Normalising UN terminology leads to normalising genocide
The unfolding genocide committed by Israel in Gaza is being muted by terms which, for decades, did nothing to even alleviate the consequences of settler-colonialism for Palestinians, let alone provide any safety or liberation. Every time that the root cause of the violence is not mentioned by politicians, diplomats or the media, Israel’s impunity increases, as does its presence in Palestine. Palestinians, meanwhile, are deprived of the little space they have left, and their presence is subject to annihilation by Israel.
While the UN has used terms such as international law, ceasefire, humanitarian aid, forced displacement, settlement expansion and many others that refer to specific violations committed by Israel, what is missing from the narrative is Israel’s settler-colonial identity and presence in Palestine. Normalising UN terminology leads to normalising genocide.
From 1967 onwards, when Israel established its military occupation over Palestine as another step in its settler-colonial objectives, the international community found it easier and more comfortable to speak of “ending the occupation” and establishing “a two-state solution”. Settler-colonialism was almost completely eliminated from the narrative of what Palestinians have endured since before 1948. Decades of delays established settler-colonialism in Palestine, and the UN still refuses to acknowledge this fact. Of course, the UN’s role in enabling and maintaining Israel’s settler-colonial existence plays a major role in glossing over Israel’s origins and what it set out to achieve in the 1948 Nakba.
Yet a major part of media dissemination speaks in terms of specific violations without referring to genocide. The mass starvation of Palestinians is not just an action that goes against international norms and conventions which Israel is supposed to follow; it is an act of genocide. Ceasefires to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and the release of hostages are merely a sliver of what a ceasefire should entail. Primarily, the ceasefire should serve as an end to the current genocide of Palestinians, not a pause that allows Israel to recalibrate ready for its next round of bloodletting.
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