Afsan Chowdhury:

MANY parts of the world minus the western and anti-Arab world are in uproar over the Gaza conflict. For Muslims of the world, it is something greater than the ailments of international politics and its attendant injustice. It is about the basic tenets of faith. Muslims believe that God has ordained the end of a Jewish homeland; so, they must go.

The liberals have a position based on international justice and law. Many countries believe that what is happening in the Middle East is a result of the lopsided power relationship that prevails globally where the west —  firmly on the side of Israel — is able to exert its power, policies and pressure on the zone, problem and the issues concerned.

The United Nations is, of course, strong enough to do nothing, increasingly proving to those who are unable to do so that there is no such product called a global will.

That we live in the world of post-global public opinion is a fact that we are unable to face, let alone accept. The other is that fighting injustice does not guarantee victory in conflict.

Palestine, Hamas and the rest

PRO-PALESTINE media and people all over the world rejoiced at the sudden Hamas attack that took down many Israelis. It was unexpected and Israel was clearly caught unawares. But even as the Hamas rockets stopped landing, the Israeli retaliation began and it was bigger than that of Hamas.

The immediate retaliation phase has been followed by punitive action by the Israelis and that has taken a huge toll. This includes the hospital bombing, the bombing of the Gaza Strip, in general, and the encirclement of the same. Barely two weeks later, Israel had a complete sway over the area. Hamas is in no position to defeat the Israeli Defence Forces and the next shot will be fired by them. The world is enraged but also helpless.

Global media have got a great new subject which they can report on. Following news excerpt from Britain shows the reality.

‘Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through a rainy London on Saturday to demand Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza. Police estimated the crowd that wound its way through the city for three hours at “up to 100,000”.

‘Waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Stop bombing Gaza,” participants called for an end to Israel’s blockade and airstrikes launched in the wake of a brutal incursion into southern Israel by the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza.’

In Sydney, Rome, and elsewhere, the same scene was reported with slogans like ‘Shame, shame, Israel’ and ‘Palestine will never die.’

Does it make any difference?

The UN at its lame best

‘On October 18, the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have called for humanitarian pauses in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.

‘The vote on the Brazilian-drafted text was twice delayed in the last couple of days as the United States tried to broker aid access to Gaza. Twelve members voted in favour of the draft text on Wednesday, while Russia and Britain abstained.’

‘We are on the ground doing the hard work of diplomacy’, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the 15-member council after the vote. ‘We believe we need to let that diplomacy play out.’

‘Yes, resolutions are important. And yes, this council must speak out. But the actions we take must be informed by the facts on the ground and support direct diplomacy efforts. That can save lives. The council needs to get this right’, she said.

The bottom line is clear. The United States and its allies will not let the resolution pass. And even if it were to pass, it would make no difference because nobody is going to go to war over Gaza.

Global power politics and latest episode

PEOPLE live in a make-believe world of power and public opinion where they see protest leading to change nad injustice leading to righteous solutions to such problems. There is no evidence that it does. Historically, the powerful always decide and win and unless an even stronger force is applied, the situation does not change.

Global public opinion does not matter and the spreading of the internet means more people see it but it does not add up to pressure. The world can comfortably ignore such issues as the recent event shows. There may be more voices around because of social media, but they do not add up to power. So, they can be safely ignored.

If the global powers are not interested in an issue, no matter what the United Nations is supposed to stand for, it does not matter. The concept of ‘veto’ shows the world recognises the current system of power sharing agreed upon by the super powers on both sides.

If Hamas attacks the Israeli Defence Forces, retaliation will follow. The civilian victims are not a factor when conflicts reach a violent stage.

Chances of change are low, if not negligible, when it comes to global or local ‘injustice’, no matter what.

Afsan Chowdhury is a researcher and journalist.