Truth is often referred to as the first casualty of war. But in the world as it is now, truth died long ago. We have two major conflicts underway which are based on lies; lies about who did what and why they did it. Those lies are fuelled daily and lead to futile debates about whether one is a war for freedom or whether the other is an act of genocide.
Ironically, our leaders happily supply armaments to one war which has, probably, conservatively killed nearly 200,000 people while calling for a ceasefire in another that has killed nearly 30,000 people. Those of us who want both wars to stop and think that they are being prosecuted with ulterior motives simply cannot get a break.
Both wars resulted from an invasion of sovereign territory: Russia invaded Ukraine; Hamas terrorists entered Israel and—it still seems remarkable, given the tightest security any border could have had—slaughtered hundreds. Neither of these things around which the facts are disputed can justify the results, the facts of which are beyond dispute. Zelensky wishes to prolong a war in which the manhood of his country is being sacrificed. Netanyahu is prosecuting a war in which thousands of innocent people, Muslims and Christians, are being killed.
Call for a ceasefire in Ukraine and you are accused of being pro-Putin; call for a ceasefire in Gaza and you are anti-Semitic. Likewise, fail to show anything but wholehearted support for the ‘river to the sea’ rhetoric and you are clearly anti-Islamic. If you find both sides in both wars almost equally unpalatable you please nobody, thus the real casualty of these wars, particularly the war in the Middle East, is common sense.
What is happening in Gaza is not genocide and descriptions of it as such are ridiculous. Israel is dependent on Palestinian labour to keep its economy going. Before the war, 150,000 crossed into Israel daily and now that they are not, Israel is struggling economically. What interest could Israel possibly have in wiping out the Palestinians? Nevertheless, while our leaders argue about the terminology, innocent people continue to lose life, limb and homes under the almost constant barrage from the Israeli Defence Forces. The recipients won’t care a jot what we call it in the west and, it seems, neither do the Israelis.
I don’t suppose that anyone reading this has any more idea how to stop either war than I do. Stopping the supply of arms to Ukraine would most probably stop that war. But we have to wonder what Russia’s next move would be. By aiding and abetting the prolongation of that war, any trust Russia may have had in the west has surely expired. A recent report on Russia on BBC Radio 4 explained how sanctions have not damaged the Russian economy as much as may be thought. Russian oil is being sold to India and this is making its way back to Europe; Germany, for example, is very keen to buy it. Now Russia is China’s biggest supplier of oil and the two countries are closer politically than they have been for a long time. If Ukraine stops fighting then it may well be the Chinese who call the next shots.
Believing that the war in Gaza will stop until the Israelis have taken every inch of land is fanciful. With their imminent assault on Rafah, it seems that this point may soon be reached. Equally fanciful is the belief that the Israelis will wipe out Hamas. They will find only the foot soldiers left behind to frustrate their efforts by sniping and booby trapping. Meantime, I imagine the leaders of Hamas are emerging somewhere in Israel from one of their many tunnels through which illegal trading between the West Bank and Israel has proceeded for decades. I don’t believe the leaders of Hamas care any more for the plight of the Palestinians than the Israelis do.
Roger Watson is a retired academic nurse who lives in the UK.
He is currently engaged in a range of professional consultancies in the UK, Europe and China. He writes regularly for several outlets including The Daily Sceptic, The European Conservative, Country Squire Magazine and The New Conservative.
