UK, France and Canada to recognise the statehood of Palestine also needs to be interrogated. Without pronouncing an arms embargo and sanctions against Israel, these countries are complicit in the genocide against Palestinians as they are also benefiting from Israel through economic relations.
The UK’s support for Israel focuses on F-35 jet parts made in Britain and used extensively by Israel to strike Gaza. The UK also supplies between 13-15 percent of the components used in the jet, including ejector seats, rear fuselage, active interceptor systems, targeting lasers and weapon release cables, according to reports.
Latest research indicates that 14 shipments of military items have been sent from the UK to Israel since October 2023, including 13 by air and one maritime delivery to Haifa alone contained 160 000 military items. Since September 2024, 8 630 items were exported under the category “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof — other”.
In the same vein, France and Canada have also provided Israel with military support and committed to its security. A report early this year showed that Canada was exporting artillery propellants to the Israeli military via the United States.
Last week four Canadian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) found entries in the database of the Israel Tax Authority that showed Canadian goods continue to enter Israel, goods which the Israeli government described as “military weapon parts and ammunition”.
While Palestinians are being erased from the face of the earth, some countries are generating profits and conducting business with Israel. Should they not be held accountable, too?
Since October 2023, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has increased its value, amassing at least $220 billion, with $70 billion made in the month of June. Profiting out of the Israeli disgrace is something that must be stopped by all progressive powers.
At last week’s meeting with Palestinian Authority and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, the latter said his intention to recognise the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the UNGA was predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to “much-needed reforms”.
These include reforming governance, holding general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part and to demilitarise the Palestinian state.
This can be interpreted as some initiatives to genuinely pressure Israel to commit to the ceasefire in Gaza, pacify the growing restless European population that wants a stop of the genocide and give the European Union (EU) global relevance at a time its power is on a decline.
There is a rift that is emerging between the people and their leaders in the western capitals, signalling great discontentment within the western establishment.
The situation in Gaza is proven to be the ultimate unifier of people from various backgrounds, as it has drawn a line that bonds all of the civilisational groups.
Time will tell whether the western nations really mean it that they want to recognise the state of Palestine next month. This will be a critical juncture, if it happens.
However, recognising Palestine without cutting economic ties and providing military support to Israel means God and history will judge great powers as complicit in the genocide.
In the book, History of the Peloponnesian War, ancient historian Thucydides, more than 2000 years ago, made a timeless phrase that remains relevant in international politics that “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.
This is what great powers have resembled when it comes to asserting their will and authority over smaller, and often, weaker states especially when they do so through war. But wars have rules.
The goal of war, on the other end, in Clausewitzian terms is to destroy the enemy’s capacity to resist, so that you may impose your will upon him.
In Gaza, Israel, though being backed by western governments through arms and business, has failed to win the war in that open prison, and is resorting to what some say are acts of genocide.
