NOURNEWS- The widespread and numerous gatherings and demonstrations that take place these days in many cities of the world spontaneously and without any backing of any organization and loudly condemn the shameful crimes of the Zionist regime against the defenseless people of Gaza cannot be analyzed with any analytical framework unless it is believed that a new aspect of power has emerged in today's world, which is the social aspect of power or social and civil power. This power, of course, may not be new and unprecedented, but its sheer volume is a new matter which we have never seen before.
Now, in addition to political power, military power, cultural power, and economic power, we can talk about the fifth aspect called “social or civil power”; A power that if not more powerful, is not any lesser than other forms of power. In addition, social power has shown that it is more committed to moral standards and lacks the considerations and expediencies of political and economic power.
For almost three weeks, there have been massive public demonstrations in the streets and squares of the world's largest cities to condemn the violence of the Zionist regime against the defenseless people of Gaza. These demonstrations are happening in large cities such as New York, Toronto, Berlin, Paris, London, Oslo, Rome and Brussels, in the east of the world, they are happening from Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur and Manila and Lahore to Istanbul and Amman and Cairo and Baghdad and Beirut and Tehran, in all of which everyone has expressed their sympathy with the oppressed people of Palestine. Once again, the duality between politics and public opinion is happening here. Contrary to the will of politicians, the streets have become an exhibition of civil and social power in a way that arouses wonder in the eyes of every viewer and hope in the heart of every civilian.
Now is the time to show the power and strength of the people. People have grown much larger than politics, and the uncontrollable power of society has overtaken the power of politics. For some time now, this civil power has taken the field to shame the considerate diplomacy by bravely defending the people of Palestine and condemning the obvious acts of violence which are blatantly committed by Tel Aviv. These days, the streets of the world are clear evidence of the ever-powerful conscience of people who, despite their expedient and profit-seeking politicians, want to be servants of the truth and disciples of peace and tranquility.
The bitter and heart-wrenching events that are happening in Gaza in the last 20 days are a measure in itself to measure and monitor the level of adherence of four levels of factors to the standards of human ethics and human conscience.
1. Governments
2. International institutions and organizations
3. Popular celebrities and popular influencers
4. People and unorganized human masses
-- Governments
Since the start of the ongoing crisis in Gaza, different governments have touched upon this subject in different shapes and forms. The recent conflict between Hamas and Israel is nothing like the usual territorial and border disputes between two neighboring countries, whose solution is only related to the parties. It is a terrible event that has made all Humans aware of it and has put the fear of a global war into the lives of all the political circles of the world. Therefore, it was not far from expected that the absolute majority of the governments of the world would be exposed to it in some way and take a position on it. In addition, when this crisis arose, countries such as the US probably saw the situation as suitable to be considered as a proxy war and implement its chronic conspiracies in this matter.
The so-called Western Bloc governments, or in the more recent term “Northern countries”, in full or partial obedience to the US, more or less followed the same position and path designed and implemented by Washington. The position of these countries was to unconditionally support Tel Aviv and put it in the position of an oppressed victim who has both the right and reason to legitimately defend himself.
Outside the circle of the northern countries, of course, volatile positions were adopted by governments such as Russia, China, and India, but these positions did not go beyond the moral condemnation of Israel's crimes and did not lead to a practical and determined operational action. The Islamic governments did not participate in this battle as required by religious and moral requirements, and even in the Cairo meeting, where the foreign ministers of most of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries were present, they only made a verbal statement and did not even succeed in preparing and issuing a statement.
-- International institutions and organizations
Apart from the governments that took a totally inadequate and inappropriate approach to the Gaza tragedy, international organizations and institutions were not the source of effective movements in this conflict. The Security Council was unable to pass a resolution on this crisis due to the Western Bloc's protective approach towards Israel, and it was only the UN that issued a resolution without a guarantee of implementation, which had no benefit nor result other than its moral value and impact on public opinion. Institutions such as UNESCO and UNICEF, which were expected to touch upon the humanitarian disasters in Gaza with more zeal and power, did not have a position other than one or two vague and multifaceted comments. Other international organizations also entered the story as if to merely fulfilling a task and did not create an effective movement nor any momentum. Unions and organizations such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, etc., which were originally established to investigate and solve the common problems of the world, failed to take the field and create hope in the hearts of the oppressed people of Gaza.
-- Celebrities and influential people
In global crises, usually those who are known as celebrities or popular celebrities show effective interventions. The gender of these celebrities is very diverse and ranges from popular sports heroes to artists and cinematographers and great actors and writers and poets and winners of world-renowned awards. In the Gaza crisis, of course, people from these groups came to the stage and took a position in condemning Israel's crimes, but these positions never turned into something comprehensive and widespread. It is enough to compare these specific and limited positions with, for example, the movement known as “Me too” or the movement of opposition to the removal of the right to abortion in America, to find out the difference in the level of reaction. Even though the amount of stance taken by famous Hollywood figures is indicative of moral courage, but the human duty of these celebrities is many times more than this.
-- People and unorganized human masses
The most courageous stance against the crimes of the Israeli regime was expressed by the people who, in the heart of the modern world, revolted against the current trend in the world of politics and turned the streets into a sign of human sympathy for the oppressed and acquitted of cruel ethnic violence. When the crowds of New York, London, Paris, and Berlin protesters shook the streets of the secular and liberal world with cries of sympathy for Gaza and hatred for violence, it was actually the moment when civil and social power prevailed over political and economic power. The amazing images that were broadcast of the demonstrations of the citizens of the major cities of the world in support of Palestine were basically the victory march of the people over the politicians which proved that the power of the public is greater than the power of the politicians, even if these rulers are equipped with media, capital capabilities and weapons. People's demonstrations in the cities of the world, which were all without any organizational backing nor any assistance of governments and political power, are considered a pure and serious moment in praising human dignity and a friendly revolt and non-violence rise of people who love the world and human beings more than politicians, and they are more concerned for the planet.
Our era is the era of destruction of old structures of power and emergence of new forms of power. If the source of political and economic power is negotiation tables and expedient trades, the manifestation of civil and social power is generous streets and truth-seeking and non-violent people.
BY: Pooya Mirzaei
NOURNEWS