From pampered country to outcasted

Amin Al-Hajj

This phrase was never directed at the occupying state, but it seems that times are changing, masks are falling, and today it is competing with regimes of oppression and genocide for the back seats of the international system. With the expansion of condemnations, the suspension of agreements, and the threat of sanctions, the description of a pariah is no longer an exaggeration. Rather, it is a political and moral description of a reality that has begun to forcefully impose itself. It is no longer a partner, but a burden on what remains of the world's conscience.
As condemnations pour in from Western leaders, UN organizations issue warnings of mass starvation, and European streets are filled with banners describing the occupying state as a perpetrator of genocide, we are not witnessing a passing diplomatic crisis, but rather a historic shift in its position on the map of "international legitimacy." Israel, which has long enjoyed political and media immunity and "enjoyed" the killing of Palestinian children, finds itself today on the brink of moral and legal isolation. It is no exaggeration to say that it has effectively entered the stage of "pariah state."
Since October 7, the occupying state has launched a war of genocide against the Gaza Strip, which has so far left tens of thousands dead and wounded, most of them children and women, according to local and international reports. It has targeted schools, hospitals and shelters, displaced hundreds of thousands, and prevented the entry of food, water and medicine for long periods in the past, and recently for more than two months, causing a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in the twenty-first century. Every time it announces the "entry of aid", it is only a few drops, which do not extinguish the fires of hunger, nor do they help the dying.
But what's new this time isn't just the scale of the crime, its scope, or its brutality, but the extent of the international rejection. Leaders of Western countries such as Britain, France, and Canada have warned of "concrete measures" if Israel does not halt its operations in Gaza. In an unprecedented stance from historic and founding allies, Britain has announced the suspension of free trade talks, and the European Union has begun reviewing its partnership agreement. Other member states have demanded sanctions be imposed on ministers in Netanyahu's right-wing government. In a joint statement, 22 Western countries demanded immediate and full access to aid for Gaza. These statements are no longer accompanied by equivocal positions; rather, these actions are described as morally unjustifiable, counterproductive, and blatant violations of international law.
Even the US administration, despite its commitment to political and military support, has begun to experience cracks in its internal discourse. Voices warning of the consequences of unconditional support for a state that openly violates international humanitarian law, whether in plain sight or in plain sight, have become increasingly vocal. The positions of the occupation government have begun to be met with rejection and ridicule, as happened when the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused the Europeans of a "complete misunderstanding," even considering their demands to stop the war to be support for Hamas.
What is happening today is not just "international pressure," but a global declaration that the occupying state is no longer above the law. Systematic killing, deliberate starvation, brazen settlement expansion, ethnic cleansing, and mass displacement have become a global disgrace that cannot be covered up. With every child whose remains are pulled from the rubble, and every mother who loses her children at once, Israel's "moral credibility" is eroded in the eyes of its supporters. This credibility was founded on the illusion that it is the "only democracy" in the Middle East.
Thus, the world is expressing not only anger, but also a desire to disengage from a state that no longer respects any principle of international law and insists on continuing its crimes in the name of the “right to self-defense.” This transformation does not happen in a vacuum, but rather as a result of the accumulation of decades of complicity and silence, which have been shattered today by the lenses of truth and the corpses of children and women. Today, through its crimes, it has not only robbed Palestinians of their lives, but also robbed itself of its position in an international system that has always provided it with cover. In other words, it has now become a pariah state, morally and politically, and the next step is not condemnation, but accountability.

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Today, Israel—through its crimes—has not only robbed Palestinians of their lives, but has also robbed itself of its place in an international system that has always provided it with cover. In other words, it has now become a pariah state, morally and politically, and the next step is not condemnation, but accountability.