Break the fear barrier and speak up for Palestine
JVL Introduction
This eloquent appeal to citizens of the democracies of America and Europe, written by a Palestinian academic living in Canada, may make uncomfortable reading for those liberal intellectuals who, when challenged to take a stand against the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, reply that the issue is “complex and controversial”.
With only the most delicate of irony the author notes that there are many things which are “complex and controversial”, which people freely analyse and express opinions about without any problem.
The truth is rather darker: the real reason for the silence is fear.
GW
This article was originally published by Al Jazeera on Tue 11 May 2021. Read the original here.
Break the fear barrier and speak up for Palestine
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Risking being silenced by JVL once again I feel morally obliged to reiterate my previous point that Israel IS acting in many ways like the German state in the 1930s with racist segregation, state sponsored murder, forced labour, invading neighbouring lands and ethnic cleansing. Millions died to rid the world of this evil. Why is it being condoned and even supported now by the states that fought the Nazis?
A good insightful article. MSM commentators and most of our politicians including those who claim to be on the left seem to be “brain dead” when it comes to the issue of Israeli settler colonialism. Endless calls for de escalation and support for the oppressors right to defend itself from the actions of those it oppresses just confirms this. It’s all too complex for them to understand. This is used to justify “fence sitting” on the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians and the brutal apartheid regime introduced to maintain the Israeli regime. Acknowledging the truth is considered controversial and might get you into trouble. You may lose your job or party membership on trumped up charges of antisemitism for daring to support Palestinian justice.
I think you are absolutely correct GR. And in the latest period of settler and State violence against our Palestinian brothers and sisters it has become self-evident to many.
I am grateful to be largely beyond the fear factor when it comes to speaking up as I am retired; I’m not dependent on employment and I’m not unduly bothered about reputational damage. But I do know a dread of opening up social media after I have made comment on someone’s post that is one-sided and blind and deaf to the situation faced by Palestinians living in Gaza, the Occupied Territories, and Israel.
I noticed over the weekend several of my friends who were speaking out about the anti-Jewish rhetoric in Northwest London but had made absolutely no comment about the settler and IDF violence and hatred against Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.
These people do not actually sit on the fence. The reality of their position is to support Israel and Israeli settlers in their oppression and violence against the Palestinian people.
I’ve been wondering what I can actually DO. I think in reality there is very little – apart from speaking out every time I see injustice, and every time I see ignorance and imbalance, and indeed hypocrisy, in people’s responses to what is happening in Israel/Palestine.