Israel has been carrying out an intense military assault against the innocent Palestinians in the occupied territories, namely in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. So far, Israeli forces have killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women. Israel has physically destroyed most parts of Gaza during the continuous heavy bombardment as the world continues to watch the death of a nation.
Israel could not and cannot continue these brutal acts without the unconditional backing of Western countries. Especially the United States and the United Kingdom have been mobilizing all of their resources for Tel Aviv. Together with other Western countries, the U.S. and the U.K. have been supporting Israel in its military attacks against all regional actors, including Yemen.
Most Western governments compete with one another in serving the national interests and security of Israel. Their unconditional support for Israel has damaged not only their national interests but also the very global system established by the Western global powers.
With the support and consent of the Western governments, Israel has been targeting any building in Gaza, including the U.N. buildings. Intentional attacks against schools, hospitals and every kind of residential area by Israel were approved by the West. Western governments consider all these attacks necessary as part of the Israeli self-defense efforts.
In the end, the Israeli atrocities in Palestine have begun to directly and indirectly influence the Western domestic political atmosphere. The more the Western governments support the human rights violations of Israel, the more they alienate other countries and their populations simultaneously. Eventually, Western governments lost the trust of not only their adversaries but also their friends.
On the one hand, the violations of basic human rights and main principles of international law by Israel and Western governments have paved the way for other states to follow the same path. For example, Western countries that fully support the Israeli atrocities in Palestine cannot oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Western global powers have already lost their moral superiority in world politics.
On the other hand, the Western governments' reactions to pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli protests in their respective countries have significantly undermined the freedom of their populations. Large segments of Western societies have realized that their governments do not represent their national interests but rather the national interests of an atrocious and unjust state. Government interventions in domestic politics in favor of Israel have deteriorated the trust of the Western peoples in their respective governments.
In other words, the unconditional support of the Western governments has begun to damage their domestic political atmosphere. Political polarization has increased in almost every Western state. Those who closely associate themselves with liberal and universal values have largely lost power in most Western countries.
On the contrary, those who associate themselves with ultra-nationalist sentiments and those who oppose multiculturalism, globalization and European Union-like integration processes increased their power and effectiveness in Western countries. These new power circles have begun to determine the mainstream of the countries and shape the foreign and domestic policies of their respective states.
The new reality
The differences between the center-right and center-left have disappeared. The new reality in most Western countries is the latest wave of ultra-rightism. There is less difference between the right and the left, no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats in the U.S., no difference between the Conservatives and the Labour in the U.K., and no difference between Social Democrats or Greens and the Christian Democrats or the Alternative for Germany in Germany. They all have declared their support for Zionist Israel and all blame Palestinians for the latest mass killings. It does not matter who comes to power in Western countries; their policies toward the Middle East will not change.
The most recent explanation made by new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, is meaningless since its government continues to provide support to Israel for its atrocities in Gaza. Their rhetoric is not taken into consideration either by their constituents or other states. If they are sincere in their explanations, they expect to take concrete steps and put pressure on the Netanyahu government to stop the genocidal attacks against Palestinians.
Similarly, the U.S. government continues to reward Netanyahu for atrocities in Palestine by allowing him to speak at the joint session of Congress for the fourth time, making him the one who has spoken the most at the U.S. Congress.
It is interesting to see that the Western governments have remained silent against the designation of the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization by the Israeli parliament. It is also ironic to see the resumption of the new British government funding to the agency, which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel.
Everything is mixed up in the Western world. There is no effective political leadership in the Western world, no state knows in which direction is up, and no one can offer a solution to the deadlock in the world. The blood of Palestinian children and women on the hands of Western politicians will continue to haunt Western political and social lives. The current political crisis in the U.S. is also indirectly influenced by the recent developments in the Middle East and Palestine. It seems that overcoming these challenges will not be easy without resetting their political thinking.
