Phalapoem editor 16/11/25
For more than seven decades, Palestinians have lived under fascist policies of ethnic cleansing, brutal occupation, dispossession, and recurring military assaults. Yet the devastation unleashed on Gaza in the past two years has pushed the crisis into an unprecedented humanitarian abyss. Entire neighborhoods erased, tens of thousands of civilians killed, starvation used as a weapon, and a population trapped with nowhere safe to go. Despite this, many Western governments continue to extend political, military, and diplomatic support to Israel — even as global legal institutions warn that the threshold for genocide and apartheid have been crossed.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has brought catastrophic consequences. Families are wiped out in an instant. Children grow up surrounded by rubble instead of schools. Hospitals, aid convoys, journalists, and UN shelters have all come under fire. The term genocide is no longer whispered; it is openly confirmed by jurists, UN experts, and international courts. Aid organizations describe Israeli systematic deprivation of food, water, medicine, and electricity — conditions that is in fact Israeli engineered starvation.
And yet, the governments that proclaim their commitment to human rights and rule of law are often the very ones supplying weapons, shielding Israel from accountability, or parroting narratives that minimize Palestinian suffering. This hypocrisy has created a dangerous precedent: a message to the world that some lives are valued less, that international law is optional, and that a rouge state can commit genocide without facing real consequences.
The question now is no longer whether the situation is unjust — that is the one fact the world agrees on. The real question is: Who can stop this?
And when will the silence finally break?
Complicity is not only about what governments endorse — it’s also about what they choose to ignore. Western leaders have watched Gaza’s civilian population face starvation, industrial-scale displacement, and relentless bombardment, yet many have continued to offer political cover. Arms continue to flow. Vetoes continue to block humanitarian aid. Diplomatic gestures continue to shield Israel from meaningful accountability.
The consequences of this are enormous:
1. The collapse of the credibility of Western democracies
How can nations that champion universal human rights justify supporting policies that inflict such destruction on civilians?
2. The weakening of international law
If the Geneva Conventions cannot protect Palestinians, can they protect anyone?
- The emboldening of apartheid states that believe force is the quickest route to political goals
When accountability disappears, impunity becomes the norm.
Will the Apartheid End?
Many human rights organizations — including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Israeli groups like B’Tselem — now classify Israel’s system of rule as apartheid. Ending it will require:
• International pressure
Just as global pressure helped dismantle South African apartheid, coordinated sanctions, arms embargoes, and diplomatic isolation can change political behavior.
• Legal accountability
International courts must be allowed to investigate and prosecute serious violations, without political interference.
• A shift in public opinion
Around the world, millions are already protesting, demanding their governments stop enabling mass suffering.
• Regional and global leadership
Nations in the Global South are increasingly speaking out, challenging the double standards that prevent justice for Palestinians.
Who Can Stop the Killing?
Ultimately, several actors hold real power:
1. The International Community
States can impose consequences — sanctions, embargoes, recognition of Palestinian rights — if they choose political courage over selective morality.
2. International Legal Institutions
The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have already taken significant steps. Their rulings must be respected and enforced.
3. Israeli Society
Peace will be impossible without voices within Israel challenging policies that perpetuate occupation, inequality, and endless conflict.
4. Global Civil Society
Movements around the world — activists, journalists, humanitarian workers — are holding governments accountable when leaders fail to do so.
A Future Without Endless War
The killing will not stop by accident. It will stop only when enough pressure forces a political transformation — one that recognizes Palestinians as equal human beings entitled to dignity, safety, and self-determination.
History shows that systems built on inequality cannot endure forever. Apartheid ended in South Africa. Colonialism collapsed across the world. Walls come down. Regimes change. Justice, however delayed, can arrive — but not without the people who demand it.
The question is no longer whether the world knows what is happening in Gaza.
It is whether the world is willing to act.