The Holocaust of the Palestinian people must be stopped

» Declan Kearney

Either we stand now on the side of humanity and the rule of international law or we give into sadism and evil.

Eighty years ago on 26 June 1945 the Charter of the United Nations was adopted. It became a foundational legal document which committed the international community to work together to prevent future wars, uphold human rights and foster the conditions for social and economic progress. 

It remains the cornerstone of international law and global diplomacy. It is the legal backbone of the modern multilateral system. It constitutes the only universal set of international laws that all 193 member states of the United Nations uphold.

Today the legal authority and integrity of the UN Charter are being subverted and hollowed out by Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid system and genocide in Palestine.

Since October 2023, almost 60,000 people are recorded as having been killed by Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. The actual death toll is believed to be much higher. At least 1,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in the West Bank.

According to UNICEF, Gaza has become “a graveyard for children”. It is now the most dangerous place for children to live on this planet.

Currently in Gaza, 60,000 are suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and multiple communicable diseases.

The health system has been destroyed.

Water infrastructure is collapsing and the population is experiencing both drought and famine.

According to the UN, there are more than 2.1 million people trapped, bombed and starved. Food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are being blocked from entry to Gaza due to the Israeli siege.

Hunger is being used as a weapon of war. 

A World Health Organisation trauma surgeon stated: “There is a constant correlation with the positions of the four announced food distribution sites and mass casualty incidents.”

In the last month, multiple massacres have taken place at these so-called food distribution centres, run by the US-funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

At the time of writing more than 600 starving Palestinians have been murdered by Israel while they seek food, medical supplies and shelter.

These are not humanitarian aid centres. The UN has described them as ‘death traps’, where vulnerable, dispossessed people are being systematically and indiscriminately murdered.

This is not happening spontaneously or accidentally. Palestinian people are being corralled into these locations on the promise of food and assistance as a way to hem them in and kill them.

The UN has already stated that the pillars of international law under which food aid should be delivered have been undermined by Israeli actions. That reality has been affirmed by 100 NGOs, including Oxfam, calling for the role of the GHF to be immediately terminated.

International humanitarian law demands that Israel does not attack hospitals, schools, humanitarian aid workers or other civilian institutions.

The Geneva Conventions, particularly the Fourth Convention is clear: international humanitarian laws that require humane treatment of the population and the steady provision of basic needs, including food and medical care, are binding on an occupying force.

Israel is now in systemic violation of the Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute and the UN Charter.

That is why the International Criminal Court (ICC) has approved arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

They stand accused of using starvation as a weapon of war and of massacring civilians in the occupied territories. 

The ruling from the International Court of Justice found that Palestinians in Gaza are faced with genocide due to Israeli aggression.

The democratic international consensus as reflected in UN resolutions, legal opinions and universal norms and practices is that Israeli actions are unequivocal violations of international humanitarian law.

And still, Israel stands in defiance of the multilateral system by inflicting untold suffering on the civilian population in Palestine.

Israel knows it can act with impunity due to the shameful failure of Western powers to stand up for humanity. 

The evidence of its state terrorism grows with every passing week.

The recent report from the EU’s High Representative for Human Rights now assesses non-compliance by Israel with its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association agreement.

Therefore, the EU must now take action immediately, not subject to further review.

The EU-Israel Association Agreement must be terminated without further delay.  

The ICC, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and democratic opinion across the world have spoken. Israel is guilty of multiple war crimes.

International boycott and divestment and sanctions must be applied to Israel immediately.

Total arms embargoes must be enforced.

Just as we have run out of vocabulary to describe this genocide and barbaric occupation, words of censure and condemnation have been exhausted. 

The EU and other Western powers must take comprehensive, robust measures to end this genocide and hold Israel accountable for its multiple crimes against humanity.

With every passing week, the moral bankruptcy of the West is brought into sharp focus. No Western power hesitated to act in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The same sanctions applied against Russia should be enforced against Israel.

Last week, Sinn Féin brought a motion before the northern Assembly condemning Israel’s impunity and relentless genocide in Gaza; demanding a permanent ceasefire, and unimpeded humanitarian for Gaza.

It called on the British Government to end all its arms sales to Israel and recognise the state of Palestine. 

It also called on the Irish government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and end facilitating sales of Israeli war bonds.

During the debate, others and I said that those accused of war crimes must be brought before the ICC at The Hague.

Today the complicity of the largest Western powers in the Gaza genocide and colonisation of the Palestinian people is shredding the international rules-based order. 

This Israeli government is out of control.

It has crossed every red line.

It is attempting to annihilate Palestinian civilisation and society.

It is not serious about peace.

Its actions are beyond the pale.

No international state can be allowed to commit genocide against women and children, or to commence unprovoked attacks and wars against other sovereign states without being subject to international accountability and sanction.

The Israelis, and those who support their actions, are destroying every humanitarian and diplomatic norm as well as the basis of peaceful co-existence.

Urgent, universal collective action is needed to bring Israel to account. The holocaust of the Palestinian people and the colonisation of their lands must be stopped.

There are no grey areas. There can be no ambiguity.

Either we stand now on the side of humanity and the rule of international law or we give into sadism and evil.

Eighty years on from the agreement of the UN Charter, upholding the self-determination and human rights of the Palestinians presents an unprecedented moral challenge for the authority of the international rules-based order.