How war on Gaza created 'new world disorder', led US hegemony downhill
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Patrick Wintour believes that powers compete and may oppose one another in the region but none, "least of all the UN," can enforce its idea of order anymore.
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A Palestinian boy sits between a blood-stained mattress and body bags at Rafah's Al-Najjar hospital. (AFP)
According to Patrick Wintour, a diplomatic editor for The Guardian, the war on Gaza has created a "confused world disorder," in which there are "no dominant player, value system, or functioning institutions."
Wintour believes that powers compete and may oppose one another in the region but none, "least of all the UN," can enforce its idea of order anymore.
He notes that Iran and the Lebanese Resistance - Hezbollah have both hinted that there is to be a transformation in the "unjust order that rules the world," in the words of Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian President.
"Israel", however, believes its aggression on Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, will allow the region to transform to its benefit. Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the response to October 7 would stay with the "enemies of Israel" for generations.
According to Filipe Nasser, a senior advisor at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, the current war indicates that there is a "lack of reform of global governance institutions, including and primarily the UN security council," adding that “this is the point of convergence across the global south" who feel that international order is "asymmetric and detrimental to their interests. The three US vetoes show how the rules are bent.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor echoed the same concerns.
Emile Hokayem, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, expressed that “the disaster in Gaza has completely disabused a large segment of liberals and professionals in the Arab world about Western claims of upholding and caring about values in the conduct of foreign policy,” adding a sense of betrayal felt by some and vindication felt by others.
Wintour details how US diplomacy has suffered "defeat after defeat," citing the Yemeni Armed Forces operation in the Red Sea and Iran's strategic influence over 3 "economic choke points."
In addition, the only Arab state that joined the US endeavor of Operation Prosperity Guardian was Bahrain.
The editor explains that it took the White House an "inordinately long time" and foreign aid workers killed to realize that US and Israeli interests in Gaza were not the same. The US endorsed the "elimination" of Hamas surgically and wanted a clear image of what post-war Palestine would look like, something Israelis to date have not provided.
Wintour also adds that reports of US President Joe Biden's growing irritation with Netanyahu first appeared in the US press in November. The more the tales surfaced and the less real-world consequences were imposed on "Israel", the more Biden seemed weak or disingenuous, which can only harm his reelection.
According to a former foreign policy advisor to US Senator Bernie Sanders, Matt Duss, the war on Gaza has transformed into a larger discussion about the US role in global politics, emphasizing that the younger generation no longer wishes to use and supply deadly weapons and are "tired of their government upholding a blatant double standard on human rights and then gaslighting them about that double standard.”
Read more: Poll: Why young Americans are more pro-Palestine than their elders?
The recent criticism of Netanyahu by Chuck Schumer also fueled the fire in what Wintour describes as a deeper shift in the Democratic Party, something Duss states was "unthinkable" a decade ago.
An Israeli human rights lawyer, Michael Sfard, expressed that since the events of October 7, "Israel" has not only "state-censored" but also self-censored, explaining that "we are fed by television channels and newspapers that censor and block information from us, both about events in Gaza and about our way of fighting there.”
He further expressed that the horrors in Gaza could not be justified due to the actions of Hamas.
"The number of children we killed and the extent of the destruction does not add up to any explanation other than revenge.”
Shift in tide: More US voices join opposition to Israeli war on Gaza
The Israeli killing of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen in Gaza may mark a turning point in Washington, seemingly hastening a decline in US backing for the ongoing aggression.
US President Joe Biden finally called, on Thursday, for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, underscoring the gravity of recent developments, particularly condemning the strikes on humanitarian workers and highlighting the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
White House Spokesperson John Kirby issued a warning, urging "Israel" to take concrete actions in the "coming hours and days."
"If we don't see changes from their side, there will have to be changes from our side," he added.
This marks the nearest instance that Biden, or any US president, reportedly approached the idea of tying aid to "Israel", a notion previously considered unthinkable when the Gaza genocide commenced six months ago.
The anger over Israeli airstrikes that resulted in the deaths of aid workers from José Andrés' globally recognized nonprofit erupted on Tuesday, prompting Biden to release a statement criticizing "Israel" for its failure to safeguard civilians and aid workers.
However, the killing of over 33,037 Palestinians including at least 15,000 children did go unnoticed.
Former Obama aides Jon Favreau and Ben Rhodes sharply criticized Biden following a Politico report that depicted him as "privately enraged" over the World Central Kitchen Israeli strikes.
Even Joe Biden's wife, Jill Biden, has reportedly advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza. During a meeting with members of the Muslim community at the White House, one attendee conveyed to President Biden that his wife disapproved of his attendance due to his support for "Israel" in its ongoing aggression on Gaza.
President Biden acknowledged this sentiment, revealing that the First Lady had been urging him for a ceasefire in Gaza, quoting her as saying, "Stop it, stop it now," as reported by an attendee present at the meeting.
