SYDNEY, Jan 13 (IPS) – Thank God, we have survived another year of genocide, war, destruction and climate crisis. The past year of 2024 has been a mixture of hope and despair. It started with some hope as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favor of South Africa’s case against Israel for committing genocide and ordered Israel to take all measures in its power to prevent the commission of all acts under section II of the law. Genocide Agreement, and to take immediate and effective measures to provide urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the poor living conditions faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Alas, hope was quickly dashed as the genocide continued by the very people who promised, “never again” and worked tirelessly for the Genocide Convention. According to the law, more than 45,000 were killed – most of them women and children. According to the prestigious medical journal Lancet, the death toll in July 2024 reached more than 186,000 due to the cumulative effects of the destruction of hospitals in Israel, the denial of aid, the cutting off of water and electricity and all other methods of ethnic cleansing.
The irony is that the apartheid state of Israel may have trampled the ICJ and international humanitarian law only because of its support from the US and its allies. One grapples with the indescribable spectacle of its Western allies turning a blind eye to, and indeed condoning, the killing and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.
I wrote three pieces for IPS trying to explain the mystery – The Gaza Massacre and Western Hypocrisy (4 Mar., 2024); ‘Unlimited’ Impunity Strengthens Israel (27 Feb., 2024) and The West’s Frankenstein Moment (14 Feb., 2024). In the midst of the ongoing horror, injustice and misery of the occupied Palestinian people, I thought it was useless to write or do an academic analysis.
Instead, I opted for activism and joined the large protests that became common throughout the world, declaring loudly and defiantly, “From the River to the sea, Palestine will be free”, where two – the Palestinians and the Jewish people – will live. as free citizens, enjoying full democratic and economic rights to realize their full potential as equal human beings.
My children and grandchildren also join in as we find inspiration in the resilience of the Palestinians, who refuse to surrender and want to live in dignity.
It seems that people power is starting to have a positive effect. Many countries, especially in the Global South, took a strong stand against the apartheid regime of Israel; breaking away from their Western allies. Norway, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia recognize the State of Palestine. Australia changed its position to support a UN vote demanding Israel end its occupation of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
However, there were disappointing developments: Israel increased its brutal bombing of Lebanon and killed key people, eliminating potential partners in a potential peace deal; The war in Ukraine dragged on for a long time while Putin threatened to use nuclear warheads. And the US, which should be the leader of the so-called ‘free country’ based on rules, chose a narcissist, Donald Trump, as its President, who is willing to break the rules, saying that the US is superior and different. The CoP29 climate conference ended in disappointment as the world’s most vulnerable countries were left behind, and little progress was made in reducing fossil fuels.
The fate of displaced people in Sudan, Myanmar and elsewhere worsened, as the conflicts continued. Amnesty International reported, “The Arakan army has unlawfully killed the Rohingya, evicted them from their homes and left them vulnerable to attack. This attack against the Rohingya comes on top of the indiscriminate airstrikes by the Myanmar military which have killed Rohingya civilians and the Rakhine tribe”.
The Rohingya people – the world’s largest homeless population – continue to face persecution and abuse. They now face a double-edged sword as the Arakan Army tightens its grip on Myanmar’s junta.
The conflict in Sudan has led to a man-made famine, the world’s largest famine, and the world’s worst internal displacement crisis. Almost 20 months of war has displaced more than one-fifth of the country, more than 12 million people, from their homes.
Still, there have been some glimmers of hope. The brave people of Syria and Bangladesh overthrew their oppressive regimes, which seemed impossible the day before; and it seems that a new dawn has come to these nations.
People in Syria and Bangladesh hope for a just, equal and democratic society. However, they are also genuinely afraid as such systemic change is fraught with uncertainty. It’s like the formation of a caterpillar inside a cocoon – it can emerge as a butterfly or as a moth.
The shadow of the failed ‘Arab Spring’ in Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia haunts the Syrian people. They also feared the sectarian conflicts and great power games that followed in Libya as Israel grew in power and expanded its occupation.
In the case of Bangladesh, the last three attempts at systemic reform ended in disappointment. The great hope of a democratic, just society was quickly dashed as the country witnessed unprecedented extrajudicial killings, vote rigging and eventually turned into a one-party state within 3 years of independence with the loss of millions of lives. The second attempt after 1975 was thwarted by Ershad’s coup d’état whose military and civilian regime was neither a butterfly nor a moth – rather it was a hybrid. Then the third attempt after 1990, he turned into a monster by ruling the kleptocratic dictator Hasina through theft and excessive oppression.
Despair must not overtake hope. Human history is a story of struggle; but our ability to rise after each fall, to emerge from the depths of despair with new found determination and unwavering hope determines our progress.
Anis ChowdhuryProfessor Emeritus, University of Western Sydney (Australia). He has held senior positions at the United Nations in New York and Bangkok. Email: [email protected]
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