Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen on February 20, as the United Nations Security Council fails to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire. Photo: Reuters
Opinion
C. Uday Bhaskar
C. Uday Bhaskar
Gaza war gives Global South powers a chance to provide moral leadership
Political deadlock at the UN Security Council and divisions in major democracies are stonewalling a ceasefire in Gaza as the death toll nears 30,000
China and other major powers must step up to provide relief and manage contradictions in the world system
The human suffering in Gaza is tragic beyond words. Relief agencies have been warning of extreme food deprivation and the outbreak of diseases. The official death toll in Palestine is reaching 30,000. According to the Gaza health ministry, women and children make up most of the casualties.
Even as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of Rafah, there is some hope that the “basic contours” of a hostage deal for a temporary ceasefire may soon be finalised. In the meantime, the pain felt by the trapped citizens of Gaza continues as major powers are unable to break through political deadlock.
On February 20, the United States exercised its veto for the third time on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire. The US veto is in line with Washington’s policy of extending steadfast support to Tel Aviv, despite its own reservations about the scale and intensity of the Israeli reprisal to the October 7 Hamas attack – a sentiment that US President Joe Biden has ostensibly conveyed to the Israeli leadership.
The voting pattern among the five UN Security Council permanent members regarding the call for a ceasefire in Gaza is instructive. Earlier resolutions demanding a ceasefire were voted upon on October 18 and December 8. In each case, the US used its veto to block the call for a ceasefire. The United Kingdom abstained, even though it is deemed to be one of the closest US allies.
Of the other three permanent members, both France and China have supported the ceasefire resolutions on all three occasions. Russia abstained on October 18 but supported the call for a ceasefire on the last two occasions. During the latest Security Council vote on the matter, the US was rebuked by China for its indifference to the human suffering in Gaza.
Ambassador Zhang Jun, the Chinese envoy to the UN, expressed Beijing’s “strong disappointment and dissatisfaction” with the US veto and urged Security Council members to push for a ceasefire. He declared it was a “moral obligation that the council cannot shy away from”. Russia was reportedly also critical of the US position while France said it regretted the council’s inability to reach a consensus over the ceasefire.
Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Ambassador Zhang Jun addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council on February 5. Photo: EPA-EFE
The behaviour of Israel’s military in Gaza has become a divisive issue in major democracies. The UK’s parliament has been rocked by a bitter debate between lawmakers who stress Israel’s right to defend itself and those who are outraged by the violence unleashed against Palestinians. However, the UK government has broken ranks with the US and enabled the air dropping of a small amount of humanitarian aid with the help of Jordan.
The Dutch air force conducted a similar mission with the Jordanian military earlier this month. Canada is also examining this option, according to the country’s international development minister. There is a strong case for major powers to embark on even more humanitarian air drop operations to provide immediate relief to the people in Gaza. Within the UN Security Council, China ought to take the lead.
Other major powers who have expressed their dismay at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or have conveyed their solidarity with the Palestinian cause could also step up. Both India and Japan along with other like-minded nations can make a significant contribution. Given the positions taken by South Africa and Brazil – Brics could also support this initiative, though the Indian government’s stance on the crisis has been comparatively less outspoken.
The Global South – an elastic phrase which comprises numerous nations who are seeking to reorient their external policies amid the turbulence engendered by the wars in Ukraine and now Gaza – is increasingly frustrated with the policy paralysis among the major powers. The US is no longer seen as the reliable hegemon for ensuring global stability and the likelihood of a Trump presidency has added to this anxiety.
On November 27 last year, a truck in Cairo, Egypt contains humanitarian aid supplies for Gaza provided by the Chinese government. Photo: Xinhua
China needs to walk the talk over Gaza, especially if it is to be seen as a credible major power in the UN Security Council that can manage the complex contradictions that define the current world system. Russia and the US are in a stand-off over Ukraine. And since UK and France are close US allies, China has an opportunity which is predicated on humanitarian considerations.
The war in Gaza has raised some troubling questions about politics, morality, ethics and how to deal with terrorism. There are no easy or binary answers.
In 1945, American jurist and political scientist Hans Morgenthau wrote, “Neither science nor ethics nor politics can resolve the conflict between politics and ethics into harmony. We have no choice between power and the common good. To act successfully, that is, according to the rules of the political art, is political wisdom. To know with despair that the political act is inevitably evil, and to act nevertheless, is moral courage. To choose among several expedient actions the least evil one is moral judgment”.
Beijing should ponder the essence of this advice – the nuancing of judgment, courage and wisdom that straddles both the political and moral domains, even as it seeks that elusive harmony. This is a worthy goal to be pursued, for the quest may yet seed new possibilities to manage a fragmented world that increasingly lacks fraternity and empathy.
Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar is the director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), an independent think tank based in New Delhi
