UN’s commemoration of Nakba and the West’s complicity

Amid the risk of a third intifada looming over the Israel-Palestine conflict, the United Nations, on May 15, officially commemorated Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of roughly 700,000 Palestinians in the process of Israel's creation in 1948. Every year on this day, while Israelis celebrate their independence – a moment of pride for the long-persecuted Jewish community – Palestinians around the world protest the ongoing occupation and oppression. 

The UN's commemoration was welcomed by Palestine, harshly condemned by Israel, and rejected by major Western friends of the latter. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called the commemoration "historic," given the General Assembly's role to partition British-ruled Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, with Jerusalem placed under a special international regime.

Though it is indeed a historic gesture, the international and Western support for Palestinian human rights has a faint heartbeat. The US, UK, and members of the EU, who strongly uphold the rhetoric of the two-state solution, did not attend the event. They chose to tread on the safer side, and by signalling their "neutrality" on Nakba, the West has blatantly revealed its lack of empathy for Palestinian calls for justice. This moment serves as a reflection, and a reminder, of the Western complicity in perpetuating the injustice against Palestinians. The two-state solution is not viable today, and has never been, because of the West's unconditional support for Israel, which itself is responsible for the unfinished Nakba.

For Palestinians, Nakba, which means "catastrophe," is integral to their current resistance and identity. The carnage and instability that began 75 years ago continues to be a daily occurrence. Just days before the UN's event, a five-day flare-up on the Gaza Strip left 30 Palestinians killed, injured 90 others, while destroying 50 homes and displacing 950 people. A ceasefire, negotiated by Egypt, prevented further escalation. But this movie of violence and ceasefire plays like a broken record in the region.

The Israeli attack last week came even despite another fragile ceasefire in place, after cross-frontier exchanges followed the death of Khader Adnan, a prominent political figure affiliated with Islamic Jihad, in Israeli custody. Israel continues to detain Palestinians, encroach their lands, launch "pre-emptive" airstrikes on the grounds of "self-defence" against terrorist groups, Palestine's Islamist Jihad party and Iran-backed Hamas. Of course, the rise of militancy in Palestine is a matter of safety concern for Israeli citizens – as it is for Palestinian citizens. But if there was ever a debate regarding who the victim or oppressor is, the disparity in the casualties between Palestinians and Israelis in each episodic blow-up should have put that to bed.

Just last year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the West Bank took the bloodiest turn on record since the second intifada, killing 150 Palestinians and 30 Israelis. In 2021, Israeli forces killed 236 Palestinians on the Gaza Strip, and thousands lost their homes. Time and time again, the West has backed the "self-defence" narrative that Israel has used to dodge accountability. 

Palestinians are repressed in countless other forms: illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and the apartheid system that subjects Palestinians in Israel-occupied territories to draconian laws. But Western sympathisers, who visit the region and tepidly call for peace, continue to turn a deaf ear towards the plight of Palestinians.

It is incredibly shameful that the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands – all big global players who claim to champion the highest standards of democracy, were among the 30 nations who outrightly voted against the UN resolution to commemorate Nakba.

Explaining the decision behind the US' absence in the UN event, the White House spokesperson told Axios that the US "has long-standing concerns over anti-Israel bias within the UN system, which is counterproductive to peace. We do not support events organized by bodies designed to perpetuate anti-Israel bias." The choice of words from the White House starkly shows that their own long-standing bias on the matter remains ironclad.

Despite their garrulous calls for a two-state solution, the US has unabashedly failed to condemn Netanyahu's settlement policies that have foreclosed the options of the two-state solution itself. Even after the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last year, the US failed to independently launch an investigation. The US has always backed the oppression of Palestinians, through their commitment to ensure that Israel maintains its Qualitative Military Edge to "potential regional threats." With over $150 billion in financial aid, they've developed Israel's advanced military. And by being an apologist for the far-right government's misuse of military powers against Palestinian civilians, they've let Netanyahu's regime operate with impunity.

The UK, former colonisers of Palestine, also deals with the conflict with similar duplicity. (It is worth mentioning that the UK has never faced their unique historical role in Nakba, and the fact that they paved the way for the 1948 displacement of Palestinians when they issued the Balfour Declaration). In a pact signed this March, the UK pledged to confront "anti-Israel bias" in international organisations and opposed using the term "apartheid" to describe Israel's oppression of Palestine. For years, the UK has maintained an exclusive arms trade with Israel, and continues to supply drones that are used in surveillance and attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. 

Likewise, EU member states increasingly engage in arms trade and economically beef up Israel's forces. But sanctimoniously, the EU released a statement on May 14, welcoming the latest ceasefire and reinstating their readiness to work with "all partners to bring relief, assist in achieving calm for both Israelis and Palestinians and restore a political horizon." The readiness is limited to political convenience: members of the EU did not attend the UN's commemoration of Nakba; the president of the European Commission instead sent a special message to celebrate 75 years of Israel's independence, where she praised Israel as a vibrant democracy. 

When it comes to Israel and Palestine, the West finds it hard to stick to their so-called moral values, because it's politically difficult. They don't even shy away from disjoining hands with the UN and humanitarian bodies. But if they truly care about peace, the West must come to terms with its own complicity regarding the loss of Palestinian lives. Until then, Israel will have no incentive to comply with international law and Palestinians will continue to suffer. Nakba will go on, as it does, with Israel knowing that powerful governments will stand by them.

Ramisa Rob is a journalist at The Daily Star.