Gaza and the collapse of Western normative hegemony

Amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, a tragic situation unfolds daily, with thousands of civilians losing their lives. This includes the merciless killing of babies and children, the murder of pregnant women and their unborn children, and the targeting of ambulances carrying wounded individuals. Hospitals, schools, and refugee camps have become the target of bombings, while essential services like water, fuel, electricity, and internet access are cut off.

Countless unarmed people are compelled to flee their homes, and in the West Bank, Palestinians face detention. Illegal Jewish settlements are involved in the killing of unarmed individuals, and Israeli soldiers are employing tactics reminiscent of historical injustices, such as the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews.

This brutal and protracted massacre and genocide, which we have been witnessing for the past 35 days, is rationalized as Israel’s exercise of its so-called right of self-defense. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu employs questionable tactics and rhetoric based on Jewish religious supremacy, finding support in Washington.

Regrettably, a significant number of Western nations, particularly the United States, not only remain silent but also offer substantial support for what Israel defines as its right of self-defense. Mainstream Western media reports these atrocities in a detached manner, with a distinct bias. Babies, children, and women killed in Gaza are labeled as “dead,” while those who lose their lives in Israel are described as “murdered.” This double standard, hypocrisy, and a dominant discourse that legitimizes Israel’s actions are clear indicators that a “state of exception” has been established for Israel within the international community.

This exceptional status granted to Israel reveals that the repercussions of the Gaza massacres extend beyond geopolitical implications. The 35 days of ongoing events underscore the hollowness of the modern international system’s supposed progressiveness. In other words, it exposes the malignant nature of the linear narrative of history supposedly leading to greater good. The brutality of the war we are witnessing is a stark sign of the erosion of Western normative hegemony.

The modern international system is founded not only on material power but, in 1945, with the establishment of the U.N. system, it sought to build a rule-based international order. By setting up international organizations and defining rules, states committed themselves to preventing conflicts, safeguarding victims from aggressors, and constructing a more peaceful global system. Furthermore, post-World War II, comprehensive documents centered on human rights were created. The objective was to establish a peaceful international order by holding states accountable to these principles. However, the Western nations, the architects of this system, have often failed to live up to these standards. More significantly, they have wielded these institutions as tools to bolster Western hegemony.

The Western hypocrisy

The response of Western countries to Israel’s actions in Gaza further underscores the crumbling normative superiority of the West.

The so-called normative hegemony of the West had already lost its credibility. The U.S. invasion of Iraq was based on false pretenses, resulting in the deaths of nearly a million people. When the Arab uprisings began, democracy proved to be a tool that could be selectively applied. After the violent military coup led by Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt, Western media portrayed it as the “restoration of democracy.”

Subsequently, they welcomed Sisi in European capitals as a symbol of stability in the Middle East. The West remained passive following the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime in Syria. The U.S. partnered with the YPG, an extension of the PKK terrorist organization, in northern Syria. France allowed the Lafarge company to operate in areas under Daesh’s control in Syria. While many European countries designated the PKK as a terrorist organization, they allowed PKK activities within their own borders.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the West collectively portrayed Vladimir Putin as the Adolf Hitler of our time, describing him as a ruthless dictator who slaughtered civilians, targeted civilian infrastructure, created refugees, and threatened Ukraine’s territorial integrity. However, this normative stance was utterly undermined by Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza.

The decline of Western normative supremacy is not a fleeting phenomenon and carries significant implications. One of the most crucial consequences is the possibility of an unregulated emergence of a new international order without norms. The second involves the deepening divide between the Western and non-Western worlds and the proliferation of identity-based conflicts. It may not necessarily manifest as a clash of civilizations, as posited by Huntington, but as a profound clash of identities shaping the international order of the future. This risk has intensified, especially within the West itself, since Oct. 7.

The third consequence is that the West has alienated the entire global South. The fourth is the potential consolidation of Russia’s and China’s existing policies. The fifth is the possibility of the Islamic world aligning itself with a non-Western geopolitical axis.

In conclusion, the exceptional status granted to Israel in its actions against Gaza marks the end of the West’s supposed normative superiority and compels the West to grapple with a moral and political decline.

[Daily Sabah, November 9, 2023]