Antalya Diplomacy Forum confronts Israeli attacks on Gaza, Mideast tensions

The effect of Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip and tensions in the Middle East were discussed Friday at the Hope or Deception? Imagining a New Ground in the Middle East panel at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Moderated by SETA General Coordinator Burhanettin Duran, the discussion, which took place at the NEST Congress Center in the Belek Tourism Area, was attended by US Middle East Project President Daniel Levy, Middle East Eye Editor-in-Chief David Hearst, communication advisor Mahomed Faizal Dawjee and President of Al Sharq Forum Wadah Khanfar.

Levy said the US exhibits a “hypocritical” approach to conducting global relations.

“You have a leader whom we have heard expresses disappointment and even uses harsh names in his speeches to the Israeli prime minister. I’m sorry, but this is not serious. This is not a card to play. This is not even an attempt to secure a cease-fire,” he said.

He pointed out that steps by the US to stop what is happening in Gaza did not go beyond imposing sanctions on a group of Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

“A massacre is happening in Gaza, and these steps taken are only directed towards a handful of extremists,” said Levy.

He also stated that international law violations against Palestinian civilians continue in Gaza and the US must end its support for Israel.

“The US not only fails to strive for a cease-fire but also actively supplies arms to this country even while there is a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention,” he said. “People no longer believe in these things. They can see the real meanings in the rhetoric of political leaders. They witness the sharp emergence of injustice in the Palestinian issue in their societies and in the international order.”

– ‘Israel is determined to make Gaza uninhabitable’

Hearst also emphasized that what is currently happening in the Middle East will be a decisive factor in the region’s condition in 10 to 20 years.

“If we just stand by and watch without doing anything, we will all have to bear the consequences,” he said.

Noting that what is taking place in Gaza has become a global issue, Hearst said Israel is protested almost every day on the streets of London.

He pointed out that the public is witnessing the gradual disintegration of the Palestinian state.

“We see Israeli soldiers forcing Palestinian mothers to abandon their newborn babies in the freezing cold. We see that Israel is determined to make Gaza uninhabitable. What are we doing? We are normalizing it.”

– ‘The desire for the freedom of Palestinians is ingrained in the DNA of the South African people’

Dawjee stated that South Africa empathizes with the struggle of Palestinians due to its experience with apartheid.

“South Africa did not apply to the ICJ just for publicity. It applied because of its deep desire for freedom and to not remain silent against oppression and racial discrimination,” said Dawjee.

He said the desire for the freedom of Palestinians is ingrained in the DNA of the South African people, indicating that about 60 speeches have been made in the South African National Assembly in the last 30 years regarding the rights of Palestinians and that the Palestinian issue has always been at the top of the South African agenda.

“We knock on the door of the ICJ every week and say that something must be done. Why can’t other countries do this?” he asked rhetorically.

Referring to the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dawjee said: “The late Archbishop Tutu said after visiting Palestine: ‘What I saw in Palestine is 10 times worse than what we experienced in South Africa.’ Keep that in mind and multiply my experiences of apartheid by 10. Then you can get an idea of what we should do in Gaza.”

Tutu was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a hero in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

– ‘The US is an accomplice to the current crisis and genocide in Gaza’

Khanfar said that following the events in Gaza, the Western-centric world order, which promises liberal values to humanity, basic human rights, the rule of law, equality, justice, and democracy, will collapse.

He said most Western governments and the American administration are “accomplices to the current crisis and genocide in Gaza.”

“The Middle East was the last to realize that the West cannot bring peace to the world. Maybe Latin America, Asia and Africa discovered it before us. Thanks to Gaza, we can now see black and white,” he said.

Khanfar also listed what will happen next with the collapse of the Western-centric modern governance model — politics, the world order and ultimately the rise of a regional order.

[AA, February 29, 2024]