The suffering of the Palestinian people, which began with the Nakba and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, has reached new depths over the past fourteen months. More than 46,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed, and more than 110,000 others injured in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Tens of thousands more are missing, arbitrarily detained, or known to be buried under the rubble of their destroyed homes. The ongoing Israeli attacks have not spared homes, schools and even hospitals in the besieged Strip. Hundreds of thousands of survivors, driven from their homes and living in makeshift tents in so-called “safe zones”, face indiscriminate air strikes, daily massacres, rampant disease, hunger and harsh winter conditions with no end to their misery in sight. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are also subject to attacks by Israeli forces and lack most basic rights and freedoms.

Palestinians are documenting the atrocities committed by Israel against their people one by one and sharing them with the world in real time for all to see. South Africa has filed a genocide case against Israel in the International Court, with the support of a large group of countries including Mexico, Brazil and Turkey. The International Criminal Court has also taken action against Israel, issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The global public is also clear in its support for the Palestinians, with tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protests, vigils and sit-ins taking place around the world, attracting support from millions of people from all walks of life, since the beginning of the genocide. In October 2023.

But despite all this, Israel seems able to continue its crimes openly and with impunity. This is because its Western supporters and backers, especially the United States, turn a blind eye to all of Israel’s transgressions, and refuse to acknowledge its flagrant violations of international law – let alone punish it.

Washington in particular, as Israel’s main supplier of weapons, bombs and other military equipment, has done nothing to help end the genocide over the past 14 months. On the contrary, it has done everything in its power to protect Israel from accountability. For example, it used its veto four times, most recently on November 20, to prevent the UN Security Council from passing a resolution calling for a ceasefire. It also voted against the UN General Assembly resolution, supported by 154 member states, which calls for an immediate halt to the Israeli war on Gaza. It is also trying to punish the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, as the House of Representatives passed a bill to punish the court.

As such, it appears that as long as US military, political, and financial support for Israel continues, there is nothing supporters of Palestine can do to end the suffering of the Palestinian people or ensure respect for their basic human rights.

But fortunately, the past 14 months have not only been marked by losses and disappointment. Palestine supporters also achieved important political, legal, and electoral victories at this time. Most importantly, despite the world’s inability to put an end to Israel’s genocide and illegal occupation, the Palestinian cause today enjoys more support in the global public arena than ever before. Israel has become a pariah. This is important.

The truth is that even in America, where politicians seem committed to protecting Israel at all costs, people regularly take to the streets to demand an end to the brutal war against the people of Gaza. Gaza’s solidarity camps have taken over American universities, from coast to coast. While most of these protests were forcefully crushed and many of their participants were severely punished, they were able to show the world that the American people do not support genocide. They also made the American people take notice of what their country was funding in Gaza and helped turn public opinion against the genocide.

In Western Europe, another traditional support base for Israel, Palestine also began to receive unprecedented support at both the official and popular levels.

To be sure, European reliance on historic US-Israel relations and extensive lobbying investments in most European countries mean that official support for Israel’s war remains strong on the continent.

The German government, for example, has been steadfast in its support of Israel since the beginning of the genocide, and to this day supports and defends all actions of the Netanyahu government.

But pro-Palestinian and anti-genocide voices have gained great importance across Europe’s political, legal, media, entertainment and economic sectors, as well as in trade unions, academia and among students, gradually pushing many European governments and leading institutions to defend international law and international law. Palestinian human rights.

According to data collected by the European Palestine Information Center (EPAL), there were more than 26,000 demonstrations and other activities in support of Palestinian rights in 619 cities across 20 European countries during the first year of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

In response to this growing call for justice in Palestine coming from the European public, European governments have slowly begun to show their support for the struggle. Belgium, Ireland and Spain officially sided with South Africa in the genocide case against Israel. Spain and Ireland also recognized the Palestinian state, bringing the number of European Union countries that have done so to 10. French President Emmanuel Macron called for arms exports. halt The United Kingdom has hanging Some licenses. Ireland has been so vocal in its condemnation of the genocide that Israel recently decided to close its embassy in the country.

