ISTANBUL

Nations of the Global South could play a pivotal role in halting Israel’s deadly war on Gaza and lead the charge for wider changes in an international system that has clearly failed in its purpose, according to three current and former UN special rapporteurs.

Richard Falk and Michael Lynk, two former special rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in occupied Palestinian territories, and Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the current special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, all agreed that Israel’s devastating war on Gaza has completely exposed the glaring faults of the current global system.

Speaking to Anadolu at a recent event in Istanbul, the UN experts pointed out that one of the main reasons for the continued impunity given to Israel is a skewed international power structure dominated by countries of the Global North that remain allied with Tel Aviv.

“I think the Global South needs to emerge as a much more forceful presence in the organization of the world and of the reform of the UN,” said Falk, an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University.

He said the post-colonial world order has been led by an “imperial West that is the successor to colonialism.”

“That’s been very difficult to challenge because of this UN structure that gives the winners of World War II, which include the three NATO powers of US, France and UK, a capacity to block any kind of reform of the UN,” he said.

These nations are the ones who benefit from the current structure and will do everything they can to “resist efforts at transformation,” he added.

However, during the Gaza crisis, there have been some “very robust, popular movements” and actions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC) that have come “from the initiatives taken by countries in the Global South,” Falk explained.

“This has to become a much stronger movement challenging this kind of hegemonic world order that emerged out of World War II,” he asserted.  

- Global South ‘unseated apartheid South Africa from UN’

Rajagopal, a vocal critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, turned to history to illustrate the power held by nations of the Global South.

“When South Africa was the target of mobilization by the Global South in the 1970s, they unseated the apartheid government from the UN, and they couldn’t take the seat back until after apartheid ended,” he said.

He called for a similar step against Israel, along with more measures such as economic sanctions and trade embargoes.

“I have been publicly advocating that a similar move should be made with regard to Israel. Why not unseat it? It seems very hostile to every ideal of the UN Charter, it seems to literally kill UN staff wherever it wants, and it even declared UNRWA as a terrorist organization,” he said.

“It’s obvious that they don’t want to be part of the UN, so let’s unseat the regime – not expel Israel, but unseat it.”

This, he explained, does not require an approval from the UN Security Council, which is “blocked because of the US veto,” and can be done through the General Assembly.

Elaborating on the assembly’s potential role, he said the assembly has powers that “can be used to authorize, if not direct military action against Israel, at least sanctions, including sanctions against trading, as well as an arms embargo.”

“Those powers are available to the General Assembly. So, the question is why the countries of the Global South, which have a majority in the General Assembly and who seem overwhelmingly to condemn what Israel is doing, why are they not exercising the powers that they do have under the UN Charter?” said Rajagopal.

- ‘The rope is getting shorter for Israel’

Lynk, who was the special rapporteur on Palestine from 2016 to 2022, said that transformative change in the global stance on Israel’s actions is now a matter of time.

“By and large, the Global South has been solidly on the side of Palestine. They have the numbers, they don’t have the power at the international level, but they have raised and supported and furthered the cause of the Palestinians within their power,” he said.

“The real blockage comes from the Global North, from Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, and particularly the United States.”

Lynk believes that “the rope is getting shorter for Israel,” despite its blatant disregard for international laws and the unflinching support it has from powerful nations like the US.

“Sooner or later, the power of the Global South, the power of social movements, and the intrepid analysis and reports of the international human rights movement, are going to change people’s minds,” he said.

Most people will react positively if they know “a situation is illegal” and “the entire Israeli occupation is now illegal,” he continued.

“Israel has been told to leave completely and as rapidly as possible. This really sets the bar much higher with respect to the obligations,” said Lynk.

“The Global South and the Palestinians have a powerful tool in the ruling from the International Court of Justice and they will continue to use it.”

- ‘Accountability will continue to rise against Israel’

On the question of accountability, the experts believe there will come a point when Israel will have to finally answer for its deadly actions.

“I strongly believe that there will be accountability … I believe that gradually behavioral change will happen because of the delegitimation of Israel, because of the finding by courts such as the ICJ,” said Rajagopal.

He said mobilization in the real sense against “the extreme forms of Zionism that we have seen in Israel” has picked up “in the last 15 years or so.”

“I think that we are at a kind of tipping point where things are gathering momentum,” he said.

“While accountability is not going to be immediate, it’s clear that the trajectory for Israel’s delegitimation is such that Israel and its policies and its wars cannot last forever. There will be an end date.”

Building on this view, Lynk said Israel and its leadership are facing increased isolation worldwide.

“Sooner or later, the ICC will give permission to the prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and for (Israeli Defense Minister) Yoav Gallant,” he said.

“That is going to significantly isolate Israel, and the US has no direct control over that … Israel’s reputation is sinking throughout the world and is bringing down the US with it.”

Once these warrants are out, that means “Netanyahu, Gallant, and very soon, even more Israeli officials, will never be able to go to Europe … and a wide range of countries,” he said.

“That is a form of accountability, and accountability will continue to rise against Israel.”