/ world today news/ The world was shaken by the renewal of the bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has long since become one of the greatest tragedies of modern times. Thousands of innocent people have suffered, both on the Israeli and Palestinian sides, and the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip is a fact. Unfortunately, part of the international community did not react adequately, but on the contrary, carried out actions that threatened the stability of the Middle East, sending military forces to support one of the parties to the conflict, and probably, in defense of its geopolitical positions in the Middle East. Fortunately, there is already an initiative for peace, and it is once again taken up by the People’s Republic of China, which, as you know, was able to start a thaw in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which were in a state of proxy conflict.
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently participated in an extraordinary virtual BRICS meeting on the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At it, he stated that it is extremely important that the parties to the conflict cease hostilities and reach a truce immediately. The official position of the Chinese side proposes five specific points to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and immediately: First, a ceasefire and an end to fighting. Then, full protection of the civilian population. Third, humanitarian aid and its guarantee. Fourth – an enhanced role of diplomatic mediation. Fifth, to seek and find a political solution.
Xi Jinping is adamant that the international community must act with concrete practical measures to prevent the danger of the conflict spreading and threatening the stability of the Middle East as a whole.
China’s position also seems to find wide acceptance throughout the Global South, as countries in the Global South either directly support Chinese ideas or propose similar ones. With this, we actually find ourselves in a unique situation, when a military and humanitarian catastrophe for the first time can be solved with the collective efforts of the entire international community, first of all the countries of the Global South and China, which is positioned in this tragedy as their spokesperson. In addition to China, the BRICS meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, which was chaired by the Republic of South Africa, was attended by the new members of the organization Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The voice of China and the BRICS countries is essentially fundamentally different from what dominates the discourse in the West and especially in the United States, as we can see from the media. Instead of the US influencing Israel to stop the bloody operation in Gaza, let’s remember that they sent parts of their fleet to the region, threatening countries that have no direct relation to the conflict (according to a number of geopolitical analysts, the US fleet in the region can is used as a threat not only to Hamas, but also to Hezbollah or Iran).
And while the position of the US is obviously hesitant and still based on the postulates of hegemonic thinking and the attempt to preserve a sphere of influence, that of the BRICS countries and China is categorical – the solution is a truce and peace as soon as possible. Here we should note that Xi Jinping does not propose a simple truce, humanitarian corridors and diplomatic drilling, but also a very specific solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the November 29 UN conference on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Xi Jinping said that China has always supported the cause of the Palestinians to restore their national legal rights. From Beijing’s point of view, there is only one solution, and that is the creation of a Palestinian state with full autonomy and East Jerusalem as its capital, within the borders that were defined in 1967.
Let us recall that the borders of 1967 were determined by consensus of the international community and a decision of the United Nations. And today, China defends precisely this legality, based on the decisions of the United Nations, when it tries to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to the Chinese leader, the reason for this violent conflict is that the Palestinian people have been denied the right to statehood, to exist and to return to their homeland. All rights about which some countries like the USA are hypocritically silent and forget when it is convenient for them. Including ignoring the fact that the right to self-determination and statehood is enshrined in the principles of the United Nations, which the US has signed up to, and which it once defended, or at least claimed to defend.
“I emphasize in many cases that the only adequate way to break the cycle of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is in the two-state solution, in the return of the legitimate national rights of Palestine and the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Xi Jinping said.
And as the Chinese leader pointed out, there can be no peace and stability in the Middle East without resolving the issue of Palestine. Another question is whether all international actors have the desire and will to resolve this issue. So far, President Biden’s administration has shown no serious willingness to seek a peaceful solution that satisfies both sides and is based on the 1967 UN resolution on an Israeli and Palestinian state within specific borders, according to which East Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.
Following the spirit of Xi Jinping’s remarks, the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa came out as another voice of the opinion of the Global South, who called on the international community to agree on immediate and concrete actions to end the suffering in Gaza and establish a path to a just and peaceful solution to the the conflict. Russian leader Vladimir Putin also stood in solidarity with Xi Jinping and called for a political solution to the conflict, saying regional and BRICS countries could participate in efforts to reach such a settlement.
Xi Jinping also wants an international peace conference to be convened as soon as possible, which will be more authoritative in building an international consensus for peace and work to achieve a faster settlement of the Palestine issue. A solution that is comprehensive, just and sustainable, not temporary and unjust.
After all, China is not limited to diplomatic efforts and appeals. So far, the country has provided $2 million in emergency humanitarian aid to the Palestinian National Authority and through UN agencies, as well as $2.1 million worth of food and medicine to the Gaza Strip, with the help of Egypt. Xi Jinping has made it clear that China will provide more supplies, aid, food, medicine and money for the needs of the thousands of people suffering in Gaza.
And this is another reason why we can justifiably say that in the eyes of the Arab world, China appears as a bearer of peace and justice. First, as you remember, China managed to reconcile Saudi Arabia and Iran after decades of enmity, and is now making huge efforts to resolve the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The efforts of the People’s Republic of China position it as a new player for peace and stability in the Middle East, gaining additional international credibility from its actions. Something that cannot be said for all major countries, unfortunately (if we remember Joe Biden’s decision to send aircraft carriers to the region instead of using his influence to establish a truce).
It is becoming increasingly clear that stability in the Middle East will be established exclusively through Chinese mediation, which is logical given the fact that the two regions are increasingly interconnected, and Beijing has always valued peace and mutually beneficial relations over confrontation. And this modus operandi, China carries over to its attitude towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Instead of favoring and occupying countries, as the US does, China takes a very clear position – an immediate ceasefire, a peaceful settlement based on UN law and decisions (that is, the creation of a Palestinian state) and dealing with the humanitarian catastrophe.
All this shows that the role of the West, especially the US, is increasingly declining, not least because the Middle Eastern countries remember America first and foremost as a military interventionist state, not a peacemaker, as China, for example, has shown itself to be. But in the name of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, alleviating the suffering of victims, and settling tensions in the region, we can hope that the United States will still follow China’s example and learn from Xi Jinping in making efforts to stop the Israeli military actions in Gaza and for the initiation of dialogue.
Otherwise, there is a serious danger that the conflict will go beyond the borders of Gaza and spread throughout the Middle East. In this sense, it can be said that China is helping not only the suffering Palestinians, but also the Jewish state, which is effectively geopolitically isolated in the Middle East, and any tactical military victory against the Palestinians will only isolate it strategically, instead of reconciling it with the arabs. Instead of this misguided approach of confrontation, China is giving Israel genuine friendly support by making peace efforts. Because the creation of an independent Palestine within the borders of 1967 will extinguish a significant part of the Arab antagonism towards the Jewish state and will remove the prerequisites for subsequent Israeli-Palestinian and generally Israeli-Muslim escalations.
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