On December 25, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram published an article entitled "A Year on the Brink", written by Izzat Ibrahim. The article is compiled as follows:
Not since the end of World War II has the world witnessed this level of atrocities and killings in the last three months of 2023. People across the globe find it difficult to understand the distorted standards and contradictions of the international system. While the competing interests of the great powers have provoked numerous conflicts over the decades, witnessing the occupying powers, under the protection of the world's major "democracies", attempt to destroy the entire population of a region is a shock to a generation that believes that manners and civility have replaced barbarism and brutality.
Israel's war against Gaza is a concrete manifestation of a world devoid of principles and an international system that lacks credibility. This is a sign of the West's continued unchecked dominance, and a testament to the "Global South's inability to make its voice heard against injustice and the erosion of fundamental rights."
However, Israel's attempt to bury Palestinians once and for all by forcing them from their land has only rekindled global interest in the two-state solution.
The tenacious will of the Palestinian people has provoked a strong reaction among younger generations around the world, prompting them to take a closer look at a range of global injustices. Young people speak out against the international order that perpetuates these injustices. These injustices range from abuses of Palestinian rights to climate change, income inequality and the exploitation of resources from less developed countries, to the treatment of migrants and the rise of ultra-nationalist and populist tendencies.
Over the past year, the ongoing conflict has not been resolved, but has only intensified. The seemingly endless conflict in Ukraine continues. The Cold War between the United States and China may have been suspended, but this is only a temporary de-escalation, and the situation is likely to be reversed when the results of the U.S. elections in November are clear.
The failure to intervene and stop the suffering of the 2 million people crammed into a small area — who are facing starvation while bombs rain down on them — does not mean a lack of solidarity. It only takes a glance at social media platforms or listening to the voices coming from the UN General Assembly to realize that there is no lack of unity. The problem is that it is the vested interests of the powerful that shape the global agenda. The future of humanity still seems to be shaped by the alliances and patterns that the West has drawn up.
In the new year, regional conflicts are likely to continue and intensify. The silver lining is that, fears of a devastating confrontation, regional and international powers may reach the kind of agreement that is so desperately needed to prevent a descent into chaos. What better place to start than to end the bloodshed, killing and oppression in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by putting an end to the actions of a State that ignores international law?