By Aina Ademola Adeniran
LAGOS-The Western world is in a fissiparous state, a transformative change is emerging, protests have broken out in major cities in Europe and America including tertiary institutions demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israeli occupation.
These harmless protesters – many of them students – who are supposed to be protected by the constitution have faced nothing but repression and persecution by the security operatives. It has become glaring that not only is the Zionist state of Israel on trial for war crimes, the entire Western political system which have aided and abetted these crimes in defiance of public opinion is also on trial as regards who it truly represents: the masses of the people or business and political interests?
It has become abundantly clear that America – and many nations in the Western world – operate a one-party political system albeit disguised as a multiparty system with the spurious ideals of equality, justice and human rights. In the context of the United States, the American public have an illusion of choice because both the Democrats and the Republicans represent the interests of the same people: the billionaire ruling elites. The presidency is merely the ‘face’ of the government as those who call the shots and make binding decisions are unelected officials like international lobby groups like AIPAC (arguably one of the most powerful lobby groups in the world); NGOs, intelligence agencies like the CIA, corporate business interests like the arms manufacturing industry and big pharmaceutical companies—this is the template upon which American political system operates.
The American public, every four years, are left to choose between a fox and a wolf, either way, they end up choosing a canine: the same people from the same class with the same worldview, representing the same interests. It is clear that the United States of America is a plutocratic system, regardless of whoever is in power, either Joseph Biden or Donald Trump, either the Democrats or Republicans, the US foreign and domestic policies remain the same: in service of vested business and political interests. This comes to show that, the United States which has, for decades, posed as the bastion of democracy and human rights, which has invaded and destroyed independent sovereign nations in a bid to ‘spread’ democracy does not even have these ideals she preaches very ferociously abroad at home.
However, American plutocracy is in its twilight days, the politicians are now embattled with a moral dilemma, capitalism has gotten to its most desperate stage and we now witness the crackdown on freedom of the press, freedom speech, freedom of association ( the mitochondria of a democracy ); gross human rights abuse with the anointing of Western governments, notably America, indiscriminate flouting of international laws and conventions without consequences— all these makes the Western world, notoriously the United States active participants in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Following the United States' unilateral veto against a permanent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, her refusal of Palestine’s application to the United Nations as a member state, her inability to hold the Israeli far-right government to account by making sure it adheres to international law, the United States has etched itself in the minds of millions of people in the global south – and millions within the West itself – as merely the diplomatic wing of Zionism that carries out the wishes of vested international interests.
Despite the International Court of Justice’s verdict – the highest arbiter of justice on the planet- indicting Israel and accusing her of plausibly committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, despite seven World Central Kitchen workers – according to Al Jazeera- including nationals of Australia, Poland, Britain, United States and Canada killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Occupation Forces, despite more than two hundred humanitarian aid workers – many of them United Nations workers - killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, despite the gory images coming out from Gaza of starving and decomposing civilians under the ruins of their homes, despite the scores of journalists assassinated in Gaza, in spite of the mass protests in London, New York, Paris and other major Western cities calling their governments to place an arms embargo on Israel, Western politicians keep parroting the same thing: Israel has a right to defend itself.
This begs the question: Israel has a right to defend itself from who? It poses the uncomfortable truth – that many Westerners are beginning to realize – that their government has been hijacked and it no longer represents them, rather, a settler-colonial state – with a strong lobbying group - in the Middle East. Reminiscent of the West’s support for apartheid South Africa and the criminalization of the resistance who, in Western governmental circles, were dubbed “terrorists”, once again, the West is on the wrong side of history by throwing its weight behind another colonial project in the Middle East. In defense of genocide, the Western political elites have flung the cornucopia of human rights and democracy out of the window and have pitched their tent with an occupying colonial state that flagrantly flouts international laws and United Nations resolutions without repercussions. Like Mussolini and Hitler, Western politicians have pitched their tents with another rogue state.
The German Factor
Germany, with its hideous history of the holocaust, is suffering from historical guilt. This is evident in the speeches of the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who has pledged Germany’s unconditional support for Israel, both diplomatically and financially. Antisemitism, Fascism, Nazism are European concepts, these ideological concepts that have thrown the world into an abyss of violence for decades emerged in Europe.
However, Europe has refused to take responsibility for her own crimes, instead, the repercussion of these crimes is outsourced to a third party in far-away Middle East. Palestinian people today are the ones carrying the brunt of Western antisemitism – notoriously Germany - that culminated to the establishment of Israel on Arab land in 1948 and subsequently the political tensions and unending wars in the Middle East today. The Middle East today is a legacy of centuries of Western antisemitism and imperialism. In order to absolve herself from her ugly past, Germany is committing another political and international blunder by funding another genocide through Israel, a pariah state indicted of plausibly committing genocide in Gaza. In defense of genocide which is a consequence of a desperate attempt to absolve herself of historical guilt, Germany - like her Western counterparts - has sunk into her old ways and has begun the crackdown on democracy in defense of fascism.
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