A question on everyone’s mind in any catastrophe is who possesses an answerable truth. Who should I listen to? Who can I trust? Zionism, fascism, antisemitism? What does it all mean? How does this affect me? We go for our pocket, relentlessly compelled to reach down, crane our neck, tap through the stories, swipe through the content, race and rack our brain through a rollercoaster of information. Those brief moments where our thumb might pause simply isn’t enough time to retain information or understand why it’s true (I pulled this from a TikTok but can’t recall which one). Every morsel of attention is harvested by Silicon Valley salamanders. Our ability to emotionally regulate is instantly hijacked by anonymous commenters. Political leaders define human progress as ‘material growth’ and believe cultural stability and the evolution of cultural traits will stagnate society. All the while military conflict, artificial intelligence, the cost-of-living crisis, ecological damage are happening fast and simultaneously- this is a train headed for catastrophe.
Yet there is no final destination, political conflict is inevitable, the class struggle is real; but the widespread apathy that slowly constricts appointing any kind of collective action certainly isn’t. The atrocities against the Palestinian people by the state of Israel have fuelled the spirit of rage among the world’s spectators. People are witnessing the potential final destination itself- that being, the unimaginable cruelty those in power are capable of once they are given a platform. How did this even come to be? Such disbelief can only be understood through belief itself: religion and politics- the arena of deception and power. For us, party one, the left, should be renamed the uncompromising centre, they’re pro market, they adamantly refuse the call for ceasefire, they literally do nothing. It has adopted everything it was historically against whilst still upholding its moral superiority through performative gimmicks. Those aligned with the left simply like to feel better than other people- which is characteristic of liberal attitudes and philosophies. The right, party two, is now undoubtedly the extreme right, propped up by politicians who intentionally perform as idiots. By doing so, the educated elite (left) mock and laugh at them (as we see on mainstream television), but of course the joke is on them as viewers then believe the educated elite think of them the exact same way. As a result, right-wing votes aren’t a matter of personal interest, but a big f**k you to snobbery. We saw this happen with Trump in the U.S, Johnson in the U.K, Morrison in Australia, and now Luxon in Aotearoa New Zealand. These two major political bodies have constructed the most effective back-alley deal of fooling democratic society into thinking opinions and votes really do matter. In reality, smug elitists feed off phony fascists and phony fascists feed off smug elitists.
Such limitations on public interest shove frustration and despair down the gullet. Being reduced to two viable political choices is a slippery slope towards believing, saying, and doing things one normally wouldn’t. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a shining example. I am no expert in geopolitics, I am simply a witness to it, so what proceeds comes from three figures who I would consider the best witnesses who have worked to expose the long history of dirty politics and global injustice. The conflict in Gaza is at the forefront of public life right now, it’s all-over social media, barely shown on mainstream media, and has created extreme moral and political polarisation; antisemitism is exploding, anti-Islam is exploding- and it can only end in catastrophe for both. Many of us know that Jews are great victims of the holocaust, and this, in many ways, has justified the growth of Zionism. Zionism being, an ideology gathered by remnants of a shattered community who have historically been oppressed, into a powerful movement which created a new state- central to the European consciousness (Said, 1988). Israel echoes similar ripples to the racial segregation imposed by the authoritarian political culture in South Africa, which many are of course familiar with. They desire holy land with cleansing fire. Israeli settlement has yearned for a fresh start since 1948, a rising from the ashes, reincarnation, a miracle. It’s obvious where the foundation lies, and as we know, it won’t stop.
Israel has historically relied on Arab dictators to suppress Palestinian populations and make deliberations. As resistance movements such as Hamas appeared, inevitably, the United States, the world’s bully-nation, jammed their foot in the door for the lucrative business of war. Explained by Noam Chomsky (2011), ‘…in the late 50s, the U.S national security council issued a memorandum discussing the Arab world, saying there was a perception in the Arab world that the U.S supports harsh and brutal dictators and prevents democracy and development, doing this of course to maintain control of energy resources’. It doesn’t take a genius to recognise that the United States are complicit in perpetuating catastrophe yet again. They simply can’t keep their hands out of others’ pockets to fill their own. It comes as no surprise then, when lists of celebrities, politicians, and profiteers from the U.S come out in support of Israel, the rest of the atlas shrugs. For example, 700 Hollywood stars and entertainment executives signed an open letter condemning Hamas and supporting Israel. Yet just a few months ago SAG-AFTRA were on strike demanding better pay and better rights. These celebrities who represent a cultural elite, and therefore are assumed to hold a more liberal stance (evident in the strikes) only put it into action when it affects their screen time and bank account. It emphasises the earlier point- the charade only lasts so long, once the mask drops, we see that the American cultural elite is a hollow shell, and the public is left with another performative gimmick. It is ironically an act. If America is the bully of the world, then Hollywood is where it s***s from.
