Humanity or hegemony... now’s the time to make that decision

Since the first Cardiff humanitarian crusade in solidarity with Palestine in 2024 took place at the start of the year I’ve found it difficult to write about those that have followed due to sheer frustration that the genocide is still ongoing, now into its 114th day, and because my former employer MediaWales and its Wales On Sunday publication continue to totally ignore the marches against it, something that would have been unthinkable during my 30 years as a journalist.

On Saturday, 20 January, those who were shopping in Cardiff while the bombs were dropping in Gaza had a quiet lunchtime as Newport became the destination to show solidarity for Palestine and draw attention to the fact the Greater Gwent Pension Fund for public-service employees is the largest supporter of Israeli apartheid out of all the councils in Wales, something the Newport Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been focusing on by adopting a new slogan: “No Gwent in genocide.”

The pension fund has come under close scrutiny for investing £110 million in companies that support Israel’s apartheid regime and are sustaining its campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

But last Saturday the humanitarian crusade was back in Cardiff, sadly missing several regular speakers who for once during the past 114 days had to put family and friends first… but their presence was still deeply felt during the minute’s silence and applause that followed for speeches in tribute to three-year-old Weeam Dahan, who had sadly been taken from his family the day before after an almost lifelong battle with a rare autoimmune condition.

Weeam’s father Nizar – a humanitarian aid worker who gives up his time to causes globally – has been a rallying force at many of the humanitarian events in Cardiff, Swansea and across South Wales that have taken place during the past four months in solidarity with his homeland and his family’s grief is something all who have attended them, and have come to know him, cannot help but share.

I’d never met Weeam and only know Nizar through the humanitarian crusades but the news has deeply saddened me, so imagine how the Dahan family and other Palestinians feel right now as hundreds of children are killed on a daily basis as a result of Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.

Despite his grave concerns about his son’s health over the past four months, Nizar has also had the deaths of thousands of children in Palestine playing on his mind... just like so many other British residents affected by the Palestinian diaspora that has been ongoing for 75 years. It’s heartbreaking!

If I feel grief now, just imagine the pain these inspirational people are enduring on a daily basis as innocent children are slaughtered by Israel. It makes my heart bleed… how can people allow this genocide to continue? Every politician condoning Israel’s actions is guilty of war crimes, it’s totally inhumane and the world shouldn’t need the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) to convince them of that.

I feel so frustrated by the lack of humanity in the world, but I’ve come to expect that from politicians… it’s the apathy of many ordinary people that I find the most disturbing.

And now, as more and more holes in Israel’s narrative are exposed the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland have joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after more wild Israeli accusations materialised on Friday, immediately after the ICJ ruling had given it just one month to convince the judges it has not been carrying out genocide in Gaza for the past four months.

So it was quite poignant that Saturday’s humanitarian crusades across the world coincided with Holocaust Memorial Day, a time for everyone to remember the millions of people murdered by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime during the Holocaust in Europe during World War II; but also genocides that have followed in Cambodia from 1975-79; Rwanda in 1994; Bosnia the following year; and in Darfur, Sudan, in 2003.

All of these humanitarian tragedies were complex issues with many conflicting narratives in play but all involved the pointless loss of life of innocent children and civilians… something that Gaza has suffered in abundance since the start of October last year.

It’s genocide, there’s no escaping it, no matter what nonsense Israel thinks up to allow complicit politicians to appease their souls for condoning it. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… then it’s a duck!

Perhaps the most significant tool at the disposal of the campaign for justice in Palestine is the BDS movement, which advocates “boycott, divestment and sanctions” as a means to secure freedom, justice and equality for the Israeli-occupied state.

Over the past weeks much has been said at the humanitarian crusades about the BDS movement and how its principles are fundamental to ending Israeli apartheid in Palestine and applying pressure to stop the genocide in Gaza.

Solidarity marches and protests in Wales and across the UK have focused attention on organisations complicit in Israel’s campaign of genocide like Barclays Bank, Starbucks, McDonald’s, military and technology partners (such as Elbit Systems UK, BAE Systems, Atlas Elektronik UK, MPE, Meggitt, Redmayne Engineering, Land Rover and G4S) and education establishments and councils, with the Greater Gwent Pension Fund being one of the biggest offenders in Wales.

The UK government is currently attempting to force through legislation to outlaw public authorities – such as councils, local government pension funds and universities – from incorporating ethical standards into their investment decisions, with the aim of preventing them from being influenced by political or moral disapproval of foreign states when taking certain economic decisions.

Soon to come before the House of Lords for its second reading, the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill is designed to prohibit public bodies from allowing their procurement and investment choices to be swayed by political or moral objections to the actions of foreign nations with regard to a specific “territorial concern”.

Better known as the Anti-boycott Bill, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign is leading a coalition of more than 70 civil organisations (including trade unions, faith groups and NGOs) in calling for it to be scrapped because it would significantly hinder the ability of public bodies to make conscious decisions that would allow them to comply with international human rights laws.

Provisions in the bill would limit their right to make independent decisions and restrict their right to decide not to invest in companies implicated in the suppression of human rights.

While Israel is carrying out its campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, its “friends” in the corridors of power in countries like the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy are going to great lengths to introduce legislation to clamp down on whatever peaceful means of opposition they can.

They are trying to outlaw protests, prevent public bodies from having a say in how their funds are invested and pulling the plug on international aid organisations such as UNRWA… but none of this is really a response to the situation in Gaza now, that is simply the catalyst to allow all these measures to be introduced before the next phase of the globalists’ New Word Order agenda is unleashed.

We are walking a tightrope and Gaza stands at the crossroads that will determine the future we all have to travel down. We either use the right to protest and boycott now to shape a future that embraces humanity or we accept our fate under the control of tyrants capable of slaughtering children and civilians without remorse. So, what’s it to be… humanity or hegemony? Now’s the time to decide!