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Abstract:
The genocide (2)(3) in Gaza and the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the Occupied
Palestinian West Bank are not the works of a small extreme right wing Israeli group
or an isolated minority, but that of a democratic majority in the Knesset and
overwhelming majority of the Jewish population in Israel, which is further radicalizing.

The ongoing Western (especially US) military, technical, political and media support
of Israel’s ethnic cleansing and Genocide in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is
favoured and carried over by democratic majorities across the global West. However, most of the population in the global West is against the ongoing genocide, against the role of their governments, demonstrates and presses for immediate cease fire and increasingly supports the Palestinian cause.

This article goes through the historical perspectives of democracy, colonialism, and
settler generated and supported genocides, try to identify realities and gaps and to
suggest solutions.

Introduction:
The democratic system is the prevailing and advancing governance philosophy and model across the globe and is the goal of people living under authoritarian regimes. It is even seen by some outstanding authors as the final form of governance developed by the humanity and represents the end of history (4) . Apart from the Greek democracy in Athens around the 6th century BCE and many direct limited democracy forms in many areas in modern history, the American representative democracy, officially born with the declaration of American independence in 1776 is the oldest modern democracy worldwide. The English democracy came to life in 1880 by transferring power from King to Parliament. The Australian democracy process was concluded in1901 and the Canadian democracy evolved from the British colonial system and culminated with the adoption of the Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 (5).

The French democracy was born as result of the French revolution in1789 and the Belgian one in 1830. The roots of German Democracy go back to the 1848 revolution and the drafting of the German Constitution. Its first experience, however, was during the Weimar Republic in 1919-1933. In 1949, the German Basic laws entered effect and applied to entire Germany in 1990. The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy since 1813 and a parliamentary democracy since 1848.The Italian democracy was born in 1946 after WW2. India, with its 1.4 billion population is the largest democratic country worldwide.

Democracy as a “religion”?
Democracy is not a mere governance system based on popular sovereignty, free and fair elections, but a political philosophy and a social contract that includes essential ingredients like rules of law, political pluralism, individual and collective rights. Even authoritarian regimes try to introduce elements of democratic systems, as long as their power systems remain intact.

However, this democratic social spirit in the global West evolved into a collective global vision and doctrine, also filling the gap left by the religion, as predicted by French sociologist Emil Durkheim (6) a century ago . Over centuries, democracy’s image gained striking similarities to world religions. It possesses “holly” texts (constitutions and declarations of independence), clerics (elected government members and democracy experts, advisors and constitutional judges), holly places (parliament buildings) and holly-rituals that are nation-specific like elections, handover, independence ceremonies and annual speeches (7) .

Because of voter power to elect and dismiss their governments, the people living in a democratic system are more accountable to actions made by their elected governments than those under authoritarian regimes, mainly at the collective level. Certain criteria to classify the degree and rank of democracy of the world countries were established (8).

Through this moral monopoly over these democratic ideals, western powers frequently classify countries, governments (9) and even cultures as good or evil, light from darkness. Western observers, especially from the EU, usually watch elections organised in other countries. The system of external aid and development support considers the “degree” of proximity of benefiting countries to democratic doctrines and ideas. Non-democratic countries are at risk of being targeted, sanctioned or even attacked by the dominant “democratic” western, if they are also hostile to western interests, using democracy as pretext. The democratic West even launched wars, justifying them, inter alia, as necessary to “introduce” the democratic systems and visions in other authoritarian countries (like Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq).

Democracies are claimed to always stand on the right side of history and conflicts. Evils like human rights violations, wars, massacres, and genocides are perpetrated by others non-democratic bodies! However, reading history shows a different picture.

Settler colonialism and genocide: complementarity

Western colonial wars started as early as the 16th century triggered by “territories discoveries” in the 15th and 16th centuries and reached its peak between the 18h -20th centuries, heated by the industrial revolution and competition for raw materials, cheap labour, markets and territories for population settlements. The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 effectively divided the vast regions of Africa among the European powers (mostly democratic at that point in time. Population explosion in some European countries was the motor behind population settlements in these conquered territories. Within this group, settler colonization was always accompanied by violent criminal displacement/ expropriation of indigenous population. In addition, these settler colonial regimes committed well defined genocides against certain indigenous population groups, while being part of democratic systems.

The pioneer of extermination of indigenous populations was Great Britain during expansion of its imperium in North America, Australia, and later in New Zealand. Genocides committed in these countries especially by Britain and the United States between 1492-1900 (which includes a period under democratic regime) led to a dramatic drop in numbers of indigenous population from over 10 million to less than 300,000. (10)

The French democracy committed a series of crimes in the French colonies. However, the most brutal event was the colonization, and repression of Algeria. Some parts of this epoch fit into genocide perpetrated by a democratic France especially the extermination of approximately 825,000 between 1830-1875 (11). In addition, hundred thousands were killed during the Algerian War of Independence from 1954 to 1962. 1.5 million Algerian were killed during the entire French colonialization of Algeria (12 ).

Germany was a monarchy under Kaiser Wilhelm, when it (among eight nations) crackdown and brutally suppressed the Boxer Revolution in China in1900-1901
(13) , when in the 1904 the government and its settlers’ perpetrated genocide against the Herero and Nama tribes in Namibia and suppressed rebellion in Eastern Africa in 1905-1907. It was also the Nazi Germany dictatorship that issued the Nuernberger Laws1935 and perpetrated the Holocaust against German and European Jews and the genocide against Sinti and Roma (Gypsie) and political opponents.
The Dutsch colonialists perpetrated several massacres and other war crimes during the repression of uprisings between 1946-1948 in Indonesia (15). The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy since 1813 and a parliamentary democracy since 1848. Belgian colonialists (democratic since 1883) committed atrocities during the Free Congo State (1885-1908) that can sum into a genocide (16) .

