There come times in the affairs of nations when cynical calculations of ‘national interest’ need to be set aside in the interest of humanity. The trigger and reaction may vary, but the aim is to change inhumane policies doing harm at a massive scale.
Several nations faced such a moment in the late 1930s and early 1940s when they had to sharply recalibrate their views on Hitler’s Germany. On the other hand, the actions against apartheid South Africa that started in the early 1970s were more about symbolically shaming the regime on international podiums.
The world faces another such reckoning with Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel. Something has got to give—we, individually and as a nation, simply cannot allow a genocide to roll on with impunity.
The growing recognition of Palestine this week—taking the total to 157 among the 193 UN member states—remains a symbolic gesture in the face of the US veto in the Security Council, which needs to clear the way for Palestine to be counted as a full member.
It is also clear that Britain and France’s belated recognition was more lip service— perhaps aimed at placating domestic discontent—than righteous action. The British government refuses to overturn its July ban on Palestine Action, a movement with the goal of ending global participation in the Gaza genocide, despite appeals by dozens of thought leaders. The French government has asked town halls across the country to take down the Palestinian flags they had hoisted in celebration of the country’s recognition.
Beyond the limited manoeuvres afforded by global diplomacy, India—one of the first countries to recognise Palestine in 1988—can do much by itself. The central and state governments can stop proscribing Indians from expressing solidarity with and raising funds for Palestinians, with whom there are generational links across the land.
Leaders can abjure from wrongly conflating all Palestinians with the brutal violence of Hamas. If we wish to hold our head high in the comity of nations, we need to clearly communicate the moral values we stand for—not just seen through the era’s narrow strategic imperatives, but civilisationally. And there is hardly any ideal we hold higher than ahimsa, non-violence. For the sake of humanity, let us proclaim: Enough!