West's inaction to stop Gaza genocide will fuel more extremist acts like the one's in the US

People horrified by images of baby’s bodies blown-apart and an obliterated society will act—some with words, others with protests, and a few, tragically, with violence. The West’s refusal to stop Israel’s genocide ensures more such acts, each a stain on the conscience of nations that could have acted but didn’t.

 

By Fareed Khan

The violent attack on Jewish protesters in Colorado Springs by an Egyptian national, illegally in the US, targeting those calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas, was a predictable tragedy. Similarly, the shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington DC, underscores a growing danger. These acts of violence are direct consequences of the West’s failure to confront Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, a failure that not only enables atrocities but also fuels global extremism and instability.

For 19 months, Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza—marked by the slaughter of more than 63,000 Palestinians—has obliterated entire communities, and imposed deliberate starvation on a defenceless population. This genocide, broadcast in real time for more than 600 days, is enabled by Western governments that claim to champion the “international legal order” yet refuse to take meaningful action. By shielding Israel from accountability, the United States, Canada, and the European Union are complicit in crimes that echo the horrors of the Nazi era. This inaction is not neutrality—it is collusion, and it risks igniting further extremist acts like those in Colorado Springs and Washington DC.

John F. Kennedy’s warning, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable,” resonates with chilling clarity today. By ignoring millions demanding justice for Israel’s violations of the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions, and the Hague Conventions, Western governments are sowing seeds of radicalization. The Colorado Springs and Washington DC, attacks are symptoms of their failure to do the right thing. Images of Palestinian children dismembered, families buried under rubble, and neighborhoods reduced to dust are not fiction—they are a daily livestreams of horrors seared into the global consciousness. When a rogue, terrorist state, backed by Western allies, bombs infants, shoots refugees, and starves civilians while defying international law, it creates a pressure cooker of seething anger among those who identify with the victims. The math is simple, unrelenting injustice breeds extremism. That more such attacks haven’t occurred over the past 19 months is shocking, and without Western intervention to halt Israel’s genocidal crimes, more such extremist acts are likely.

No one should face violence for exercising their right to protest, whether Jewish activists demanding the release of hostages or Palestinians and their allies calling for an end to the Gaza genocide. Yet, Western hypocrisy has been staggering. Governments have condemned attacks like those in Colorado Springs and Washington, DC, while funneling billions in military aid to a regime that has killed tens of thousands, razed schools and hospitals, and imposed a starvation campaign that makes a mockery of the concepts of human rights. In the US and Germany, pro-Palestinian protesters have also faced repression, with some jailed without charge. This is not governance—it is criminal negligence, betraying the very treaties Western nations claim to uphold, from the Geneva Conventions protecting civilians to the Hague Conventions demanding accountability.

The genocide in Gaza is a global cancer, endangering Jews worldwide by associating them with Israel’s crimes. From the Latino man who shot at Israeli Embassy staffers to US Airman Aaron Bushnell, who self-immolated in a protest outside the Israeli Embassy, to Israeli tourists harassed in some Asian countries—these are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a world pushing back against Western governments that refuse to act to stop the genocide. Israel’s actions, enabled by Western inaction, are a spark for global unrest, inflaming passions which could destroy the international legal order that has maintained global peace for more than 75 years.

Western leaders, including Canada’s, who lecture about the “rules-based order,” are complicit in this crisis. The UN Charter, demanding respect for sovereignty and human rights, is ignored as Israel occupies and destroys with impunity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is meaningless when Palestinian lives are deemed worthless. The Genocide Convention, born from the Holocaust, is mocked as Israel’s leaders celebrate mass murder. The Geneva Conventions are violated as hospitals are bombed and aid blocked. The Hague Conventions are reduced to empty promises as the West shields Israel from the consequences of its crimes. This is not a policy failure—it is a crime in itself. The US, Canada, and their allies are active accomplices, arming and funding a regime that is committing genocide. Their refusal to demand a ceasefire, impose sanctions, or pursue prosecutions at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice prioritizes geopolitics over human lives and basic humanity. Every bomb dropped on Gaza, every starved child, carries the West’s approval, fueling a rage that pushes some to desperate, inexcusable acts of violence.

The Colorado Springs and Washington DC, attacks are warnings. When governments dismiss peaceful protests, ignore petitions, and vilify dissenters, they create a space where frustration festers. Kennedy’s warning about violent revolution reflects human nature.  People horrified by images of baby’s bodies blown-apart and an obliterated society will act—some with words, others with protests, and a few, tragically, with violence. The West’s refusal to stop Israel’s genocide ensures more such acts, each a stain on the conscience of nations that could have acted but didn’t.

To break this cycle, the genocide must end. Israel’s political and military leaders who ordered the genocidal crimes, and the soldiers and pilots who committed them, must face accountability at the Hague. The West must enforce international law with an immediate ceasefire and impose wide ranging sanctions on Israel. Anything less betrays the principles of justice these nations claim to uphold. The attacks in the US are linked to the West’s moral bankruptcy, failing not only Palestinians but their own citizens and values. By enabling Israel’s genocide, they have lit the fuse for more extremist violence. The question is not if more incidents will occur, but when.  And when the next incident does happen the blood of the victims will be on the hands of Western leaders who chose to do nothing as innocent Palestinians were slaughtered.

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