How did the Gaza war expose the duality of Europe and America? Experts answer policy

The “Mawazine” program episode discussed the repercussions of the Israeli war on Gaza on the Western value system, and asked why the international system that raises the slogan of justice and human rights failed to end the Israeli aggression.

The Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hossam Zomlot, confirmed that the Israeli war exposed Western governments’ double standards, and showed that Western liberalism, which guarantees freedom of demonstration and assembly, dealt ambivalently with the demonstrations that took to the streets in solidarity with the Palestinians who are being subjected to aggression.

He considered that the growth of the extreme right in Western countries is related to their duality, because Western politicians rely on populism and oppose universal human laws and values. Zomlot said that there is a Western religious ideological base, especially in Europe and the United States, that says that “Israel is a divine will.”

The ambassador spoke about the strong influence of Israel’s allies in Western countries, where every politician who is hostile to the Palestinian right is rewarded, and everyone who criticizes Israel’s practices against the Palestinians is punished.

Zomlot stressed that “the problem is not in international law or international structures, but rather the basic problem when the matter is translated into a political decision, where we collide with politicians who were only able to be in a position of governance by mobilizing and building extremist right-wing movements.”

In this context, he cited the International Court of Justice’s acknowledgment of everything South Africa requested in the lawsuit it filed against Israel. He said that the court’s judges were conscientious and professional, “but the game of politics entered, and this appeared in the position of Germany, which filed a plea and refused to let Israel be under the international indictment.” “.

On December 29, 2023, the South African government filed a case against Israel, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza.

Zomlot pointed out that the issue of “Israel’s right to defend itself” – which was promoted by Western politicians at the beginning of the war on Gaza – is being discussed today at the level of international law, stressing that the latter defined responsibility for the occupation and gave peoples the right to resist by all legitimate means.

The ambassador concluded that the global order does not concern the United States and European countries only, but rather humanity and humanity as a whole, and stressed the necessity of ending the unipolar system, noting that this is happening but slowly, and said, “I believe that the time has come for the peoples of the world to have their say and the moment is right.” Because there are international players and important countries such as Brazil, South Africa and China that must have a say.”

In this context, he pointed to the difference between the United Nations General Assembly, which represents the world but does not have veto power, and the UN Security Council, which represents Western political will, bias, and duplicity.

The dominance of Zionist lobbies

For his part, writer and political analyst Idris Al-Kanbouri asserts that the dominance of Zionist lobbies in Western countries has led their governments to pursue anyone who criticizes Israel, which is what happened, for example, with the French writer and philosopher Roger Garaudy, who was tried for questioning the Jewish Holocaust.

Al-Kanbouri said that from the first day of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Western duplicity appeared. “In Russia’s war on Ukraine, the West dealt with it very strongly at the expense of other hotspots of tension in the world, but this West, especially the United States and Europe, stood behind Israel’s shoulders at the expense of the Palestinian people.” He considered that this duality threatens to undermine international legitimacy and human rights.

He added: As a result of Western duplicity, the United Nations and the UN Security Council have become shackled, and the Secretary-General of the international organization has become as if he were the president of the smallest country in the world.

Regarding the repercussions of international failure, Anwar al-Gharbi, director of the Geneva Center for Democracy and Human Rights, confirms that the United Nations was established to maintain international peace and security and protect human rights, but these titles were not respected, as “in the Security Council the United States uses the right of veto to defend the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinians.” He said that there is a need to review this international system today in light of the new reality.