Palestinians need action, not words

The UN Security Council resolution this week calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has been called unprecedented and a slap to Israel.

Unprecedented because it’s the first time the Security Council has voted for a truce since the start of the Gaza war, and unprecedented also because the US chose to abstain from the vote this time, instead of exercising its veto, a power it recklessly and routinely employs whenever a resolution is brought against Israel.

Israel suffered a humiliating international isolation because all 14 other council members voted in favour of the resolution.

The US abstention set up a public clash between the Joe Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the latter immediately cancelling a visit to Washington by two of his ministers, intended to discuss the Israeli offensive on the Gazan city of Rafah.

The UN resolution is both significant and insignificant and it would be naïve to assume that it would lead to a change of the status quo in Gaza, where the only heartbreaking reality is the wanton killing of innocent Palestinians by the Israeli forces and starvation of both children and adults.

The significance of the resolution stems from the fact that Israel is facing increasing heat over its intransigence with its staunch allies in the West finding it difficult to justify the Israeli atrocities.

But more importantly, the UN motion is a victory resulting from the shifting of the global public opinion in favour of Palestinians.

The outrage, including in the US, against the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and their suffering that surpasses the cruelties of the worst wars in recent memory has forced Western leaders to make ‘the right noises’ to assuage the public outrage though their support for Israel remains firm as ever.

Biden’s own recent tough talk and spat with Netanyahu is an outcome of the criticism and protests he has been facing from large sections of Americans over his role as an enabler of the Israeli killings, which is leading to an erosion of support for him when he is seeking reelection as president.

There is a surge in anti-Israeli sentiment in the US, especially in the campuses, which the Israeli lobby has been struggling to control.

The recent decision of the Texas A & M University management to shut its campus in Qatar is a result of the frustration and anger of the Israeli lobby at the growing support for Palestinians in US campuses.

Even Republican candidate Donald Trump couldn’t resist speaking the truth to Israel. “You have to finish up your war. ... We have to get to peace. We can’t have this going on. And I will say, Israel has to be very careful because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support,” Trump said.

The insignificance of the UN resolution lies in the fact that it won’t bring any respite to the suffering of Palestinians because Israel has a history of violating international laws and UN resolutions with impunity.

The text of the resolution demanded “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire’”.

Ramadan is coming to an end and Israel is widening its offensive instead of ordering a pause. Despite the abstention from the UN vote, the US has made it clear that its support for Israel remains rock-solid.

What the world is looking for is a semblance of balance and justice in America’s policy on Palestinians. And, Palestinians are looking for action, not symbolic measures.