O n 7th October, the Palestinian extremist group Hamas launched one of their bloodiest attacks on Israel, killing thousands of civilians and soldiers. The world stood in unison with Israel, condemning the heinous crimes, as we have seen in recent times, whenever there is an act of terrorism.
As a general statement, this brings a feeling of hope when people stand by each other in their darkest hours. However, this false sense of hope and solidarity is ephemeral. In French, there is an expression ‘le monde de bisounours’; literally, it means the world of Care Bears, where rainbows paint everything in brilliant colours. Unfortunately, we in Western Europe seem to think we live in a world of Care Bears. In fact, it’s not the entire world we think of, but an odd-shaped bubble that excludes many countries that are being ravaged by these very evils that we remonstrate so passionately about, yet for those people outside our bubble, we set aside pity and contempt. The present crisis has only corroborated this statement. This essay is not about glorifying Hamas, nor is it about not empathising with the plight of the people of Israel; it is about the double standards the West has in their foreign policy that needs to be brought into question.
Statement of solidarity
Five nations were the first to issue a joint statement of solidarity with Israel — USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy. The five nations that don’t recognise Palestine as a state. They have turned their back on the strife of the Palestinians in the region. So when Israel forcefully occupies land to expand, it doesn’t make it to the headlines. There was a time when a two-state solution looked viable, but it seems a far cry now. The recent attempts of intervention under Barack Obama did not bring any improvements, but perhaps because of the mistrust of Western powers by Palestinians, perhaps because the efforts were not made in earnest by the governments; they didn’t want a resolution. The USA sent destroyers, and the UK sent warships — apparently for peacekeeping, as Israel engaged in the killing spree of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Historical justification for silence
The IHRA definition of antisemitism declares denying Jewish people of self-determination, such as branding the formation of the Israeli state as racist, can be considered anti-Semitic. We are aware under what conditions Israel was formed in 1948, and it is for the people who went through numerous mass exoduses from the region to call a piece of land their home. It was historically wrong to obliterate the entire Palestinian state to form Israel. Did the then-world leaders act in haste to create the Israeli state? We would not know the answer if it was that they genuinely endorsed the Jewish right of self-determination, or they didn’t want the refugees in their countries, or whether it was the guilt of not protecting the rights of the Jews enough before the beginning of Nazi atrocities? Suppose we follow the history of mass expulsions, apart from the Middle East, where it has begun, throughout the Middle and Modern ages. In that case, there have been many mass expulsions of Jewish people, even in the countries that so ardently signed the message of solidarity, right up to the wake of WWII. The historical mass exodus of Jewish people from their land was wrong, but it was equally unsupportable to displace people of an entire nation to rectify it. Citing the reason of historical justification for the Israeli state to exist in order to deny recognition of a Palestinian state and its people by the Western governments is simply disgraceful. Speaking of self-determination, whilst the UN and its member states hastened to empower the Jews to choose where they live, the same powers conveniently ignored the Palestinians’ self-determination rights.
Hamas=Palestine
It is saddening that Palestine does not have a democratic voice — they have a president, but anybody who can negotiate a deal is not ready to listen. Under these circumstances, while Israel bulldozed houses and flattened lands in the West Bank, Palestinians are left with Hamas, a group that vowed to destroy the state of Israel. Hamas is possibly the worst obstacle to the Palestinian cause, but in the absence of any representative voice, Hamas (and other extremist outfits acting within occupied Palestine) is also the only ally the people of Palestine can trust. No political entity can replace them at present, not in the foreseeable future. Perhaps the names and the faces of key figures will change, but the objective of these extremist organisations, which is the dissolution of the state of Israel, won’t change. Meanwhile, all the citizens of Palestine are seen to be potential Hamas members; we have all seen that from the inhuman way the Israeli army treats them. If this wasn’t horrific enough, the common notion that a free Palestine movement means supporters of Hamas is silencing the debates across Europe’s societies. There is more to the Israel-Palestine debate, and the stigma of being branded as supporting terrorist organisations, supporting a free Palestine movement should not deter anybody from calling for international intervention to stop Israel’s genocidal atrocities and unlawful occupation of Palestinian Territories.