Israel uses American arms, Israel has American support, they are zealots in bondage. “But Hamas attacks Israeli settlements! therefore we must condemn Palestine” is the popular argument made. The poor logic in such statements fails to see that settlements are essentially giant engines for the production of right-wing consciousness. It’s difficult for someone placed in hostile territory, given training in automatic weapons, and warned to be constantly vigilant against a local population seething over the fact that your next-door neighbours have been killing their sheep and destroying their olive trees, not to gradually see ethno-nationalism as common sense (Graeber, 2015). Defence is purely doublespeak for destruction. U.S military wars amount to around 50 percent of global spending. Their military budget is currently at 1.52 trillion USD (The Department of Defense, 2023). The Chinese military budget is one fifth of what the U.S has spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. No other country has over 800 military bases in the world. But Israel is unique in that its settlement was originally a project designed by well-funded religious fanatics. Since at least the 90s, right-wing politicians in Israel have figured out that settlements are a kind of political magic- the more money that gets funnelled, the more the Jewish electorate turns to the right for a simple reason, Israel is expensive (Graeber, 2015). In turn, money floods the bank(s), force becomes ‘right’, and the adoption of what Said describes as an appalling disregard for and demonisation of the ‘Other’ that is very often the European Hallmark- the nucleus of Zionism, is put into action.
‘Israel is today the world’s fourth largest arms exporter, after the US, Russia, and UK. This is actually quite a feat for such a tiny country. But as everyone also hastens to add: Israeli arms and security systems have an enormous advantage over their rivals, one Israeli firms never fail to emphasize in their promotional literature. They are extensively field-tested. This new type of shell that was used to destroy tunnels in Gaza! This new type of random-distribution tear gas dispenser was successfully used against protestors in the Balata refugee camp. This new type of laser-detection device has repeatedly foiled attacks on settlers. Arab resistance has become a key economic resource for Israeli capital, and were it to completely quiet down, the export economy would take an immediate hit’.
On the other hand:
‘Palestinian society was traditionally considered the most liberal Arab society outside of Beirut. Young women never used to go with their hair covered, but things started to change in the 90s with the political rise of Hamas. During the 80s, Israeli intelligence agents began taking advantage of their existence to spike the sweet tea with knock out drugs and take nude pictures of women to blackmail their husbands into turning into a collaborator or informant. This transformed the environment into a place where insane things began to happen; spies, informants, security forces (many with advanced degrees in psychology and social theory) were actively coming up with ideas to destroy social trust and tear the social fabric apart’.
– David Graeber, Hostile Intelligence: Reflections from a visit to the West Bank (2015).
Anyone capable of empathy is now well aware that the state of Israel has earned its spot in the war crime and atrocities hall of fame. It has altered the texture of everyday life for Palestinian people to be nothing but intolerable. Everything designed and employed in the name of Zionism has retained the ultimate intention to provoke. As a result, the Palestinian people are in a state of confusion and despair, caught as they are between the dictatorial whims of their leader on the one hand, and the merciless policies of occupation and humiliation by which Israel maintains its hold on their lives and land (Said, 1978). Even at its conception, notable figures like Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, and others in a public statement published by the New York Times from 1948 described the Herut Party as one that is “closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy, and social appeal to Nazi and Fascist parties”.
What then does our geographical distance but unrelenting support for Palestine entail? The abandonment of a two-choice system, the dismantling of the binary model. People are quick to recoil at the idea of radical change, but it is the only viable way to prevent catastrophe. Every grain of sand that passes through the hourglass is a second closer to the barbarous nature of statecraft. There requires community consolidation, the provision of a greater chance of fostering cooperation rather than competition. Recognise that borders are scars on the surface of the planet, and dissolving them opens doors to new ideas, cultures, values, and possibilities. The tie-wearing and teeth bearing who hide in their confines have zero interest in public needs. To them, the world is simply a measuring device for profit, and the human body a means to ensure her pain and labour. The longer that this narrative continues, the longer we remain in it, and the longer we remain lost. Understand that opposites can be terrifyingly wrong. If history shows us anything, there are always more than two choices. But this requires a radical rewriting of the past too; acknowledging that humanity can’t continue to define itself by the destructive notion of ‘progress’. And remember, I am not an expert, and neither are you, but the liberation from oppression has always been made by people, not experts.
References
Chomsky, Noam. (2011): Israel and Palestine (Full Lecture). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUsXt8TmVfU
Department of Defense (2023), statistics. https://www.usaspending.gov/agency/department-of-defense?section=overview&fy=2023
Graeber, David. (2015). Hostile Intelligence: Reflection From a Visit to the West Bank. https://internationaltimes.it/hostile-intelligence-reflections-from-a-visit-to-the-west-bank/
Said, Edward. (1988). EDWARD SAID and Palestine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g1ooTNkMQ4&t=2464s
Said, Edward. (1978). Orientalism.
The New York Times. (1948). https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/12/03/85632547.html
The World Bank. Military expenditure – China; 1989-2022. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.CD?locations=CN
Open letter in support of Israel.
