The ongoing conflict in Palestine has exposed deeply troubling attitudes among self-proclaimed democrats in the West, as they have supported Israel’s actions and dehumanized Palestinians.
The US administration’s reluctance to endorse a ceasefire for Gaza’s besieged population is particularly distressing. When questioned about calls for a ceasefire, the White House press secretary labeled them as “repugnant … and disgraceful.”
Other Western nations are no better. France has prohibited pro-Palestine rallies to maintain “public order.” Ironically, in a land that champions liberty, equality, and fraternity, these cherished principles seem off-limits for Palestinians or their sympathizers.
Furthermore, it has been reported in the American media that a State Department memo discourages US diplomats from using phrases like “restoring calm, end to violence/bloodshed” and “de-escalation/ceasefire.” It appears that Washington has given Israel the green light to continue its actions against the Palestinian people while stifling demands for an end to the violence.
In the UK, the home secretary has encouraged the police to consider banning Palestinian flags and chants. While Western countries often emphasize the importance of free speech, it appears that this right is reserved for those who criticize Palestine and support Israel. There have also been reports of students and activists involved in pro-Palestine events facing harassment or visits from FBI agents in the United States.
These developments suggest that to the Western elite, Israel is “us” to be mourned and avenged, while Palestinians represent “them” to be condemned and preferably eradicated.
While anti-Semitism, which targets Jewish people, is unacceptable, anti-Zionism, the critique of Israel’s founding philosophy, is permissible, as is criticism of Israel’s violent history of oppressing Palestinians. Israel is a colonial settler state established with imperial support through the ethnic cleansing of the native Arab population.
Over the past seventy-five years, Israel has refined its oppression of the Palestinian people, and the events of last Saturday were the outcome of decades of repression, humiliation, and violence. Fundamentally, the Palestinian struggle is one for liberation and dignity. This is why people across the Muslim world, the Global South, and conscientious Western citizens express solidarity with Palestine.
What is truly repugnant is not the call for an end to violence in Gaza but the Western hypocrisy and racism directed toward Palestinians. Many Western governments and segments of the media have demonstrated their support for the oppressor and their refusal to recognize Palestinians as human beings.
The next time Western leaders lecture others about human rights, their stance on the Palestinian civilian population will expose the hollowness of their rhetoric.