Making demands for basic moral actions of governments unlikely to do most of them anytime soon can be a useful educational and long-term activity.
Here are some demands for governments of the world that many of us have been making, with some variations, but only the beginnings of success, for years now.
- Arrest Israeli or any other officials facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.
- Prosecute Israeli criminals under universal jurisdiction.
- Establish a complete embargo on weapons or weapons parts to or from Israel and to or from any nation not upholding such an arms embargo on Israel.
- End diplomatic relations with Israel.
- End financial transactions, trade, and travel to and from Israel.
- Train and send unarmed civilian defense teams, food, medicine, doctors, and aid workers to Palestine.
- Develop a major public educational campaign about the genocide in Gaza and the propaganda that has facilitated it.
- Support a Uniting for Peace action through the UN General Assembly to implement worldwide numbers 3-7 above and to do steps 9-12 below:
- Economically sanction Israeli war criminals.
- Expel Israel from the United Nations.
- Recognize the nation of Palestine.
- Move UN meetings and headquarters out of the United States.
- Break off military relations with and expel from your nation troops belonging to any government that is not upholding an arms embargo on Israel.
- Halt membership or support for weapons-dealing institutions that do not uphold an arms embargo on Israel: the Abraham Accords, NATO, etc.
Now here’s an even less likely demand than any of those to be met anytime soon by any government, much less by two-thirds of a UN General Assembly:
- Send armed ships and troops to Gaza.
The unlikelihood of its happening does not provide a license for demanding it. Such a demand could be remembered on other occasions. And what would happen if this demand were met? How would the Israeli and U.S. militaries respond? And how might other militaries respond to that response? If you cannot answer that question, let’s stick with increasing the pressure for numbers 1-14.
We are all part of the human race, and we all love our children! No one’s child is less than another’s.
Mr. Swanson floods the zone with 5 posts in one day.
But that’s a very good thing.
It tried 3 times to post this response and was told despite correct response “capcha error”
In defense of “Send armed ships and troops to Gaza.” This is too simplistic a proposal as stated. But given the enormity of the crimes against humanity and obvious genocide, the failure to do ANYTHING truly effective must be weighed against the concept of having a multi-national armed escort for the humanitarian flotillas needs to be seriously considered. How could the outcome have possibly been worse for the trapped Palestinians by following this alternative course? Non-violence is right, probably 99% or the time, but life every rule, there can be exceptions. Flagrant genocide is one of them. Think how utter despair must be happening when their population realizes the the entire world knows, but has done nothing effective to stop it, except for Hezbollah, Houthies, and Iran, when actually attacked. Likely the very threat of such a force in their waters and overhead would have caused the Israelis to at least relent and permit the supplies to be distributed, even if not end the war.
Haven’t done 14 potentially effective things, therefore must do one doomed disastrous thing. Got it.