In electoral politics, despite the overall rise of the right and the clear successes of right-wing parties in various elections, supporters of Palestine also made significant gains in several European countries in the past year.

For example, the French national elections held in mid-2024 saw the victory of the left-wing France Unbowed party, whose leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon played a major role in organizing pro-Palestine demonstrations in the country. The pro-Palestinian party also won 11 seats in the European Parliament.

Pro-Palestine votes also made important gains in the European parliamentary elections. For example, the Left Party in Sweden, which enjoys strong support from Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim minorities in Sweden due to its active advocacy of the Palestine issue, won two seats. Denmark has also elected several vocally pro-Palestine representatives.

In the United Kingdom, where weekly demonstrations demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the occupation attracted tens of thousands of people, five pro-Palestinian candidates – including former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn – won seats in last year’s parliamentary elections. These MPs later formed a parliamentary caucus called the “Independence Alliance” and began pressuring Keir Starmer’s Labor government to support a ceasefire in Gaza and condemn Israeli war crimes.

In Austria, pro-Palestine candidates participated in the national elections in September under the name “Gaza List: Voices Against Genocide” after receiving enough support to put their names on the ballot in seven out of nine states. Not only did they succeed in drawing attention to the Gaza genocide within the Austrian political conversation, they actually received nearly 20,000 votes in the election, demonstrating the growing strength of pro-Palestinian voices in the traditionally pro-Israel country.

Those fighting for justice in Palestine also achieved important legal victories in the past year.

In Italy, supporters of Palestinian rights won a case before the Supreme Court of Appeal against the Italian state television network Al-Rai, which incorrectly referred to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in a newscast. The judge ruled that Al-Rai must publicly correct its error in a later publication, stating that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel.

Meanwhile, anti-genocide activists have filed a lawsuit against the Dutch government to stop arms exports to Israel in light of its behavior in Gaza. Dutch state television broadcast the court proceedings live, greatly raising awareness among the Dutch public about the country’s role in facilitating Israel’s genocidal war.

Other notable legal actions in support of Palestine include the cases brought by the Hind Rajab Foundation, which was established in Belgium last September, before the International Criminal Court and several domestic courts against Israeli soldiers who participated in the genocide in Gaza.

The foundation, named after the six-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli tank fire in Gaza while stuck in a car filled with the bodies of her relatives, sent the ICC a list containing the names of 1,000 Israeli soldiers. On suspicion of participating in war crimes in the besieged sector. The Foundation collected evidence against the accused Israeli soldiers through various means, including their personal pages on social networking sites, where they bragged about committing crimes against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The organization also tracks the movements of Israeli soldiers in foreign countries and files cases against them in local courts. It has located suspected war criminals and filed complaints against them while they were on holiday in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia, Ireland, Cyprus and, most recently, Sweden. The institution’s actions prompted Israel to issue instructions to its soldiers to be cautious when planning to spend their holidays abroad, and strengthened its position as an international pariah.

Meanwhile, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has also had significant success in reducing support for Israel in the past year.

According to an analysis published by Reuters in November, many of Europe’s largest financial companies have reduced their relationships with Israeli companies or those with ties to Israel, due to pressure from activists and governments to end the blockade. The war in Gaza. According to United Nations Trade and Development data, total foreign direct investment in Israel fell by 29 percent in 2023 to its lowest level since 2016.

In short, although the international community has not yet succeeded in putting an end to Israel’s crimes, continued advocacy efforts by activists from around the world have brought us closer than ever to achieving justice for the Palestinian people. Israel’s genocide in Gaza, committed in plain sight and documented in great detail, has dramatically changed public perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict around the world. Even if the United States does not appear to be any closer to abandoning its support for the settler colony, international opinion is quickly shifting in favor of Palestine.

There is no doubt that the tide is turning, but the battle is not over yet. It is imperative that Palestinians and their supporters continue to expose the truth about Israeli war crimes, illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing, so that Palestine is liberated and Israel bears responsibility for the numerous crimes it has committed and continues to commit against the long-suffering people. Palestinian people.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.