As the United Nations, its organisations, and advocates for freedom around the world rang the bells of peace on the 21st of September 2024 on the anniversary of the International Day of Peace - declared in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly as a day to celebrate peace -, the Israeli colonialist occupation army beat the drums of war.
Not content with beating the drums, the army pushed its military arsenal and all its equipment into one aggression after another against Lebanon, both land and people, as it continued its genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip which has been ongoing since the 7th of October 2023, and its continuous abuse of the Palestinian people in the West Bank.
It is of no great moment that Japan in 1995 gifted the bells to the United Nations, with the aim of promoting global peace efforts, since the United Nations has not been able to move forward in its mission to achieve world peace. Good intentions are not enough in a world where the logic of force, not the logic of truth, prevails, in a world governed by the law of the jungle, not international law, nor international humanitarian law.
Neither the good intentions nor the fine words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the international charters that glorify human beings, their rights and their dignity are enough if they are not accompanied by the ability and power to enforce these laws and punish those who violate them, without distinction or discrimination among people. The United Nations underlines that international humanitarian law - the law that protects civilians in time of war – has been flouted and trampled underfoot.
What is the point of the UN’s call for a cessation of hostilities in a world with double standards in which most countries of the world whimsically turn their backs on international conventions or demand their implementation, without any consideration for the principles of justice, equality, freedom, and human rights?
It has become obvious that the efforts of the United Nations and the friendly countries and their peoples of the world are unable to establish a just peace. But is it not possible to alleviate human suffering, which the World Humanitarian Day, celebrated on the 19th of August, aimed to consolidate amid the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip since 2013? The United Nations has described 2013 as the bloodiest year ever for those working in the humanitarian field.
In his message on World Humanitarian Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that impunity ‘means that perpetrators do not fear the grip of justice,’ concluding that this is a failure of humanity, a failure of responsibility and a failure of leadership. He called for an end to the ongoing attacks on those working to alleviate human suffering, on the civil society, doctors, nurses, media professionals, journalists, writers, and citizens. He called on governments to pressure for the protection of civilians and to demand an end to impunity by bringing perpetrators to justice.
The peoples of the world cried out to stop the aggression, massacres, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, and to stop the sale of weapons of mass destruction to the Israeli occupation state. The UN Secretary-General, however, called for an end to arms transfers to armies and groups that violate international law. Is this fainthearted call sufficient? Is it consistent with the call for world peace? Does it end the blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law? Does it end the violence that pervades the world? Does it end injustice? Does it end impunity for criminals?
For peace to be achieved, it is imperative to struggle against militarism, and to challenge the militaristic ideology that overshadows and destroys human life and humanity on earth. There is no alternative but to end Israel’s long-term settler colonial occupation of the land of Palestine.
The perpetrators of war crimes must be severely punished and those who cover up or justify them must be exposed.
Only joint dialogue and joint action to achieve social justice, equality, respect for human rights, and political, social, economic, and cultural security, not only for the Palestinian people, but also for oppressed peoples and all peoples of the world, will save and protect humanity and achieve peace.