Humanitarian aid cannot battle colonialism

Seasons, especially summer and winter, are useful to determine the inadequate humanitarian aid reaching Palestinians in Gaza. As winter approaches, forcibly displaced Palestinians have already experienced flooding and deaths as a result of Israeli colonialism, primarily. Had there been no colonialism and no forced displacement, Palestinians would not be living in tents. Combined with the genocide and military occupation of Gaza, the hazardous conditions have briefly entered mainstream consciousness. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has his rhetoric ready. 

In response to the Board of Peace’s statement that Gaza is facing an immediate humanitarian emergency, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that “Hamas alone is responsible for the suffering of Gaza’s residents.” 

Israel has backing from the international community for its impunity. The UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher noted that UN member states have delayed their aid contributions. “Foreign Ministers and partners have assured me of support, but also repeatedly said that progress would be hard until after Israeli elections,” Fletcher stated. “Now we’re told to wait for the formation of a Government.”

When Israel started its genocide in Gaza, hesitation was not on the international community’s agenda. Its hesitation was only linked to humanitarian pauses and ceasefires.

The same trend persists now. As Palestinians are forced to live in deteriorating conditions on what remains of Gaza, Israel’s military occupation has already been normalised.

Therefore, the international community would be contradicting itself if it had to act in a way that would suddenly disrupt Israel’s colonial expansion plans. 

READ: 53 countries, organizations urge Israel to allow rapid humanitarian access to Gaza

Meanwhile, reading about aid recovery efforts only points towards the fact that “pumping out water, improving drainage, reinforcing sites with sandbags” now constitute a normalcy that should have never been normalised. How is it normal to think of tents as permanent housing? How far has Zionist colonial violence conditioned perception against the horrendous reality in Gaza?

Netanyahu’s rhetoric of blaming Hamas for everything that happens in Gaza might not have found a welcome everywhere. Global opinion now stands strongly against colonialism and its abettors in the West. However, Israel has an entire system backing its colonial violence, including the humanitarian paradigm which is malfunctioning exactly as envisaged. 

If Israel decides to prevent aid from reaching Palestinians, humanitarian aid cannot function. Especially when the international community is willing to participate in the waiting game that forces Palestinians to their deaths. Not to mention that humanitarian agencies are prevented from political stances even as politics determine their every move. The latter ties in directly to the international community which has withdrawn aid funding on several occasions, while some countries insisted on neutrality clauses, thus conditioning aid while granting Israel unbridled impunity for its war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

Israel blames Hamas for the repercussions of the floods in Gaza, but Israel and its backers are to blame. From the 1947 Partition Plan to the Board of Peace, the humanitarian paradigm was positioned as a shield for Israel and a trap for Palestinians. The focus remained on aid delivery, while questioning the impediments to delivery was met with the usual excuses defending Israel’s colonial violence. 

Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, continue waiting in flooded tents because contrary to what is disseminated by world leaders and humanitarian actors, the truth is that humanitarian aid cannot battle colonialism. 

BLOG: The sum of the humanitarian paradigm is deadly

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