What’s in it for the Left?
Historically, communist and socialist entities took the side of Palestine, calling for a free Palestinian state. The main target of their political stance was often, if not always, the United States. Parties and individuals who deplored US imperialism saw Israel as a brainchild of America’s foreign policy, and the USA has been the number one protector for Israel. Support for Israel by the USA has always been unequivocal, and they have consistently ignored Israel’s aggression on Palestinians. For this apparent reason, most left-leaning institutions have always been vocal about Palestinian freedom. However, during the present crisis, we see different left/liberal parties across Western Europe take a stance to benefit their own cause rather than being on the right side. During the debate about the statement of solidarity in the French parliament, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the French socialist party La France Insoumise, refrained from voting, stating that the statement would only allow Israel to retaliate more brutally, resulting in a humanitarian crisis. On the other hand, Keir Starmer, leader of the UK Labour Party, immediately said that he stands wholeheartedly with Israel and that Israel is within their rights to cut off Gaza from essential amenities. Both stances are commendable, but they paint a different picture when questioned about the intention. While Mélenchon is trying to project himself as a viable replacement for Macron, his stance was a bold statement to the large population of Muslims living in France that under him, France will not turn their backs on the Palestinian cause, with a clear intention to secure the votes. On the other hand, the Labour Party in the UK has a large number of Jewish voters who are disgruntled about the accusations of antisemitism within the party under the previous leadership, and not long ago, the Equality Watchdog concluded their monitoring of the progress to stamp out the antisemitism from the party. With a clear intent to regain the confidence of the Jewish population in Britain before the looming general election next year, Keir Starmer wasted no time expressing solidarity with Israel. There are times when parties need to act for their own interests, but in situations like this, when the leaders’ integrity is questioned, neither managed to rise to the occasion.
Aftermath in Europe
Immediately after the attacks on Israel, police have been put on high alert across Europe for possible antisemitic attacks on Jews. Sporadic cases of sick attacks and verbal abuses have been directed towards Jewish people and establishments across Europe. The police indeed have a duty to protect civilians and prevent hate crimes. However, there appears to be an overemphasis on these possible attacks. Admittedly, many angry people want to avenge the injustice in Palestine, but the high alert and media focus are mainly intended to deflect the public attention from the Israeli atrocities, which is entirely out of proportion. We have seen harrowing tales of the plights of Israeli people who were attacked by Hamas, but we have not seen how Israel is displacing millions of Palestinians or using white phosphorus in densely populated areas. Where are the dead Palestinian children? There are many, except on the cover pages of the Western media.
It’s been a week since Hamas launched their attack. In Europe, monuments have been lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag; they are back to their original colours. People had expressed anger about the ‘terrorist’ attacks on Israeli soil and moved on. People’s reaction is short-lived, and thanks to the media, they only see what they want to see and how they are expected to react. They don’t see or don’t want to know what’s happening to Palestine and Palestinians in the aftermath of the attack. They pay no heed to the ethnic cleansing being carried out by Israel; their profile pics temporarily change with the Israeli flag as background.
Aftermath at ground zero
What is happening in Gaza? Do we know the accurate picture? Is Israel keeping the number of victims down to undermine the outcome of the Hamas operation, or are they inflating the figures to make the retaliation even more brutal? Is Hamas doing the same thing? There are thousands of questions, but to what extent we will be given the answers depends on the media we follow. But it is clear that Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians last week and is now forcing over a million residents to move to south Gaza.
How Israel is getting away with this massive forced displacement while the world watches on is beyond belief. Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to get the opposition to agree to his genocidal plan; he even managed to get a blank check from the USA, and get warships sent by the UK, and nobody has asked this question how these measures are for self-defence. Clearly, Netanyahu has cemented his position as Israeli PM, whilst the allegations of corruption will soon be forgotten and forgiven for his jingoistic retaliation. It won’t come as a surprise if someone finds a link between Israel’s far-right and Hamas, as was the case when they were formed to destabilise the peace process as they did with PLO. Aggressive nationalism is indeed on the rise worldwide, but it can’t be possible that there are no challenges made from within Israel to stop these atrocious policies. But as ever, the warmongering and the clamour of the nationalists have buried the voices of reason.
