Palestinian American writer Ramzi Baroud believes that Western capitals’ support for Gaza has a profound and dangerous impact on the United States’ leadership of the West and the international system.

In a report on the American “Counterpunch” website, Baroud recounted the incidents of support for Gaza from some Western countries and other countries of the world, in violation of Washington’s wishes. This includes Spain joining South Africa in the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide, as well as Spain, Ireland and Norway’s recognition of the State of Palestine.

He described these facts as a departure from long-established Western policy led by the United States.

Threatening international bodies

He added that Washington has supported Israel for many decades, whether a Republican or Democratic president is at the helm of American power, and has been so biased towards Israel that it recently did everything in its power to support the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, by providing Israel with the weapons necessary to carry out its crimes, and threatening the legal and political bodies. The international community that tried to hold Israel accountable for its crimes.

He stated that this reality imposed a political dilemma for Europe, which often blindly followed the steps of the United States - or its wrong steps - in the Middle East, a rule that has continued since the end of World War II, and which witnessed a few historical exceptions, such as the challenge of former French President Jacques Chirac imposed the consensus imposed by the United States when he strongly rejected Washington's policies in Iraq in the run-up to the 2003 war, but these rifts were eventually repaired, as the United States returned to its role as the undisputed leader of the West.

Crossing the moral line

Baroud stated that Gaza has become a major breaking point for Western unity, as the West was divided over support for Israel immediately after the events of October 7, and the United States, and to some extent Germany, continued to commit to supporting the Israeli war, while many European countries expressed strong positions. Recently, Israel has been accused of genocide and has united with countries of the Global South with the aim of holding Israel accountable, which is a major shift that we have not seen in many years, which means that the scale of Israeli crimes in Gaza has exceeded the moral limit that some European countries can tolerate.

The legitimacy of the international system

The writer explained that the important matter lies in the issue of the legitimacy of the international system and the future of the West, as Western leaders do not hesitate to formulate their language in this way. In a recent article, former Irish President Mary Robinson spoke on behalf of the “Group of the Elders” and warned of the “collapse of the international order.” She said, “We oppose any attempts to delegitimize” the work of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, through “threats to take... Punitive measures and sanctions.

The writer added that signals about the collapse of the legitimacy of the international order established by the West have been issued by many other parties in recent months, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan.

The writer explained that Washington succeeded, for a long period at least in the eyes of its allies, in maintaining a balance between the collective interests of the West and formal respect for international institutions.

The writer concluded his report by noting that it is now clear that Washington is no longer able to maintain this balance, which has forced some Western countries to adopt independent political positions, the future results of which will be influential.

Source: American press+ Al Jazeera