When does observation become a humiliating spectacle?

Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) led a virtual visit to Al Mawasi, Khan Younis, in Gaza for diplomats from twelve countries. Israel’s restrictions on entering Gaza has made it difficult for in person visits; hence the virtual tour so that diplomats could view how forcibly displaced Palestinians are living as a result of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

“Displaced people told the diplomats that they needed sustainable water services, especially during the hot summer days, and emphasised the need for cash-for-work opportunities to feed their families. Participants were also led through hundreds of tents crammed along the shoreline,” the OCHA report stated.

No one has observed Gaza more than the UN and diplomats, apart from the Palestinians themselves, who are both observers and unwilling participants of Israel’s forced displacement. If logic applied, observation would turn into political action.

However, the politics of humanitarian aid determine that observation is merely followed up by reports and further observations, announcements of funding and no constructive relief for Palestinians forcibly displaced in Gaza.

The question, therefore, is not what diplomats saw during the virtual visit, but what action will be taken after. Even if the rest of the world does not have access to virtual visits guided by OCHA, knowledge of how Palestinians are living in deprivation since the genocide is easily available. The same goes for the deprivation Palestinians in Gaza experienced prior to the genocide. While diplomats observe and talk, several flotillas have attempted to break the siege. The symbolism generated by the flotillas is far greater than the announcement of a virtual tour that will likely yield no real humanitarian alleviation, even though diplomats wield more power.

Diplomats do not need a tour to realise that crammed living conditions are a reality for Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s destruction of homes and infrastructure, as well as its military occupation now reaching almost 70 percent of Gaza’s territory, are enough proof of the lack of space. Diplomats have also bene aware for years about the lack of potable water in Gaza. A shattered economy also requires immediate opportunities for employment to allow families to become less dependent on foreign aid.

The more diplomacy allows Israel to colonise Palestinian land, the more humanitarian aid becomes a farce. Likewise, the effort to observe while doing nothing entrenches humiliation.

The lesser of all diplomatic evils, observation while failing to act strengthens the foundations for the continuation of Israel’s colonial violence.

While diplomats observed deprivation virtually, reports of Israel hindering and disrupting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza continued. Funding pledges are mired in contradictions – rebuilding Gaza for Palestinians runs contrary to Israel’s military occupation and plans to build settlements in Gaza. Diplomacy concocts schemes that do not take colonialism into consideration, not even after decades of observation and a genocide in which Israel exposed its ultimate aim both through rhetoric and aerial bombardment.

Observation should not be used as an exercise in political and humanitarian humiliation.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.