Amongst the issues that Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has exposed is the hollowness of the Western liberal ideas of free speech. That the collective West has no qualms about not waging wars is not a fresh revelation. At least ever since the end of the Second World War, the harbingers of liberalism have waged more wars – and killed more people – than those professing other ideologies and/or practising different political systems. Yet, nothing else could have exposed the shallowness of the Western model of democracy and the claimed respect for human rights than the ways in which the West has failed to protect Palestinian lives. The domestic reaction in the US led by the students and faculties of leading Universities reflects this overall failure. Apart from the unravelling it has caused domestically, this failure is also relevant in a geopolitical sense because it has created an opportunity for Western competitors to push for alternative ways of resolving the crisis. But the West is also pushing against these efforts because it understands that the success of its competitors will undermine its domination. A third key actor in this is the Middle Eastern Muslim states that are playing on both sides to ensure their own survival.
China has been playing some role from this perspective. When Israel began its war, Arab states rushed to Beijing for support and mediation. Washington, obviously, did not like this decision because it showed how the Middle East – which has been following a “look west” policy since the end of the First World War – was now following a “look east” policy. More recently, China has been trying to create a unified political force in Palestine by bringing Hamas and Fatah closer. If China can succeed in........