NAKBA AT 78 Moral bankruptcy of the ‘great powers’

Palestinian students paint graffiti during a commemoration event held at a school ahead of the 78th Nakba anniversary on May 10 in Hebron, West Bank. — Middle East Monitor /Wisam Hashlamoun

by Nazifa Jannat

As another year passes since the 1948 Catastrophe, the displacement of the Palestinian people remains the most glaring wound on the conscience of the international community. For us in Bangladesh, a nation that rose from the ashes of a scorched-earth genocide in 1971, the images emerging from Gaza and the West Bank are not merely news items; they are traumatic echoes of our own struggle for existence. Yet, as we observe Nakba Day, we are forced to confront a world where the "rules-based order" has been exposed as a hollow construct designed to protect the interests of the powerful while leaving the vulnerable to perish.

The sheer audacity of the hegemonic powers, led by the United States, in providing a diplomatic and military shield for the Israeli state is a betrayal of every democratic value they claim to champion. While the Western press often sanitises the occupation with talk of "complexities", the reality is a stark, one-sided slaughter fuelled by the most sophisticated weaponry on earth. This hegemony does not just silence Palestinian aspirations; it effectively tells the Global South that the international laws we are told to respect do not apply to the gatekeepers of the system. We see a recurring pattern where human rights are treated as a fungible commodity — invoked with fervour when it suits the strategic containment of rivals but discarded with cold indifference when the perpetrator is a key military outpost in the Middle East.

For countries like Bangladesh, which lack the military might or the veto power of the UN Security Council, the current crisis presents a harrowing dilemma. We hold the moral high ground, yet we operate in a global structure where moral clarity is routinely trumped by geopolitical leverage. The frustration of being a 'smaller' nation in this climate is profound. We see the overwhelming majority of the world’s population standing in solidarity with Palestine, yet this global consensus is rendered impotent by a handful of capitals that prioritise strategic footholds over human life. This imbalance reveals a terrifying truth: in the eyes of the current global hierarchy, some lives are inherently more "defensible" than others.

The 'influence-less' nations of the Global South are often lectured on the importance of the international legal framework, yet they are the ones who watch as that very framework is dismantled by its supposed architects. When the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice attempts to hold the occupying power accountable, they are met with threats of sanctions and political retaliation from Washington. This creates a dangerous precedent where power is the only true currency, and justice is merely a rhetorical tool used to manage the masses. For Bangladesh, a country that has consistently championed the cause of the oppressed on the global stage, this systemic failure is not just an academic concern; it is a direct threat to the sovereignty of all nations that do not possess the shields of empire.

However, our lack of traditional power must not be mistaken for total helplessness. If the history of the Global South has taught us anything, it is that the collective voice of the marginalised can eventually crack the foundations of empire. Bangladesh’s principled refusal to engage in any form of normalisation with the occupying regime — despite the intense pressure felt by many of our neighbours and the seductive promises of trade incentives — is a testament to our commitment. We understand that to normalise relations with a genocidal state is to validate the very logic that once sought to suppress our own independence.

We must continue to champion the use of international legal forums, supporting efforts like those led by South Africa at the World Court, to ensure that the costs of complicity become too high for the West to ignore. The strength of countries like Bangladesh lies in our ability to build a narrative of resistance that bypasses the gatekeepers of Western media. We must coordinate more closely with our peers in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America to form a diplomatic bloc that cannot be ignored. The "power of the powerless", as history has shown, lies in the refusal to remain silent and the stubborn insistence on a single standard of human dignity.

The Nakba is not a finished event; it is an ongoing process of erasure that the world has allowed to persist for nearly eight decades. From the forced evictions in Sheikh Jarrah to the systematic bombardment of refugee camps, the catastrophe is a living reality. If the global community continues to stand by while a people are systematically wiped off their own map, it signals the end of the very idea of international justice. We are witnessing the death of the post-WWII consensus, replaced by a "might makes right" philosophy that should terrify every developing nation.

For Bangladesh, standing with Palestine is not just a matter of foreign policy; it is an obligation to our own history. We know all too well that when the world looks away, the consequences are measured in blood and lost generations. We have a moral duty to remind the world that no amount of geopolitical manoeuvring can erase the rights of a people to their land and their life. The time for hollow expressions of concern has long passed; what is required now is the dismantling of a system that grants total impunity to the few at the expense of the many. Until the Palestinian people can return to their homes and live in dignity, the Nakba remains a global failure — and a reminder that our own freedom is incomplete as long as the shadow of occupation looms over any corner of the earth.

 Nazifa Jannat is a journalism student at Syracuse University and a freelance journalist covering South Asian affairs, international relations, and human rights.