I am currently watching Al Jazeera, the Dubai based news channel founded by BBC journalists, where they cover the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza breathlessly. 

One of the main questions the AJ correspondents and their experts ask is why the world (or international) community is not speaking out against Israel’s offensive. As AJ rightfully explains to the public, the attacks do not merely cause suffering to Hamas, the terrorist organization, but to all Palestinians living in Gaza.

What these experts and correspondents fail to grasp, seemingly, is that “the rest of the world” is not as concerned about the Palestine-Israel conflict as they are. The world is more interested in its own affairs than it is in the affairs of a people who seem bent on self destruction, who are indoctrinated with hatred, and who cause problem after problem.

‘The world’ has tried to negotiate between the two sides for decades, but nothing has worked thus far. Both sides, some will say, are not willing to compromise. Most foreigners and foreign governments have given up hope – the suffering on both sides is terrible, but what are non-Israelis and non-Palestinians going to do about it? An international force could be sent to the region, which would make it difficult for Israel to attack targets in Israel and to build more settlements, obviously, but it would also mean that these forces will have to take on Palestinian terrorist organizations. Not one country in the world is willing to do so.

Lastly there is the fact that most foreign governments accept and even respect Fatah, but virtually no one, except for Iran, takes Hamas serious as a possible partner for peace. Hamas is a tool of Iran, and every country in the world knows it. It is a terrorist organization with whom serious negotiations are not possible. In other words: at best people do not care about Hamas, and at worst they want it removed from power.

It is all about realpolitik, and in my opinion rightfully so. Most leaders care about their own country, and that country’s interests. Most realize that Hamas is a destructive force with whom negotiations are difficult if not impossible. The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis have gone on for decades and, many believe, is likely to continue for years possibly decades to follow. With little to no hope for a peaceful solution, why would ‘the world’ become actively involved in the matter?

Everything changes of course at the moment ‘the public’ and ‘voters’ force their governments to act in one way or another. This makes it in their leaders’ interest to intervene, so as to prevent massive protests, revolts or, in democracies, a massive slide in the polls for the ruling party.

Meanwhile, here is a video of MSNBC about the Israeli offensive: