I am in Washington, D.C. to follow the NATO summit on its 75th anniversary, with Srebrenica and Palestine on my mind.
I remember how, 29 years ago, the men gathered in these halls stood by as a massacre unfolded in the heart of Europe. Thousands of Muslim Bosnians who had sought refuge in Srebrenica, a so-called “safe zone” declared by the United Nations, were brutally slaughtered. Srebrenica was not a safe zone but a trap, just like Rafah in Gaza.
After occupying Gaza, Israel forced Palestinians to migrate to Rafah on the Egyptian border and crammed nearly 3 million Palestinians into this tiny area. For the past three months, Israel has been bombing Rafah. Today, the number of Palestinian martyrs has exceeded 38,000.
According to a study published by The Lancet, even if the war were to stop today, the total death toll due to hunger, thirst, disease and poor living conditions would exceed 186,000. While Israel’s occupation and genocide in Palestine continue, you might wonder what the world’s largest military alliance, NATO, is discussing: Ukraine.
Contrasting priorities
In just 10 months, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel is more than three times the number of those who have died in Ukraine over two years. Over 14,000 of the 38,000 Palestinian martyrs are children. Yet NATO only deemed the children in the hospital bombed in Kyiv on July 8 worth mentioning. Their much-touted Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not truly universal; it stops at Kyiv.
In the small consciences of NATO member country delegates, only Ukrainian children find a place, far outstripped by their interests. Thirteen of the 38 articles in the summit’s final declaration are directly aimed at Ukraine. There is also an additional document: the “Commitment to Aid Ukraine,” which includes a $40 billion fund transfer over the next year.
NATO, which has turned Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into a hero, has decided to establish a military aid and training unit for Ukraine. The fact that European countries and Canada increased their defense spending by 18% in just the first six months of 2024 was welcomed as a stronger defense preparation against threats to Ukraine. But Palestine has no place in these corridors.
Apart from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, no head of state dares to put Palestine on the agenda, talk about it or even mention its name in bilateral conversations. This situation cannot be explained merely by hypocrisy or self-interest.
In a Washington Post article quoting President Erdoğan’s words, “Global conscience cannot breathe easily until a fair and lasting peace is established in Palestine,” he likened the genocide in Palestine to “the elephant in the room.”
Today, Palestine is indeed being hidden behind closed doors by NATO and the international community, just as Bosnia was ignored 29 years ago.
Little do they know that this “elephant” will one day shatter that glittering china shop.
