Ethnic cleansing of Gaza

THE EDITOR: The Western media's news cycle may now shift to an Israeli-Iranian conflict. This intentionally distracts attention from the centre of the problem, the people of Gaza. In addition to having their families, limbs, homes, workplaces, hospitals, schools, universities, mosques and churches destroyed, the people of Gaza are currently subject to man-made starvation.

A recent report from the the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee concluded that between mid-March and mid-July, in the most likely scenario, half of the population of the Gaza Strip is expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), which is famine.

In my lifetime the world has seen genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass murder of civilians in other places. But the organised, planned starvation of a population is a new phenomenon.

Understanding of events in the world necessitates following the money. Who is funding this mass murder and ethnic cleansing of Gaza?

A new report was published on April 12 from the Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a London-based charity that has published reports on armed violence against civilians worldwide since 2011. Some of the key findings were:

1. The Biden administration has sanctioned over US$23 billion in military aid to Israel since October 7, with over 100 foreign military sales. At least 69 per cent of Israeli arms imports (probably more) are from the US. These arms transfers routinely bypass congressional oversight to avoid public scrutiny.

2. German arms exports to Israel saw a tenfold increase in 2023, reaching 326.5 million euros.

3. Arms manufacturers globally are reporting record profits amidst conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. American companies like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon are the biggest beneficiaries, but BAE Systems and the German company Rheinmetall are also prominent. BAE Systems is a British multinational aerospace and defence company, the biggest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017 and the largest defence contractor in Europe.

The system is like this: new money is lent/borrowed into existence by the US Treasury and Federal Reserve and used to pay the arms manufacturers, who recycle some of it to fund and control their government and media. It is no secret that the US government is essentially owned by lobby groups. This is easy to research. Weapons makers have spent US$2.5 billion on lobbying the US government over the past two decades (Brown University, Watson Institute).

In summary, this picture suggests that the children and people of Gaza are being starved and their land made uninhabitable in order for the American government to be able to enrich their donors in the US military industrial complex. Ethnic conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli war, are excellent ways to promote arms sales and profits, while lives of non-American people have no value to the US war machine.

"Endless war" must continue forever, according to US economic dogma, as US manufacturing, exports and economic "growth" are dependent on it. And a destabilised Middle East has provided the perfect opportunity for perpetual conflict.

In 1986 senator Joe Biden said to the US Congress: "It is the best three-billion-dollar investment we make. Were there not an Israel the USA would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region." He has repeated similar statements frequently since then, including during his presidency.

What is our position? Silence and inaction equals complicity. The global South, which includes you and me, cannot remain silent on this American and German funded-and-enabled mass murder and ethnic cleansing.

The Central American country of Nicaragua has recently attempted to take Germany to task, charging it in the International Court of Justice with essentially facilitating genocide. Germany (but not the US) has granted full jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest court, so it cannot ignore the Nicaraguan effort.

Note that in November 2023 the Caricom state of Belize suspended diplomatic ties with Israel, following the examples of several other Latin American, Middle Eastern and African countries.

It would be impossible for us in TT to disentangle our future from the US, whose massive reach and shadow are so dominant here. However, we should not be naive about the genesis of conflict, as the next victims could be us.

FEROZE OMARDEEN

Westmoorings