With great power comes great responsibility
by Luís Garcia
Regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, sure the Chinese and Russian governments are taking good care of the interests of Russia and China first, and they have all the right to do so. Both call for peace, for dialogue, for the unattainable and utterly unfair "two-states solution". Given such behavior, I dare to question, does such behavior make any sense?
First of all, continuous calls for a peaceful solution and a two-states solution is a Western tactic, based on a purely Western-made concept. The West created the Israeli problem, and the same West uses the negotiation excuse to perpetuate the Israeli crimes against Palestine.
While the world talks about such chimeric solution, Israeli keeps stealing Palestinian territory and expelling Palestinians from their houses, not to mention the ongoing genocide. As righteous nations, as the new hope for humankind, China and Russia shouldn't fall into this Western trap.
If Russia and China bother to try to apply Western-made concept on international politics, then a better concept could be taken into consideration, one that Russia is already righteously implementing in Eastern Ukraine: Right To Protect (R2P). To implement it right now in Gaza, though highly risky, would be regarded by most people in the world as the most righteous initiative China and Russia could ever take. Sure enough, nobody outside Palestine is asking that much.
Russia and China are the hope for Global South. By ignoring the Israeli crimes and by ignoring the Global South demands for justice in Palestine, Russia and China are also undermining their own interests in the sense Russia and China make themselves be perceived in the Global South as superpowers that sometimes sides with Global South by pure coincidence, not out of pure solidarity nor righteousness. I am sure Russia and China are better than that. I believe these two nations can indeed create a better world.
To not act will lead many throughout the world (especially in the Global South) to wrongly (?) conclude they also can't trust China and Russia, Sure enough, to plunder, enslave and kill are the crimes committed and still being committed by the West and only the West. Nothing can be compared to such hideous crimes. Nonetheless, the neutrality of not acting when watching a genocide live on TV, despite having the means to stop it, won't help anyone think highly of China and Russia. With great power comes great responsibility!
Maybe 10 or 20 years ago, Russia and China were not strong enough, they did not have enough leverage. For instance, in 2011 terrorist NATO bombed all energy facilities built by China in Libya. Unfortunately, China had to accept the humiliation silently. For instance, in 2008 Russia was too weak to come and rescue its brother Serbia.
Thankfully, nowadays Russia and China do have leverage to stand against supremacist West. For instance, the world can no longer live without the Chinese industrial output. For instance, the world definitely can't live without Russian energy. Furthermore, Russia is self-sufficient in almost everything: it has highly skilled population, robust industry and plenty of energy resources, and it is literally the only country in the world that has in its territory all the natural elements found in the Periodical table. As for China, the only major problem is not to be independent in terms of energy resources (which, by the way, is a reason why China should somehow intervene in this ongoing genocide before too late, in order to avoid an escalation in the Middle East that will go against Chinese energy interests).
So, regarding the ongoing genocide in Palestine, what can Russia and China do? What peaceful solutions can be implemented?
- Full embargo on Israel, to provoke an economic collapse of the aggressor.
- Full boycott of Israel at all levels (politically, culturally, etc.), thus the price Israel has to pay for committing a genocide is to live isolated from the rest of the world.
- Use their immense power, together with international law, to do something simple and legal: to enter Gaza territorial waters with cargo ships carrying humanitarian aid. No one has the right to stop Russia and China from doing something that is right and legal. And no one would dare to stop China and Russia if they were to do so.
Russia and China leading full embargo and full boycott of Israel could peacefully bend Israel into submission. To do nothing has two highly negative possible outcomes:
- Palestinians are wiped out, Palestine is gone for good.
- Middle East nations like Iran, Syria and Lebanon react, starting a war with Israel. But... then what?
At least Russia is self-sufficient in energy and raw materials. But China is not. Therefore, if China does not want to punish Israel in order to avoid problems with the Western powers, can’t China at least act in order to protect its own vital interests?
For instance, China, by avoiding (leading) peaceful solutions and opting to wait for other nations like Iran to do something.... how will China live on with the Ormuz Strait closed? Iran has all it needs ready to close it in case supremacist West retaliates against Iran. China is the factory of the world and a flourishing country that has everything to lose in case the access to Middle East oil is cut off.
For instance, what prosperity for BRICS and SCO if Iran and Saudi Arabia get involved in a big regional war?
Of course neither side (USA/NATO/Europe and China/Russia) want a nuclear war and both sides will avoid direct confrontation. Yet, to do nothing is to create the conditions for a regional war in which Russian and Chinese strategic partners (Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.) will be waging destructive wars that will highly impact the well-being of China and Russia, as well as undermine the strategic investments and partnerships both have with several Middle East nations, namely Iran.
Sometimes inaction is the most dangerous decision, and that is the mistake Russia and China might be committing right now.
If Israel invades Gaza by land, Iran and others will react, and then, it will then be too late for great righteous powers like Russia and China to close the opened Pandora Box.
Of course there are others solutions, like the ones I mentioned above, and some countries are already showing signs of will to do something that is meaningful.
Bolivia just cut diplomatic ties with Israel. Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors to Israel. Iran is calling for embargo and boycott on Israel. South Africa is proposing itself to do all the above mentioned. Other voices throughout the world are expressing similar intentions and determination. Surely Russia and China can join them too, even lead such movements.
Just imagine the immensely positive repercussions if both nations were to follow up or even lead it!? Imagine how valuable (yet free of charge) would be such PR campaign for China, a country victim of all sorts of unfounded and disgusting accusations created in the West to undermine its credibility, thus its prosperity!?
Imagine China taking advantage of such a global PR campaign, for free, if China were to implement one of the 3 points above mentioned, or even all of them.
Imagine how such actions could contribute, once and for all, to erase the lies about China persecuting Uighurs and/or Muslims inside its territory. Think about the economic benefit for all those Chinese that now struggle in the province of Xinjiang due to sharp decline in the export of its products!?
Imagine how easily would people in the Global South, once and for all, reject and even denounce the Western lies about the so-called Chinese debt trap in Africa!?
Imagine the boost this free advertisement would represent for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and for other Chinese projects such as the global ultra-high-voltage power grid that is now being seriously discussed in China!?
All this would benefit China, thus definitely make itself be seen as a righteous and reliable superpower that is not here to harm and colonize others, but rather to help to implement the much valuable chinese principle of Harmony In Difference (和而不同) at a global scale: respect each other despite our unavoidable differences. There won't be an world based in such noble principle until colonialism and apartheid are eradicated for good!
No big hope to see Russia do anything whatsoever in the near future (I hope I am wrong), given how supportive of the status quo the Russian administration currently is. But let's hope China will, soon!
Long live China! Long live Palestine! Long live Palestine!
Long live Palestine from the river to the sea!