Gaza Ceasefire: Divisions Between Govt & People in Major Liberal Democracies
The UN vote is a striking example of another fundamental premise of the liberal world order - representative democratic government - coming under strain too
The UN General Assembly in an overwhelming vote demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza where over 18000 people - majority children - have been killed by Israel. However, leading liberal democracies have either opposed or abstained from the UN resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
Last month, I wrote about how Israel’s bombing of Gaza has shattered the illusion of liberal democracy.
The basic premise of the liberal world order is equal dignity and value of all human life - and its automatic extension, a commitment to truth and justice. However, everything about the way Israel is going about its campaign against Hamas - the de-humanizing rhetoric, cutting off water, power and other supplies to Gaza, indiscriminately raining down bombs on Gaza while ignoring the mounting civilian cost - goes against this premise. But what has put paid to this delusion is not just what Israel is doing but the endorsement of Israel’s actions by the apparent torchbearers of liberal democracy […] now, not only is the world leadership not coming together as one to demand a ceasefire but there is a clampdown on those who are.
The UN vote is a striking example of another fundamental premise of the liberal world order - representative democratic government - coming under strain too. Even as the majority of world’s most powerful leaders have backed Israel, people around the world have come out in horror against the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of protestors in countries around the world have marched in protest demanding a ceasefire as Israel has continued its bombing and ground invasion of Gaza. An analysis by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project has recorded over 4200 demonstrations around the world between Oct 7 and October 27 with 90% of the demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinians and calling for a ceasefire.
However, the same governments who voted against the calls for ceasefire have clamped down on protests
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza, governments across Europe have grappled with how the conflict has played out in their own countries. Some, citing security fears, have imposed stiff restrictions on pro-Palestinian protests in particular or banned them altogether, raising concerns about the violation of civil liberties […] Even where protests have not been banned, some government officials strongly discouraged pro-Palestinian demonstrations, or harshly condemned them.
In the United States, polls indicate that the majority of Americans back a ceasefire in Gaza in contrast to Biden’s strong support for Israel’s military siege of Gaza.
This disconnect is not isolated to this issue alone. Among other issues, in contravention of overwhelming public support the United States remains the only developed country without universal healthcare. Consequently, American trust in government has plummeted over the decades to its current historic lows. This is true of other major democracies too - in five out of the seven G7 democracies, the majority say they don’t have confidence in their national government.
The alienation of people from their own governments has obvious consequences for stability of elected governments but also the legitimacy of the political class itself; however, surprisingly, the establishment political class around the world continues to conduct itself in ways which shows it to be quite sanguine about the erosion of its own credibility and long-term legitimacy