The Coalition of Complicity
On January 26, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide. White Supremacy: Hold My Beer.
On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it wages war against Gaza.
That same day, the Israeli government told the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) they had “information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees” in Hamas’ October 7 attack without specifying further.
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres responded by saying that of the 12 UNRWA employees incriminated in the alleged misconduct, “nine were immediately identified and terminated,” one is “confirmed dead,” and “the identity of the two others is being clarified.”
Since then, pending an authentic investigation into Israel’s allegations, a coalition of nations in the Global North — Austria, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States — have all cut funding to the UNRWA, which is the single largest provider of aid to people in Gaza right now.
This move puts more than two million people who depend on this aid “for their sheer survival” at risk, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
“It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement, and political crises in the region,” Lazzarini said.
However, this is precisely what global powers are doing — taking the accusations of a government with considerable human rights violations as irrefutable fact and placing Gazans in peril of unthinkable slaughter.
This = collective punishment.
This = the coalition of complicity.
According to the U.S. Department of State, some of Israel’s reported human rights violations include:
Unlawful or arbitrary killings
Arbitrary detention, often extraterritorial detention of Palestinians from the occupied territories in Israel
Restrictions on Palestinians residing in Jerusalem, including arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, and home
Substantial interference with the freedom of association
Arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy
Harassment of nongovernmental organizations
Significant restrictions on freedom of movement within the country
Violence against asylum seekers and irregular migrants
Violence or threats of violence against national, racial, or ethnic minority groups
Labor rights abuses against foreign workers and Palestinians from the West Bank.
Regardless, however, the government that has to be *warned to prevent acts of genocide* and has committed numerous human rights violations — remember number 6? — is now targeting the largest nongovernmental organization providing aid to the country it is accused of committing genocide against.
And Western powers are like, “Yeah, that sounds legit.”
We do not know about you, but preventing two million civilians from receiving medicine and food over allegations against 12 people sounds pretty fucking genocidal to us.
Guterres is on the record saying the UNRWA could run out of money to meet all the needs of Palestinians displaced by the war as soon as February.
(Reminder: Today is January 29)
While Israel may have been ordered to take action to prevent acts of genocide, white supremacy strikes again, and the rest of the global powers are picking up the slack.
While Israel may have been ordered to take action to prevent acts of genocide, the coalition of complicity is unrestrained to put more than two million people who depend on this aid “for their sheer survival” at risk.
While Israel may have been ordered to take action to prevent acts of genocide, Austria, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States are all plainly comfortable with collective punishment.
And while Israel may have been ordered to take action to prevent acts of genocide, the mantle of white supremacy, capitalism, and colonialism has forever been exposed.
As the Israeli government demonstrates its unwavering cruelty and corruption, and the coalition of complicity candidly aids and abets the slaughter and starvation of Palestinians, the need for radical changes has emerged.
We see our leaders disregarding integrity.
We see our governments spurning virtue.
We see our systems dismissing compassion.
But we, the people, will no longer bypass our humanity.
Community.
Compassion.
Consideration.
We must join our hands and hearts in solidarity and actively fight to dismantle the oppressive systems under which we all live.
And we must do it now.
The Palestinians need us now.
WE need us now.
Our future world is waiting.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for this article. It's the truth we need to hear!