China comes down on the ‘side’ of the ‘Palestinians’. Why? And what might we understand from this in our present days? Peter Sammons considers.
Sino-Shift
For the past 20 years I have wondered when China would ‘come off the fence’ and take sides in the Israel/’Palestine’ imbroglio. If we take Zechariah seriously (and Zechariah 14: 2-4, specifically), then China must take sides, sooner or later. That time appears to be now.
It is not difficult to see why China would eventually uptake the ‘Palestinian’ cause. As authoritarian China seeks to become dominant world ‘player’ and influencer, some of its key client states and states that it wishes to wrest from Western influence, lie very much on the ‘Palestinian’ side of the divide. For China, Israel looks increasingly like a ‘little West’ and therefore to be opposed on that basis. But China’s two key strategic allies right now are Russia-Iran and these, too, are bent on Israel’s destruction. China must align with that ambition.
Whilst China pursues a domestic policy that involves internal repression, as an authoritarian regime, it has previously made it a key policy not to seek to intervene in, or comment upon, other nations’ internal domestic policies and squabbles. But that Chinese policy is also now being discarded. To secure Chinese interests, China will now more clearly align itself in intra-national disputes, as well as international disputes (think of Ukraine where China may now be supplying munitions to Russia).
The immediate below are insights gleaned from Israel Today, online. Some may dispute what Israel Today says, as a clearly ‘interested’ and therefore biased commentator. Here at Christian Comment, we think this is probably a reasonably ‘correct’ interpretation of geopolitical currents:
Israel Today
Russian and Chinese governments are working behind the scenes to undermine international support for Israel and to spread pro-Hamas propaganda, according to a report by The New York Times. Citing information provided by the Tel Aviv-based social media intel company Cyabra, the Times report claims that Moscow / Beijing have aligned with Tehran in support of Hamas following the terror organization’s October 7th massacres of Israelis that left over 1,400 dead and more than 240 in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Since the Hamas invasion, China, Russia, and Iran have used their state-controlled media to promote Hamas claims whilst downplaying, or outright denying, the terrorist organization’s atrocities. At the same time as accusing Israel of persecuting Palestinians, and even of committing genocide.
Russia’s RT and Sputnik have both peddled false claim that Israel carried out the bombing of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City – even after the explosion, centred in the hospital’s parking lot, was found to have been caused by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. Sputnik also falsely claimed that the hospital was destroyed in the explosion, and that the explosion was caused by an American-made bomb used by the IDF.
While Iran has been a patron of the Gaza-based terrorist organization for decades, China and Russia have only recently thrown their support behind Hamas, viewing the current war with Israel as a vehicle for undermining the West generally, and the U.S. specifically.
Beyond their use of official state media outlets, China, Russia, and Iran are also utilizing armies of online bots and fake social media accounts to spread pro-Hamas and anti-Israel propaganda. “It is being seen by millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world and it’s impacting the war in a way that is probably just as effective as any other tactic on the ground,” said Rafi Mendelsohn, the vice president of Cyabra.
Cyabra has monitored some 40,000 separate social media accounts and online bots used to push pro-Hamas propaganda on the internet. An estimated one-third of all Twitter/X accounts which posted about the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion were in fact bots, Cyabra says.
Russ-Shift. “No limits” friends.
* What is ‘Russia’? See our earlier article: https://christiancomment.org/2023/06/26/the-russian-idea/
Of course ‘Russia’* has been generically opposed to Israel since the 1960s, as Communist ‘Russia’ perceived Israel as pro-Western (and a USA ally) in a region it wanted to maneuver towards the Communist bloc. For many years ‘Russia’ was the key arms supplier to anti-Israel regimes – in fact it still is. In the present Hamas conflict ‘Russia’ seeks to divert the West from its prior focus on Russia’s war against Ukraine. Political and economic capital must be expended in supporting Israel, and this seems likely to impact/undermine Western support for Ukraine. China has so far been silent on Ukraine as a geopolitical conflict but has gone out of its way to name ‘Russia’ as its number one international ally (“no-limits”, see immediately below).
