By Ramzy Baroud
The Israeli genocide in Gaza, along with the escalating
regional wars it has ignited, has brought two chilling
truths into our focus: first, Israel is deliberately and
aggressively undermining the security and stability of the
entire Middle East and, second, Israel is utterly incapable
of surviving on its own.
These two assertions, though
seemingly distinct, are inextricably linked. For if those
who relentlessly
sustain Israel—militarily, politically, and
economically—were to finally withdraw their support, the
Middle East would not be the powder keg it has been for
decades, a situation that has catastrophically worsened
since October 7, 2023.
Though no oversimplification is
intended, the brutal reality is that all it would take is
for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, allowing the devastated,
genocide-stricken Strip the faintest chance to heal. Over
56,000 Palestinians, including more than 17,000
children and 28,000
women, have been brutally
slaughtered since the commencement of this war, a
horrifying tally expected to
surge dramatically when comprehensive investigations
into the missing are finally conducted.
could the process of returning to some semblance of normalcy
begin, where the inalienable rights of the Palestinian
people must be fiercely championed within an international
system built, at least theoretically, upon unwavering
respect for basic human rights and international
The abhorrent “might makes right” maxim would
have to be utterly expunged from any future political
equation. Middle Eastern countries, both Arab and Muslim,
must finally rise to the occasion, stepping up decisively to
aid their brethren and to ensure that Israel is powerless to
divide their ranks.
For Israel, this demand is simply
impossible, a non-starter and, understandably so, from its
colonial perspective. Why?
“Invasion is a structure,
not an event,” the influential scholar Patrick Wolfe has
asserted. This profound statement unequivocally means
that Israel’s wars, commencing with the ethnic
cleansing of Palestine, the Nakba, of 1948, and all
subsequent wars and military
occupations, were not random historical coincidences,
but rather integral components of an enduring structure of
power designed to eliminate the indigenous
population.
This renders as simply false the notion
that Israel’s behavior after October 7 was solely driven
revenge and devoid of strategy. We are perhaps excused
for failing to initially grasp this distinction, given the
grisly, unspeakable
nature of the Israeli actions in Gaza and the palpable
sense of perverse pleasure Israel seems to derive from the
daily murder of innocent people.
Yet, the language
emanating from Israel was chillingly clear about its true
motives. As Benjamin Netanyahu
declared on October 7, 2023, “we will turn Gaza into a
deserted island”.
That has always been an intrinsic,
unchanging part of Israel’s colonial structure, and it will
remain so unless it is decisively reined in. But who
possesses the will and power to rein in Israel?
operates through a network of enablers, benefactors who have
long viewed Israel’s existence as an indispensable colonial
serving the interests of Western
colonialism.
“The connection between the Israeli
people and the American people is bone deep. (…) We’re
united in our shared values,” Joe Biden
declared with striking conviction in July
Without even bothering to question those “shared
values” that somehow permit Israel to perpetrate a genocide
while the US actively sustains it, Biden was undeniably
honest in his stark depiction that the relationship between
both countries transcends mere politics. Other Western
leaders blindly
parrot the same perception.
The unfolding
genocide, however, has spurred some Western—and a
multitude of non-Western—governments to courageously speak
out against the Israeli war, Netanyahu, and his extremist
ideology in ways unprecedented since Israel’s very
establishment. For some of these countries, notably
Spain, Norway, Ireland, and
Slovenia, among others, the proverbial ‘bond’ is
demonstrably ‘breakable’ and their support is most
certainly not ‘unequivocal’.
various theories as to why some Western governments dare to
challenge Israel, while others stubbornly refuse. That
important discussion aside, shattering the bond between
Israel and the West is absolutely critical, not only for a
just peace to finally prevail, but for the very survival of
the Palestinian people.
The nearly 21
agonizing months of unrelenting Israeli
genocide have taught us a brutal lesson: Israel is,
after all, a vassal state, utterly
unable to fight its own wars, to defend itself or even
to sustain its own economy without the direct, massive
support of the US and others.
Prior to the war, there
were occasional outbursts from Israeli officials
proclaiming that Israel is an independent country, not
“another star on the US flag”. These
voices have since been largely silenced, replaced by a
constant stream of
begging and pleading for the US to come to Israel’s
While Palestinians continue to stand with
legendary courage to resist the Israeli military occupation
and apartheid, those who genuinely care about international
law, justice, and peace must take decisive action by
directly confronting governments that persist in helping
Israel sustain the genocide in Gaza and the destabilization
of the Middle East.
Governments like Spain and others
are doing what many had not expected only years ago: Spanish
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is powerfully
advocating for the suspension of the
EU-Israel Association Agreement, an extensive
trade deal in place since 2000,
due to “the catastrophic situation of
If more such governments were to adopt a
similar, uncompromising stance, Israel would be choked off,
at least from acquiring the very murder weapons it uses to
carry out its barbaric genocide.
It is our collective
responsibility to march in lockstep behind such courageous
voices and demand uncompromising accountability, not only
from Israel, but from those who are actively sustaining its
Israeli settler colonial structure.
A- Dr. Ramzy
Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The
Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His
latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ‘Our
Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian
Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out’. His other books
include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The
Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research
Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).
His website is www.ramzybaroud.net
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