Written By David Gomez
The situation in Gaza is desperately more dire with each passing day. The images that arrive especially through social media are just terrible. As of the day I am writing this column (Monday, May 20), there have been 35,400 deaths in Gaza since the conflict began. Some United Nations and human rights agencies say that the real number of deaths would be double of what is formally recorded. These atrocities caused by absolute barbarism happen under the eyes of Western governments which have
not yet done enough to recognize what is happening.
It is true that some governments and organizations have begun to recognize the systematic genocide occurring in Gaza. I use the term “genocide” because it is already being recognized by such important international institutions as the International Court of Justice and UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees). In the case of the Court, it has specifically ordered Israel to hold a ceasefire to stop a probable genocide, which is already known to be taking place. In the case of the UN, Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories for three years, has literally expressed in an official report what is happening in Gaza is a genocide explicitly committed by the Israeli government.
Beyond the term, which can be called in other ways if “genocide” does not seem appropriate, it is hoped that the West will already recognize what is happening. We all know it is true that disproportionate violence occurs in Gaza. Nevertheless, it becomes mandatory for countries and their governments to admit the crimes against humanity are actually happening.
Unfortunately, I think it is probably too late for that and something similar to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 will happen. No one today disputes there was a genocide, but at that time many governments (including the governments of The United States and France, for example) denied it.
There are some actions such as the retention of weapons shipments by the United States to Israel in recent weeks which are important. According to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, a planned shipment was withheld while Israel’s intentions in Rafah, the last standing city in Gaza, are studied. However, there is still more action and more decisions to be made to stop Netanyahu’s government. The Trudeau government has not yet taken a real position on what is happening. No one should be neutral in the face of a massacre that is happening before our eyes.
These events have no links - or at least should not be seen to be linked - with any religious aspect. This should not be an attack on the Jewish people or the Muslim people. What is happening is effectively a politically based and human rights problem. Israel’s sovereignty must be respected, just as the disgusting actions of the terrorist organization Hamas must be repudiated; nonetheless, there is no excuse to sustain systematic violence against civilian population.
Organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Right Watch accuse Israel of apartheid practices in its territory and the occupied territories, because they establish different laws for people based on their ethnicity. What happened a few days ago in the Jenin refugee camp, in the West Bank, is a clear example of the massacre that continues to happen not only in Rafah, but against Palestinian people.
During the last two months, big student support for the Palestinian cause has been seen in different universities around the world. I will likely analyze this situation in future columns. Meanwhile, let’s continue to inform ourselves about what is happening in the world.
