By Mariam Jooma Carikci
As the daily Israeli killing and maiming of civilians in Gaza continues unabated—and now, arguably, in routine fashion—the questions persist: What will it take to pull the plug on Netanyahu’s killing bots? Who will speak for the thousands of child amputees, orphans and widows? Which moral voice carries enough weight to demand justice, when even the pope’s call goes unanswered?
And what privilege should we afford politicians from both the West and the Global South to chart a path out of this civilizational darkness? The answer, I would argue, is none. No political leader anywhere in the world deserves to be vested with hope for a better future—least of all the current cohort of hypocrites ruling the planet.
One hallmark of a visionary leader is the ability to anticipate the obstacles on the road to real change. In this respect, the legacy of Steve Bantu Biko remains instructive. In I Write What I Like, Biko warned: “The biggest mistake the black world ever made was to assume that whoever opposed apartheid was an ally.” It was a sharp critique of superficial solidarity. Biko wasn’t dismissing all white opposition to apartheid, but cautioning against uncritically embracing people—or states—just because they appear to oppose oppression.
His point was clear: opposing one form of injustice doesn’t automatically make someone committed to justice as a principle—especially if that opposition entails no risk, no sacrifice, and no alignment with the oppressed.
Thirty-one years later, Biko’s insight remains relevant. Among the loudest critics of the U.S. empire and its Zionist outpost, Israel, are the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. These countries have cast themselves as champions of a “multipolar world,” posturing as the vanguard of an alternative to U.S. hegemony. Yet trade figures tell a different story.
According to CounterPunch (October 2024), nearly all BRICS members continue to actively nurture economic ties with Israel. India, for example, recorded bilateral trade exceeding $10 billion in 2023, including defense deals that directly boost the Israeli military-industrial complex—military hardware that is often tested in Gaza and branded “battle-proven.” While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed “deep concern” over the violence and called for peace, India’s defense contracts are feeding the very machinery driving the genocide of Palestinians.
Brazil doubled its imports of Israeli fertilizer even after the October 2023 escalation. China, which holds the ideological mantle of anti-imperialist politics and has formally supported Palestinian statehood, continues bilateral trade with Israel estimated at $14 billion in 2024. Even as President Xi Jinping called at the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in May 2024 for a peace conference to end the “tremendous suffering” in Gaza—emphasizing that Israel’s war “should not continue indefinitely” and that “justice should not be absent forever”—business with Tel Aviv carried on.
Russia, mired in its own war in Ukraine and eager to present itself as an anti-Western power, has maintained full diplomatic and economic ties with Israel. Its war economy thrives in geopolitical instability, and it leverages rhetorical opposition to the West for strategic profit, not principled justice.
And then there is South Africa. While arguably the most vocal BRICS critic of Israel, its moral stance has so far remained symbolic. The government’s International Court of Justice case against Israel may be a powerful gesture—but trade has not ceased. South Africa still exports coal to Israel and has made no move to sever economic ties.
Realpolitik reigns. The language of peace and justice is reduced to a coat of lipstick on the pig of a global capitalist order. If BRICS is to truly offer an alternative vision for the world, its member states—led by South Africa—must collectively adopt the following measures:
- Ban the export of coal and critical minerals to Israel.
- Suspend defense-related cooperation and imports.
- Restrict Israeli investment in key sectors such as telecommunications and agriculture.
- Strengthen customs regimes to block Israeli goods from BRICS markets.
Until such measures are enacted, the moral authority of BRICS remains as compromised as that of the United States and Europe—who have aided and abetted the mass killing of babies, children, and unarmed civilians. Biko’s warning echoes still: an ally is only worthy of that name when real sacrifices are made for the greater good. Everything else is mere opportunism.