The futility of resolutions without action

The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) is the latest to speak up about the genocide in Gaza, almost two years since it started. In a resolution that made headline news with major news outlets, the IAGS declared that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide” according to the 1948 UN Convention on genocide.

News reports have also stated that 86 per cent of the association’s members voted in favour of the resolution, which means there was no unanimous consensus among genocide scholars that Israel is committing genocide. “The organisation did not release the specifics of the voting,’ AP Press reported.

If the convention specifies what constitutes genocide, does a resolution really need a vote? For how long will democratic processes be used to buy time for perpetrators of genocide?

Israel dismissed the report as “based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others.”

What stands out in the IAGS report is the lack of Palestinian input. The resolution text acknowledges the earlier reports of international and Israeli organisations and links to their works. However, when it comes to the experts on genocide, only the Palestinian reference is not linked to a specific work. If it is not an omission, this reflects a recurring trend of silencing Palestinian voices in favour of all non-Palestinian input.

International organisations, and not specifically the IAGS, have found more shelter under the banner of international law than the Palestinians ever did. What interests does international law serve? Those of diplomats, academics and politicians? What about the Palestinian people?

For decades, resolutions have taken the place of action against colonialism and colonial violence. All the rhetoric about what must be dome by the international community has only worked to create levels of impunity for perpetrators and accomplices. When any entity churns out a resolution, and always belatedly, the illusion of having done something which is nothing surpasses all Palestinians have been subjected to by Israel. Resolutions serve organisations’ interests, which means they require the Palestinian people to keep suffering, even if it is the ultimate crime of genocide. Human rights are profitable, and all institutions dealing with human rights violations require ongoing cycles of violence to sustain themselves. The subtle levels of corruption disguised as human rights concerns have sustained a new level of oppression for Palestinians – one where their mere existence fuels a rights agenda directly linked to Western concepts of democracy, which time and again has proved to be flawed and self-serving.

If one had to consider all the resolutions on Palestinian rights, and then look at Israel’s actions up to the current genocide, it is clear that resolutions only serve the institutions’ reputation. As the gap between human rights organisations and Palestinians widens further, taking resolutions seriously will become even more difficult. Who believes rhetoric without action, and why should Palestinians believe in such anomalies? Palestinians are experiencing genocide; their experiences are lived experiences, not snippets for futile research and resolution purposes.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250902-the-futility-of-resolutions-without-action/