Gaza and the collapse of Western morality

Humans sit at the top of the food chain and kill animals for food. But even in killing, there are moral boundaries. Animals are not starved for weeks or subjected to unnecessary suffering before being killed. Yet in Gaza today, such basic mercy is not extended to people. Around two million human beings living there are enduring a level of cruelty that would be deemed unacceptable even in a slaughterhouse. For three months, Israel has systematically denied food, water and basic supplies to Gaza's civilian population, weaponising hunger in what constitutes a clear crime against humanity. The deprivation has been so extreme that on May 20, the UN warned that 14,000 infants could die within 48 hours if aid did not reach them. Even the US president Donald Trump, a staunch ally of Israel, was compelled to acknowledge the severity of the crisis. Under mounting international pressure, Israel finally allowed a small amount of food into Gaza which aid workers described as a drop in the ocean compared to the overwhelming need.

Beyond the deliberate starvation of civilians, since October 8, 2023, Israel has waged an unrelenting campaign of bombardment and military violence in Gaza. Israeli forces have killed civilians on a massive scale, with the official death toll exceeding 62,000 and thousands more remaining buried under rubble, presumed dead. This is beyond tragic. This is madness. No sane country, no professional army, kills innocent civilians as a matter of routine, shoots babies in the head and chest with sniper rifles, executes people waving white flags, or bombs hospitals with impunity. Yet in Gaza, these horrors occur daily.

The people there have nowhere to flee. Borders are sealed, the sea patrolled by warships, and even so-called safe zones are bombed. Schools have turned into overcrowded shelters where strangers share bare floors. Food is gone, clean water non-existent, and the constant roar of explosions never stops.

The language of Israel's own leadership makes the intention of their campaign abundantly clear. Just last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, "We are there to conquer, cleanse and remain. We are disassembling Gaza into piles of rubble." He even boasted, "We're doing something that no one's done in the world before. Yes, the Gazans will have to leave."

What is perhaps most tragic is that these atrocities are unfolding in full view of the world. Many Western countries continue to provide the weapons, funding and diplomatic backing that enable the violence. For instance, according to Israel's Defence Ministry, since October 8, 2023, the US has delivered more than 90,000 tons of military aid in Israel via 800 transport planes and 140 ships which include armoured vehicles, munitions and protective gear. European governments like Germany and France banned demonstrations in support of Palestinians, along with Palestinian flag and symbols. In this atmosphere, even appeals for Israel to adhere to basic humanitarian norms are often denounced as antisemitic.

This is a moral unravelling of the Western civilisation which has long claimed to champion human rights. A civilisation that watches the weaponisation of starvation and does nothing has forfeited any claim to ethical leadership and is inching closer to collapse. The only meaningful challenge to the moral failure of the West has come from the US university campuses, where students and faculty have protested to call out the ongoing genocide. But their resistance has come at a cost. For speaking out against Israeli atrocities, these institutions have faced punitive measures including withdrawal of federal funding, research contracts, grants, and even the right to enrol foreign students.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step by seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former IDF chief Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the wake of these developments, many around the world who once sympathised with the historical suffering of the Jewish people are now turning away in disillusionment. Attempts to dismiss criticism as antisemitism are losing their power.  The façade is cracking, and a growing number now recognise the devastation of Gaza as a deliberate campaign to destroy a people.

Defenders of Israel often frame the onslaught in Gaza as a justified response to Hamas' October 7 assault which killed 1,200 Israelis. But this narrative deliberately ignores the context. The October 7 attack did not occur in isolation. It was the explosion of a pressure cooker sealed shut for decades. It followed 75 years of displacement, 56 years of military occupation and 17 years of a suffocating blockade on Gaza. Since 2007, two million Palestinians have been trapped in what Human Rights Watch called an "open-air prison." Their borders are guarded by snipers, their fishermen fired upon at sea, and even food imports are monitored with strict limits, down to calorie count. October 7 emerged from this despair. As historian Norman Finkelstein notes, the Hamas' attack on Israel is akin to a slave revolt against colonial masters.

Had Israel limited its response to targeting Hamas within the bounds of international law, the world might have viewed it as a harsh but legitimate military operation. But what is happening goes far beyond that. It is the wholesale slaughter of a captive population, most of whom had no part in the initial attack. When even infants are stripped of innocence and treated as legitimate targets, no justification can stand. No matter how loudly this campaign of extermination in Gaza is defended by voices in Western media and political circles, it perfectly fits the definition of genocide and ethnic cleansing under international law. 

Perhaps one day this nightmare will end. When it does and the dust finally settles, the world will have to confront hard and uncomfortable truths. Accountability must extend to every journalist, politician, propagandist and online voice who enabled, excused, financed or shielded these atrocities. None should be allowed to escape the judgment of history. This reckoning will be essential, not merely as justice for the victims, but as the only way to reclaim collective humanity.

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