Editor,
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, several sporting bodies banned teams and players from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international sporting events. When they are allowed to participate, they have to play as neutral athletes without the names and flags of their respective countries.
That is how Danniil Medvedev of Russia and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus played in the Australian Open tennis tournament which was held at Melbourne Park from 14 to 28 January this year.
It is one of the necessary measures to get the message across that a country should not invade another country, whatever may be the excuse. Russia’s argument that Ukraine’s drift towards the United States of America could become a threat to Russia’s territorial integrity does not hold water because, after all, Ukraine is a separate country and it should have the freedom to choose its allies.
But the ethical stand of the United States of America and its allies in the matter of their policy regarding Ukraine vanishes into thin air when it comes to their policy regarding sovereignty of Palestine. Why are not they taking similar actions against Israel now? Like Ukraine, Palestine should be treated as a sovereign country as per the partisan plan of Great Britain’s Palestine in 1947.
It appears that these countries follow ethics only in their internal affairs but keep it away from their foreign policy. Otherwise, how can they support Israel? Israel has been ignoring the two-state solution as per the 1993 Oslo Accord for decades and now it has engaged in genocidal violence in response to the 7 October Hamas attack.
United Nations Secretary-General Antón Guterres rightly said that the Hamas attack did not take place in a vacuum. It had its origins in Israel’s hegemony over Palestine decade after decade.
The UNICEF has described the Gaza Strip as the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. According to the Gaza health ministry, children make up roughly half of Gaza’s population and thousands of them have been killed since the start of the war. According to the World Health Organisation, the condition in the enclave is horrible. It is limping with scarcity of water and poor sanitation. Many children are malnourished and sick. Only 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional.
The International Court of Justice has asked Israel to take steps to prevent genocidal acts in the Gaza Strip by its armed forces. According to the World Food Programme, there is a risk of pockets of famine in the Palestine enclave as Israeli authorities have been systematically denying WFP access to northern Gaza to deliver aid. The ministry of health in the Gaza Strip said that over 26,000 Palestinians, including many children and women, have been killed, leaving more than 64,000 wounded in Gaza. It has been reported that Nasser Hospital and El Amal City Hospital in Khan Younis are under ‘extreme danger’ from Israeli bombardment.
The ICJ’s ruling and the findings of various agencies of the United Nations Organisation have laid bare the double standard in the foreign policy of the United States of America and its allies. These countries should boycott Israel until the latter complies with the two-state solution as per the Oslo Accords.
Israel construction companies have asked to send one lakh Indian workers to replace Palestinians whose work permits had been cancelled since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. It is highly unfortunate that the Uttar Pradesh government has started a weeklong drive to recruit construction workers for sending them to Israel. India should not comply with the demands of the Israeli construction companies.
Sujit De