By Nathalie TOCCI
It is too late to talk about a “humanitarian catastrophe” or “terrible suffering” in Gaza. The calls of Western leaders, such as Kaja Kallas, Keir Starmer, David Lammy or Emmanuel Macron, might have had weight a year ago. Today, they are just empty words on the ruins of a tragedy. The time for criticism is over.
Likewise, symbolic gestures like recognizing the Palestinian state. What is happening in Gaza can no longer be called just a crisis. They are war crimes, crimes against humanity, and according to the International Court of Justice, as of December 2023, there is a credible risk of genocide.
This grave accusation is not easy to prove. But the goal of genocide, the destruction of a people, in the case of Gaza is becoming increasingly apparent, as Israeli ministers speak unfiltered about their intentions and every day passes with more civilian casualties.
A serious question arises: how is it possible that the people who experienced the Holocaust are committing similar crimes today? The Netanyahu government cannot be blamed alone. Even the Israeli public, with free access to information, chooses not to speak out.
Another troubling question plagues the West: why are there double standards for Ukraine and Gaza? Why are there no sanctions on Israel, why is preferential treatment from the EU not suspended, why does military cooperation remain in place?
There are many unanswered “whys.” What remains is a sense of collective shame, hypocrisy, and complicit silence.