Antonio Navalón
In just 15 days, the world changed. When it seemed that the world could only be capable of sustaining or witnessing a single armed conflict at a time – referring to the war between Ukraine and Russia – the terrorist group Hamas forced the planet to extend its attention span, its anguish, and its resilience in the face of risk. Since that morning of October 7, the world has been experiencing an open structural recomposition that is taking place on several simultaneous fronts.
The destruction of a hospital, which the following day was shown not to have been such, set the whole Arab world ablaze, suggesting the possibility that the Israeli bombardment of the Strip would no longer respect hospitals and schools, which have long been known to be used to contain Hamas’ main arsenals. Not only did the Arab world burn, it also complicated the difficult balancing act and the talks that are taking place to prevent what began on October 6-7 with the attack on the settlers’ area and Israel’s southern border with the West Bank from ending up being the flame that will start the fire that will ignite World War III.
Europe is as much a part of the conflict as the Arab countries. The arrival of thousands of immigrants from Arab countries creating such disturbing unresolved situations – such as what is happening in Syria – make countries such as France, Spain, in a certain sense, England, and many European countries hostage to Arab fury. The demonstrations of support have not served to find new culprits of humanity in the area, in contrast to the display made by Hamas members, who show their vengeful brutality in the incursions made inside Israeli territory. It has served very well to forget those images and the attack they initiated and concentrate on preserving the actions of the genocidal state, according to Israel’s enemies.
In the territory of the conflict, what is really being at stake and disputed is the religious war. A war that began last century and reached its climax with the attack on the Twin Towers is not being waged in Lebanon, Syria on the Israeli border, or in the Arab countries. Still, that aspect of the religious war is being fought in Europe. And it is happening with a clear loser in the communications battle. With an aprioristic loser, which in this case is the State of Israel.
The current conflict is between the Arab world and the others. However, the solution to this war is not really in the hands of the Arab countries or those who are also directly or indirectly involved in it, but in the hands of the three powers of the world and their ability to agree on the scope and extent of the confrontation.
As I have said in previous articles, the images represent this world and the 21st century. At present, it is the images that can best summarize the situation we are going through. One shows President Joe Biden arriving in Israel last Wednesday while being received by Prime Minister Netanyahu. This visit comes after countries like Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority tried to delay the meeting despite the Palestinians’ media and propaganda efforts. On the other hand, it is undeniable that the photographs and scenes that best tell the story of the world we live in are those of President Biden, President Xi Jinping, and President Putin, accompanied by their military commanders. It is important to note that the week’s meeting between two of the world’s most important nuclear and military arsenals, China and Russia, was not to Washington’s liking. Having two of the three true world powers meet gives plenty of reason to react, considering the growing tension between the U.S., Russia, and China.
President Putin is undoubtedly the real winner of the conflict that began last October 7. His invasion of Ukraine has taken a back seat, and I fear that the conflict with the Arabs and its consequences will continue to be the global protagonist.
Given this, it is not that the Holocaust has been forgotten; it just gives the impression that it never existed. In any case, the revenge of hatred and the world we have built allows the suffering of the Jewish minority – whose extermination was attempted between 1934 and 1945 – to be irrelevant in the face of the religious defense of some followers and faithful of a God over others.
Biden alone cannot. Israel, even less so. The U.S. agreement with the other two nuclear powers, China and Russia, is the only possibility to try to control this conflict’s complete and irreversible outbreak. In the meantime, note that this is the first time that the United States – despite still not having a Speaker of the House and thus technically and constitutionally unable to declare war – has not limited itself to mere showboating and declarations. Despite the domestic issue, it has mobilized fourteen thousand troops – two thousand of them on high combat alert – as well as its two largest and most important Carriers and has placed them at the gates of the conflict in case it becomes necessary to use them. Naturally, they are not saying how many nuclear submarines are also in the area in case the conflict is taken to its ultimate consequences.
Israel will be allowed to do justice to some extent. But the big questions are how far this conflict will stop, what will happen next, what will happen to Lebanon, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, to the relative weight in the region of China, or the interest cultivated for more than 50 years in the area by Russia. In the meantime, the Ukraine issue is on its way to the attic of history. The fact is that this world in which we live, which is so easy to stop with demonstrations and citizen fury in the main streets of Europe, cannot afford to allow, on the one hand, the possibility that, at any moment, a missile could fall where it should not and that this could be the pretext to unleash an all-out war.
Europe is under siege by a social majority in the suburbs that neither feels European nor values Europe nor has any interest in remaining in a situation where, even if they become the masters, they intend to respect or defend the position of majority, hegemony, and control of European societies. Pins hold the current global situation and balance. It only takes one mistake for everything to get out of control, and for the Strip of fire, that means the social discontent of the minorities in the main European capitals to provoke a situation – as is already happening in France – of de facto paralyzation of the life of the citizens. It remains to be seen how to resolve this chaotic situation without jeopardizing world stability.
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