We are neither powerless nor meaningless

It we were shocked when Israel’s brutal assault on the people of Gaza and the West Bank in Palestine first reached five figures before the end of 2023, then what is our reaction now?

In the absence of the live coverage to which today’s media exposes us, we still were given enough information which has left lasting impressions of Nazi pogroms and massacres, especially against the Jews.

The same international media including Hollywood, and its fairytale war stories, seized the opportunity to brand anyone who challenged their domination, using sometimes abhorrent methods, as equivalent to Hitler and his mass murderers. There are many among us who equate the likes of Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein and Muamar Gaddafi with the perpetrators of the Nazi genocide. Such is the power of the media. So, what do we say and do today about the genocidal death toll in Gaza, rapidly approaching 40,000? Has any other world leader been allowed such horrific leeway, yet repeatedly given standing ovations by both Houses of the US Congress, an institution we revere as being the staunchest upholder of freedom democracy and human rights in the world? We have had the misfortune to witness via the international media the latest shelling of a Gaza school where it is reported that it is difficult to retrieve anything but body parts. Does this not disturb us, to say the least?

Despite all the evidence, our responses are largely muted. In part, this is due to misinterpretation in religious circles, but the root of it lies in the continuing dominance of western powers, particularly that of the USA, over our lives. Clearly the inhumanity witnessed daily in Palestine should trigger an international response. The United Nations, some of whose staff have been victims of the genocidal attack, continues to seem powerless in the face of this unwarranted aggression. Even the legal rulings of the UN’s Criminal Court and Court of Justice seem to have no bearing on the Netanyahu administration. The Security Council, which could approve foreign intervention in Haiti, cannot do the same for Gaza. But it is not just in politics and war, it is in all facets of our daily lives. Take the climate change phenomenon, wrecking lives, livelihoods and homes in Union Island, Canouan, Mayreau and Carriacou. Many grand international conferences have been held on the matter and glorious pledges made for funds to allow affected countries like ours to be able to mitigate the effects.

Unfortunately, these have not been honoured. Even in broader financial and economic matters, the stranglehold of the capitalists who control the western economies is continuing to prove an obstacle to the necessary economic and social development of developing countries. Our country is among those which subscribe to the need for reform of the global financial structure, an arrangement which allows powerful nations to virtually steal the resources of countries with which they do not agree. This is gravely unjust and inhuman. The voices of the vast majority of people on this planet cannot continue to be so blatantly ignored. We may be small, but we are not powerless. Our short sightedness often causes us not to openly support the efforts of our governments to join with each other to demand significant changes in the global architecture. We cannot remain passive forever.