NATO, exceptionalism and Gaza victims

During their US-hosted meeting, leaders of NATO countries discussed almost every issue of concern around the globe except the relentless Israeli aggression against Palestinians in Gaza.

The 38-point Washington declaration, following the meeting, addressed a wide range of issues, including increased financial and military support for Ukraine, condemnation of Russia, criticism of China as Moscow’s “decisive enabler” to the reiteration of solidarity with the European Union.

But the document did not mention children of a lesser god — the victims of the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Isn’t it ironic that the Ukraine conflict, according to UN reports, has left close to 11,000 people dead since its eruption in February 2022, but NATO is up in arms against Russia?

In contrast, the brutal Israeli operations have killed close to 39,000 Palestinians in just over nine months, with two-thirds of the victims said to be women and children. But not a single word by NATO’s democratic leaders. So much for their love for humanity and individual’s right to life!

Ukraine clearly dominated the discourse as a geopolitical issue, and thus, the promise of over $43 billion in military aid within the next year and an “irreversible path” to NATO membership.

As usual, while making a cursory reference to the “conflict, fragility and instability in Africa and the Middle East that directly affect our security”, the NATO members singled out “Iran’s destabilizing actions” and “China’s stated ambitions and coercive policies” as a threat to the Alliance.

“We are confronted by hybrid, cyber, space, and other threats and malicious activities from state and non-state actors,” states the declaration.

“We will employ military and non-military tools in a proportionate, coherent, and integrated way to deter all threats to our security and respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing,” the document reads.

Strangely, the states under censure — Iran, China and Russia — make precisely similar allegations against key NATO member states. They say some Western nations use hybrid warfare for destabilisation and undermining the interests of nations which are outside the NATO bond.

For them, TTP, ISKP, Jaishul Adl, Daesh/IS, and ITP (ETIM) are all tools of proxy terrorism that Iran, Pakistan and Russia have faced in recent years. China is equally concerned about the omnipresence of these groups.

In a self-serving way, the Washington Declaration accuses Russia of seeking to “fundamentally reconfigure the Euro-Atlantic security architecture”, without any reference to Moscow’s discomfort with NATO’s ever-expanding footprint to the west of Russian territory.

NATO leaders also urged “all countries not to provide any kind of assistance to Russia’s aggression” and condemned “all those who are facilitating and thereby prolonging Russia’s war in Ukraine”.

Strangely, not a single word of condemnation for India — which, besides China — has been the major beneficiary of Russian oil, gas, and coal after February 2022.

Coincidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting and the warm hug with Russian President Vladimir Putin almost around the same time made headlines worldwide. But no word of condemnation for Modi.

The NATO leadership, on the contrary, called China “a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine” through its so-called “no limits partnership” between Moscow and Beijing.

Without directing the same to India, the NATO states called on China to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort.

Conversely, the United States and some of its close allies still support Israel with cash and defence materials for its demolition of the Gaza Palestinians — despite calls by China and other countries to cease such supplies, which Israel is using for killing and displacing Palestinians.

While accusing Beijing of adopting “coercive tactics and efforts to divide the Alliance”, NATO nations also offered constructive engagement for “strategic risk reduction discussions” to promote stability through transparency.

On the other hand, Beijing places similar demands on the Western Alliance — to be transparent and equal-handed and refrain from unfairly “villainizing” China. Had it not been the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the Western noises over alleged human rights violations in Shinjang would have be shriller than ever before.

Unfortunately, such Western demands or expectations lose relevance in the face of arbitrary, pick-and-choose policies regarding appreciating or condemning another nation.

Isn’t it ironic, too, that NATO nations consider, according to the Washington Declaration “investing in our Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear defense capabilities” as a kosher right but object to the same endeavours by China, Russia or Iran as evil with the ever-present threat of sanctions and censure? Quite a travesty of the democratic values that the Western nations stood for until the Israeli assault and geopolitical expedience forced them into silence on the plight of the Palestinians.