Collage with various scenes from the ongoing Gaza genocide, and the iconic Palestinian cartoon character Handala looking at the carnage. Illustration: Zeinab El-Hajj/Al-Mayadeen.
By Nora Hoppe – May 26, 2024
As I write, part of Rafah is being engulfed in an infernal blaze… If Hieronymous Bosch were alive and at work today, how would he portray “Hell” in view of what is happening in Gaza? And if he did, would his painting do justice to this reality?
Rafah was the last remaining area of the Gaza Strip that had not yet been destroyed by the Zionist entity. Many countries appealed to the entity not to attack Rafah—to no avail. Because the entity heeds no one and nothing, respects no one and nothing, and is above everyone and everything. It is a thing unto itself. An aberration.
What began as a proliferating Western colonial outpost by calculation, metastasized into a killing machine… that is now even expediting its own demise (though not fast enough). As Norman Finkelstein put it in this extraordinary interview: “‘Israel’ has now reached a lunatic place where the survival of, not just the regions, but the planet is at stake.”
The big and NAKED question that will go down in the history books (if humanity survives the plans of the Zionist entity) is:Â Why was the Rest of the World unable to stop the genocide?
One can already exclude the “West” (the Anglophone world and Europe) from this question, as it is and has been the engine of this monstrosity; this settler outpost of theirs epitomises the very essence of the contemporary Western world—its morals, its principles, its goals… It signifies the apex of 500 years of greed, hypocrisy, hubris, exploitation, plundering, racism, colonialism, and genocide.
And the Rest of the World?
The Palestinians themselves have been fighting for their very lives ever since the creation of “the State of Israel”; despite the countless deaths and unspeakable suffering, their spirit continues to endure. Yemen is now deeply engaged in this battle and sees it as their shared struggle. The entire Axis of Resistance in West Asia is doing what it can to counter the Zionist crimes. The Iranian retaliation has increased the morale of the Palestinians and of the Axis of Resistance, and changed the paradigm in West Asia. South Africa has been trying to do what it can with its case at the International Court of Justice and continues to seek additional punitive actions. Colombia has severed ties with “Israel” and Nicaragua has accused Germany of aiding and abetting genocide at the ICJ. Russia—alongside of its battle against nazism in “the other war” in Ukraine—is spearheading the creation of a multipolar world; and both Russia and China are condemning the genocide, along with many other nations. 143 UN member states out of 193 voted to recognise Palestinian statehood… All over the world university students and other young people have finally begun to protest the genocide…
The Global Majority—88% of the planet—is in opposition against the minority—the Empire and the vassals in Europe—that is directly and indirectly supporting and even legitimising the genocide.
And yet… the massacres continue.
Certainly one can seek to justify this failure on the part of the Global Majority—88% of the planet—to end the genocide by saying: “it’s complicated,” “it’s not OUR war, we are dealing with our own conflicts and threats to our nations,” “the Zionists have nuclear weapons and will use them on us when cornered,” “we cannot escalate it to WWIII,” “the people at the top of the world economy are Zionists,” “we don’t have the international legal structures to get directly involved,” “we have to think of the economic consequences,” “the Zionist entity is wearing itself out and doing itself in, we just have to be patient,” “it will take time to create a new and fairer UN,” “we must wait for a ‘new world order’ in order to…”
And… so… the massacres continue.
At one point in the future—if the planet still exists—either, as the Zionist plan foresees, all or most of the Palestinians will have been massacred and the rest expulsed… OR… the Zionist military and the Zionist society will have worn themselves out through the strategy of attrition employed by the Axis of Resistance and through the spirit of endurance of the Palestinians themselves (which they will have paid for with an incalculably heavy price). In the latter case, this triumph will be theirs—and theirs alone! The “Rest of the World,” myself included, will have to live with a scar on its conscience.
In the meantime
Now, at every single moment, innocent people are dying atrocious deaths. Sure, for now they are… “just Palestinians.”
Those who do not realise that this is a war against all of us, a War against Humanity, a struggle between ethical responsibility and barbarism… are deluding themselves and are ultimately impeding solutions. The Genocide in Gaza is only the “tip” of a larger agenda. We must not forget that the Zionist entity is but a colonial outpost—or to put it in a more contemporary formulation: “the aircraft carrier of the Empire in West Asia.” (And, as I wrote in an earlier essay, this colonialist “entity” is now showing itself as a fateful curse for people of the Jewish faith, as well.)
These days there are discussions between Netanyahu and Biden over Rafah being a “red line”—but these are simply theatrics for the façade. Twelve US Republican senators are reported to have threatened members of the International Criminal Court with “severe sanctions” if arrest warrants were issued against the likes of Netanyahu, Gallant, and Israeli occupation forces (IOF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi for war crimes—which would be interpreted “not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States.” The idea of the Zionist entity commanding the Empire is absurd and, as usual, a deflection from the real powers of the Empire.
We will not be able to proceed with the birth of a New World without coming to grips with this “entire agenda”… and without comprehending all that is involved in the choice between ethical responsibility and barbarism.
So… how can we now speak sincerely of “the Future of Humanity”?
How can we now speak even pragmatically of “a future Multipolar World”—a more equitable world of diverse, free, and sovereign nations… when the single most urgent and essential question regarding our humanity cannot only not be dealt with but cannot even be formulated in an official manner?
As we hopefully pass from a decaying unipolar world and begin to build a new, multipolar world, the question arises as to what place our humanity and empathy will have in this. Do we have a common purpose? What are our philosophical and spiritual resources? What are our highest values and how do we enshrine them in our societies? And… what is the role of culture today?
When—at a certain point when we have all survived—the Palestinians and the Axis of Resistance will have triumphed in their struggles, it is THEY who will have the most important lessons for the world.
And hopefully, we can all learn from them… not only on how to avoid future genocides and the descent into barbarism but how to focus more on humanity.
De-dollarisation is vital but not enough… de-colonisation is also necessary.
Minds have been colonised all over the world. For a Multipolar World of truly sovereign nations to be born it will have to discard the last vestiges of racism, colonialism, neoliberalism, technophilia, and cultural destruction with which it allowed itself to become infected by the colonisers and infiltrators of the modern West.
For a start… can such noble organisations as BRICS+ open up a new category for its next summits? Alongside—or perhaps even before—all the current important topics of equitable trade, economic cooperation, improved logistics, joint security, beneficial technological developments etc., there are indispensable philosophical, ethical, and civilisational issues that need to be addressed. Cultural, social, and spiritual topics should not be left on the “back burner”… as these form the foundation of a just society.
In view of the state of our world today, the safeguarding of humanity should be paramount.
“The metaphor for Palestine is stronger than the Palestine of reality.” – Mahmoud Darwish
“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Nora Hoppe is an independent filmmaker, screenplay writer, essayist, and translator.