We all have heard the stories of David and Goliath and how the underdog David took down Goliath. We tend to see weaker entities standing up to bigger bullies and defeating them. Perhaps this satisfaction is rooted in our daily life, where this doesn’t happen often, and our lives get pushed and shoved around by the larger forces at play around us. In the recent Israel-Palestine conflicts, the role of David and Goliath is swapped. David is no longer the saviour of Israel but the Palestinians, trying not to be wiped off the land they belonged to for generations. And Goliath is the state of Israel, imposing, warmongering, bullying a population, and striping of their primary human while blatantly circumventing international law.
When I first came to know about the Hamas attacks, for a split moment, I thought good on them, David is pushing back. Then immediately, I felt that the target of those missiles and the suicide missions was not really the state, the ideology to annex Palestine, but humans – civilians, families, children – you realise the pointlessness of this whole conflict. Or any human conflicts across the globe. You think of one of the most outstanding Israeli thinkers of modern times, Yuval Harari, when he argued that our countries, identities – names, surnames, religions – it’s all non-existent apart from in our mind. It’s like a wrapper we put on ourselves, but you take it off, and we are all humans, running our course through the process of evolution. I wonder what Yuval would make out of the situation. Killing Israeli people does not kill the apartheid spouted by Israel’s far-right; likewise, displacing millions of Palestinians, annexing their land, and stripping off their human rights won’t uproot the intents of Hamas. They are like hydras; you kill one head off, and there are two to deal with.
The only way how this situation can be resolved is through a two-state solution. Palestine needs to be recognised as a state, and its borders returned to the borders in 1967, nothing more, nothing less. Israel needs a moderate government that can commit to holding talks rather than sending drones and bulldozers, just as much as the Palestinians need a moderate leadership, ready to recommence the talks and not send missiles and car bombs. Both Israelis and Palestinians belong to that land as they have for thousands of years. If they can regain that trust to obey the borders, there might be one day when we no longer need to have two states. But many generations would need to wait for that, as there are always financial benefits for the powers that vow to protect them, to let them keep fighting.
What can you do?
If you’ve read this far, I trust you’re also disgusted at the duplicity of the West but feel helpless about how you can contribute to aid the Palestinians. First, you need to stop supporting Hamas attacks, if you are, no matter the reason whatsoever, because they are half of the problem for the escalation of the conflict. Now, coming to the other half, which is helping Palestinians and protest against Israel’s ethnic cleansing:
- Join a rally in solidarity with Palestine. There are many demonstrations that we can be part of, showing the governments that although they have decided to side with a country carrying out ethnic cleansing, there are people who disagree with this murderous collaboration.
- Support charities: Many charities are asking for help to supply medicines and food to the Palestinian families caught in this humanitarian crisis. Most known charities have an ongoing appeal except for DEC, for obvious reasons.
- Put up a flag: The UK government is planning to criminalise the use of flags to harass or intimidate the Jewish population in the UK. Persecuting an individual or a community for a crime they are not complicit in is wholly unnecessary and condemnable. As long as that is not the intention, it is entirely legal (still!) to display the Palestinian flag in your home, cars or yourself. So, please do display one, if not only to show your support; it is to nag the government because they are very willing to quash your freedom of speech when it’s not suited, but cannot do it as yet—a few years of conservative rule and who knows what will be permissible.
- Support Palestine action: If you want to be involved in more radical actions, you can join Palestine Action, a direct action group working to close down arms factories that sell arms to Israel; you can either participate as part of their direct action team, bearing in mind they have legal consequences, or financially support for their legal fees, as the government is quick to bring criminal charges against individuals for vandalism, as we have seen with Greenpeace and Just Stop Oil protesters, but not so quick or keen to remonstrate genocide.
Pensées...Rêves...Cauchemars...Éspoirs 