Israel is a predominantly European settler colonial state. Since its establishment in 1948 (accompanied by the expulsion and displacement of most Palestinians (including the writer of this article), Israel adopted the representative democratic system. The Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel (PAMI) who remained in country after establishment of Israel (representing some 20% of Israel population) had the right to vote and be represented in the Knesset since 1949 but lived under military rules till 1966. The PAMI’s including candidates for the Knesset are referred to as the “Israeli Arabs” (not Palestinians!) and are significantly disadvantages by some 65 laws (17) compared to their Jewish Israeli citizens. Since 1967, Israel is also an occupying power in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (The West Bank including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip)

Discussion
Population of the World, especially in the global West, were made to believe that genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity are strictly associated with pre-or non-democratic authoritarian or totalitarian regimes. Within this context, Israel was persistently presented by the dominating Global West as “the only democracy in the Middle East” and the Israeli army (IDF), occupying the Palestinian Territory since 1967 as “the most moral army in the world.

This article suggests that colonial and settler war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocides have been perpetrated by Western democracies (as well) in the past.
Currently, the US is deeply involved in Gaza’s Genocide (also through President Trump’s Gaza Riviera Project, encompassing ethnic cleansing). Some European countries are preventing institutions like the ICJ, ICC, UN-Security Council and EU from exerting any pressure to stop the ongoing Genocide in Gaza. Others are engaged in questioning the criteria for these collective crimes and diluting accountability. While expressing concern on the horrifying humanitarian disaster in Gaza, some countries of the global West are providing weapons, ammunitions logistic and intelligence support. The overarching multisectoral Israel-EU cooperation agreements like EU-Israel Association Agreement (18) , Horizon Europe (19) remain untouched.

Near to two years into this genocidal war, most of the population in the global West opposes the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza and the ongoing unconditional support of their own government to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. There is a visible and growing gap between ruling classes, parties and political elites and traditional media in the global West on one side and most of their voter population, especially younger generations, grass roots movements and social media on the other. In many countries, Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are repressed and freedom of expressions severely constrained. The Gaza genocide inflicted major damage on the image and credibility of the global West among the majority of the world population.

Conclusions
The growing schism between most of the population in the global West and their elected representatives raises the question of whether the “western” democratic systems, are in need for radical reforms that include additional monitoring mechanisms and a balanced emphasis between external and political affairs in a globalized world. This will strengthen the democratic systems and support the role of United Nations, currently under attack.

Western democracies traditionally emphasis documentation as a tool for democratic accountability and transparency. A pool of official and NGOs documentations (government statements and declarations, media, parliament records, meeting notes and MOUs, deliberations of government and political parties) is available to whom it may concern. This article invites researchers in think tanks, research centres, academia, inquiry committees etc to challenge findings/assumptions of this article and to come with suggestions /recommendations for the future.

Notes :
(1) Dr Khalid Shibib, a German Palestinian Neurosurgeon and a Freelancer for Health Action in Crises
(2) Lemkin, R. (1945): Genocide - A Modern Crime, April 1945 by Raphael Lemkin - Prevent Genocide International. At: www.preventgenocide.org/lemkin/freeworld 1945.htm
(3) The United Nations. Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect:(1948) Definitions of Genocide and Related Crimes. At: https://www.un.org/en/genocide-prevention/definition
(4) Fukuyama, F.: The End of History?At:https://ia803100.us.archive.org/33/items/ THEENDOFHISTORYFUKUYAMA/THE%20END%20OF%20HISTORY%20%20FUKUYAMA.pdf
(5) The Canadian Government: Charter of Rights and Freedom At: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/
(6) Durkheim, E. (1973): On Morality and Society”, p.191, University of Chicago Press.
(7) Author’s personal perception
(8) Wurzburg University Ranking of Countries by Quality of Democracy. At: https://www. democracymatrix.com/ranking
(9)
(10) Holocaust Museum: Genocide on Indigenous People. At: https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-of-indigenous-peoples-guide/
(11) Kiernan, B.:(2007). Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur. Yale University Press. p. 374. ISBN 9780300100983. 374.
(12) The Fair Observer: French Genocides in Algeria. At: https://www.fairobserver. com/history/french-genocide-in-algeria-time-for-introspection/
(13) Britanica: The Boxer Rebellion, Chinese history at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Boxer-Rebellion
(14) Britannica: The Nurenberg Laws. At: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nurnberg-Laws
(15) Gerstenfeld, M. (2020): How the Netherlands Hid Its War Crimes for Decades. At: https://besacenter.org/netherlands-war-crimes/
(16) Ruys, T., and Baecke, T.: HAUNTED BY THE PAST? Belgium’s international responsibility for the atrocities of the Congo Free State and the question of State succession in matters of international responsibility, July 2021 Ghent University. At:https://www.law.ugent.be/grili/sites/default/files/working-paper/grili_working_ paper_6_ruys_baecke_clean.pdf
(17) Adalah: Discriminatory Laws Database. Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. At: https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/ 7771.
(18) EU-Israel Association Agreement. At: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/content/eu-israel-association-agreement
(18) Horizon Europe. At: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en