The death and destruction unleashed on Palestinians by Israel has torn away the masks of global hypocrisy. Western leaders quickly condemn violence against Israelis while excusing or justifying the mass killings of Palestinians as “collateral damage” or merely as Israel’s “right to self-defence”. The occupier is thus granted the right of self-defence, while the occupied are told that their resistance is terrorism.

Centuries of diplomatic practice and international humanitarian law have been upended, with treaties like the Arms Trade Treaty – which prohibits the supply of weapons that are suspected to be used in war crimes – blatantly ignored. The ongoing weapons exports to Israel thus continue to fuel the genocide, as the United States and European Union nations supply Israel with arms in direct violation of their supposed commitment to international law and human rights.

Not done with realising Orwell’s world, the occupier’s invasion of Lebanon – backed by constant bombardment – is labelled as a limited ground operation. Meanwhile, the mainstream media often fail to name Israel as the perpetrator of ongoing war crimes, leaving readers to wonder how so many hospitals, ambulances, schools, universities, and other critical infrastructure are able to achieve spontaneous combustion.

Duplicity in plain sight

In the US and Europe, pro-Palestinian activists face heightened repression – students protesting on campuses are surveilled, silenced, and punished. Disturbingly, freedom of assembly in Germany has been transformed into coerced disassembly. The former Netherlands government of Mark Rutte – who now leads NATO – sought legal advice on “what can we say so that it appears that Israel is not committing war crimes?” Keir Starmer, supposedly well-versed in international human rights law, expressed support for Israel cutting off power and water to Gaza. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to arouse public sentiment against Israel while his regime has no trouble detaining demonstrators protesting against continued oil deliveries to Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime.

Burn at all costs

The willingness of the Global North to burn up all credibility, destroy supposed liberal freedoms domestically, and lead the world closer to the abyss indicates how critical Israel is for the ruling global hegemon: a force multiplier to subjugate any attempt at an independent trajectory for the peoples of the region and a global provider of ‘battle-tested’ technological tools of oppression. This role is crucial to maintaining what Samir Amin termed the “five monopolies of the [imperial] centre”.

Israel’s inability to militarily defeat the Palestinian resistance, the unmasking of fascism in the West, and the global awakening of public consciousness are raising the pressure on Israel to ‘win’. But it cannot. The struggle for liberation ends in freedom – not subjugation. The means used by Israel today were once employed by the French in Algeria to unsuccessfully prevent their freedom. The terror spread by Apartheid South Africa in Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, and elsewhere did not halt the march toward liberation.

The Gaza resolution

We are now witnessing a crucial phase in the liberation of Palestine and indeed an awakening of millions in the Global North through the multitude of contradictions at the imperial centre. It is thus critical to reaffirm our commitment to the long-standing aspirations of the Palestinian people, as outlined in the Gaza Resolution of October 2023:

• Dismantling the mechanisms of corporate, institutional, and state complicity that sustain the Israeli apartheid state and its military machine, including through strikes and direct actions targeting the producers and suppliers of weapons, digital services, informational services, and related products
• Upholding the truth and combating the spread of lies and disinformation advanced by the Zionist regime and its imperialist backers, including by exposing their crimes against humanity and advancing popular education on the long struggle for Palestine’s national liberation
• Advancing the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle around the world, including by taking on Western militarism on all continents

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