In just over four weeks, Israel’s total siege and indiscriminate bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed more than 10,000 civilians, including some 4,000 children, and sparked global outrage.
Across the world, from the United Kingdom to France to Turkey to Indonesia, people regularly take to the streets in large numbers to condemn Israel’s apparent war crimes and demand a ceasefire immediately to save lives.
Unfortunately, these calls – including that of the UN Secretary-General himself – seem to be falling on deaf ears. Israel not only refuses to consider the possibility of a ceasefire, but also continues to target hospitals, mosques, churches, schools, UN-run facilities and other civilian infrastructure in the besieged Gaza Strip, in direct violation of international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, the United States unequivocally supports this aggressive campaign of massacres and provides Israel with the funds, weapons and political support it needs to continue its assault on Gaza. All this knowing full well that civilian casualties are accumulating at an incredible rate.
The United States is not alone in creating the conditions for Israel to violate international law and commit war crimes with impunity. Britain, France, Germany and many other Western states strongly reject growing calls for a ceasefire, saying Israel is “defending itself” and a ceasefire would only “help Hamas”. These governments also attempt to silence voices calling for a ceasefire within their countries, sometimes going so far as to criminalize peaceful expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians.
The indifference of major Western governments to the immense suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and their virulent support for Israel’s flagrant violations of international law have revealed a deep moral crisis from which they all suffer – a crisis that raises important questions on the viability of the Western-led system. , a rules-based world order.
Indeed, it is becoming impossible for Western powers to claim to defend human rights and international law without demanding a ceasefire in a conflict which, in the words of the UN, has transformed Gaza into a ” children’s cemetery. Their silence in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe and their undeniable complicity in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza serves to encourage other actors to commit similar atrocities and expect impunity. Their support for Israel and their refusal to demand a ceasefire to save innocent lives constitutes a moral failure that will have serious consequences for the entire international community.
Today, this resulting moral failure is perhaps more visible in the UK than anywhere else.
On Saturday, November 11, the country will commemorate Armistice Day, marking the 105th anniversary of the armistice signed between the First World War allies and Germany. The day is meant to be an opportunity for Britons to pay tribute to fallen soldiers, reflect on the cruelty of war and remember the importance of ending hostilities and saving lives.
Thousands of people will march in London on Armistice Day, as they have done every Saturday since the start of this war, to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Armistice Day is perhaps the most appropriate day for such a demonstration, as a call for a ceasefire fits perfectly with its spirit and purpose.
British leaders, however, did not see the coincidence of Armistice Day with a march demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as an opportunity to reflect on the lessons of past wars and reconsider their support for the assault Israeli on the besieged enclave. Instead, they doubled down on their morally indefensible position and even attempted to accuse protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza of disrespecting the UK’s war dead and the values they fought for.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, for example, went so far as to claim that “the protest planned for Saturday is not only disrespectful but offends our deep gratitude to the memory of those who gave so much so that we can live today free and in peace.”
But how can a demonstration calling for a “ceasefire”, calling for an end to the massacre of children, be offensive to the memory of those who died in past wars? Or how could such an effort, on Armistice Day in particular, be called a “hate march”, as Home Secretary Suella Braverman shockingly attempted to do?
The British government’s passionate opposition to an Armistice Day march demanding a ceasefire in Gaza not only reveals its abandonment of some core British values, including freedom of speech, but also highlights the divide between leaders of the country and the people. Indeed, according to a recent poll by YouGov, around 76 percent of British adults support a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The UK’s leaders, like many of their Western allies, appear to have lost their moral compass and forgotten all the lessons learned from the devastating world wars of the last century. Their failure to denounce Israel’s war crimes and support an immediate ceasefire in line with the wishes of the British public is a moral failure which will have catastrophic consequences for us all.
Therefore, on this Armistice Day, we should all come together not only to remember the pain and sacrifices of past wars, but also to once again communicate to our leaders the importance and urgency to do everything in our power to end the war. bloodshed in Palestine – for the sake of the millions of innocent people suffering in Gaza, and for all of us.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.