Global South Differs Among Themselves Over Level Of 'Vitriol' Directed At Israel
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
BRICS members, who held an emergency virtual summit to discuss the war in Gaza, failed to agree on a joint declaration to push for peace in the region, reflecting how countries of the Global South differ among themselves over the level of "vitriol" they were willing to direct toward Israel.
Leaders of BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- and other emerging economies that will officially be members of the grouping from next year had virtually gathered for talks Tuesday for the first time since Israel began pummeling Gaza in retaliation to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people.
For the grouping that has previously streamlined its focus to economic issues and not matters of conflict, an emergency meeting to discuss the war adds to the voice of global objections against Israel's incessant bombardment of the besieged Gaza strip. However, the group failed to agree on a joint declaration. Moreover, their divergent positions on the issue also reflected the lack of consensus among the Global South on how much they are willing to condemn Israel for launching a barrage of airstrikes, razing buildings to the ground and indiscriminately killing more than 14,000 people.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed U.S. diplomacy "for the failure of the Israel-Palestine conflict rather than Israel itself," Guy Burton, a visiting fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre, told IBT.
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"You don't have a consensus on what the Global South can and should do ... The BRICS countries differed among themselves over the level of vitriol they directed towards Israel, so there was no single declaration, only a summary by the chair. While you had Iran's president calling Israel a 'terrorist' state, India, was not represented by its prime minister and the foreign minister toed a much more moderate line," Burton said.
If the Global South really wants to make a difference, Burton noted that stricter actions would have to be taken in order to do so.
"These countries have to be prepared to act. And in this instance it probably means using whatever leverage they have to put pressure on Israel to call off its military campaign. Some of them could potentially do it," he said. "China has important investments in the country, which it could pull out of, cut trade, etc. Russia, which turned a blind eye to Israeli attacks against Hezbollah and other targets in Syria could take a more assertive stance. Other countries could sign up to the South African charge of Israeli war crimes to the ICJ. But for that to happen entails real costs, in the form of lost revenue, damaged diplomatic relations. And I don't think there's the stomach for this."
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