[[ Xi and Putin met February 4, 2022, during massive Russian build-up of forces on the Ukraine border. The two expressed “no limits” to their mutual commitments. China asked Russia to delay invading Ukraine until after the Beijing Olympics ended on February 20. Shortly before the invasion, Chinese media repeated Russian statements that the country’s forces were being pulled away from the Ukraine border. It appears China assumed (as did many) a rapid and decisive Ukraine collapse (pundits everywhere were saying that ‘Russia cannot lose’ – a case, perhaps, of believing one’s own propaganda?) China was unprepared, therefore, for the political and economic sanctions applied, and its own involvement. ]]
It appears that China may have perceived the Ukraine invasion as a precursor and exemplar to its own planned adventure against Taiwan. Russia’s military and economic reverses in 2022-23 might now occasion second thoughts, but some pundits say China still aims at a 2025-27 launched operation to ‘settle’ its territorial dispute, once and for all. Remember something we observed last month: wars are easy to start but very difficult to stop. Meantime both China and Russia are buddies with ‘strong man’ Kim:
Israel-Russ
Israel has remained studiously neutral from condemning the ‘Russia’ invasion of Ukraine, in 2022 and since. There were (and still are) two key drivers for Israel’s reluctance. Firstly, there seems to be an atavistic desire to see revenge on Ukraine, which was a very willing participant, when under Nazi occupation in 1942-44, of Hitler’s ‘final solution’ perpetrated against the Jews. There is a sense in which this horror has never been atoned-for. Secondly, Israel fears Russia on its northern border (in Syria) where Putin remains the key supporter and enabler of Syria’s leader, Bashar al Assad. Beyond that, Russia-Iran are supporters of Hizb-Allah (the party of God, transliterated to English as ‘Hezbollah’) and there is every danger that Putin will ignite war on Israel’s north border, as a further diversion from Ukraine.
If Hizb-Allah initiates a second front against Israel, the current war against Hamas could become a regional war, with unpredictable consequences for all involved. Ironically, if there is a widened war, and assuming this does not result in a nuclear exchange, then Israel may reconsider its denial of weapons and cultural support to Ukraine. The political calculus will simply have changed ……….
Christian comment
It seems unnecessary here to rehash opinions about Israel, other than to say that the Bible posits a time when all who try to solve the ‘problem’ of Jerusalem will only injure themselves [ Zechariah 12: 3 ] . Also, there is the tragic prophecy that Damascus will be laid waste [ Isaiah 17:1, specifically ]. Both outcomes shall result from Mankind’s determined refusal to allow Israel to live in peace. Opposing the God of Jacob entails inevitable consequences …….
See chapter 4 of my book “Last Days and End Times” for further thoughts about Israel. Freely downloadable here as a PDF: https://christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/LastDays.pdf
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https://www.reuters.com/world/china-russia-find-common-cause-israel-hamas-crisis-2023-10-20/
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Is the Pope Unorthodox?
Pope Francis’ approach to ‘Russia’ see-saws. At the beginning of the Ukraine invasion Rome appeared to back ‘Russia’, presumably as the Pope assumed a quick ‘Russia’ victory. To be on ‘the winning side’ is always good in religion! By siding with the anticipated and ‘obvious’ victor, Rome could maintain and deepen its ties with Russian Orthodoxy, in particular, and Eastern Orthodoxy in general. Something that is – for Rome, a big priority.
When the bulk of the world expressed disquiet at the Russia invasion (including, in some senses, China!), Rome backpedalled. And this reverse was reflected in Catholic discourse generally. However, Francis remains a ‘loose cannon’ and seems to major in ‘backing’ and affirming whatever he can. Francis aims to be ‘all things to all men’.
Often Francis’ pronouncements seem geared to the ears of his current audience, and that leads to inconsistency. Lately, and in some senses bizarrely, Francis has switched sides again: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/pope-francis-draws-criticism-extolling-russian-imperialist-tsars-2023-08-28/
Readers may want to monitor Catholic news outlets right now and determine whether there is a switch of sympathies again. Is Eastern Orthodoxy, once more, ‘flavour of the month’ for Rome?
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