by Marion Kawas
Two months into the Gaza genocide, I wrote an article about why I hated the cruel ideology of Zionism and everything it had done to the Palestinian people. At that point, most activists could not imagine that this genocide would now be close to reaching its one-year anniversary. And that almost one year on, we would still be seeing the images of headless children, bodies draped off the edges of buildings, as well as humiliated and tortured prisoners proudly displayed by their captors.
Each new atrocity brought forth performative and useless expressions of concern from Western leaders and most Arab regimes, often coined as a “global outcry”. With the tent massacre in Rafah, we thought that surely the world would now intervene to stop this. And then again with the horrific revelations from Sde Teiman prison, and the defense of such by many Israeli legislators. But we were wrong and this new phase of openly dispossessing and crushing Palestinians continues unabated. Not only continues but brings new levels of destruction like this week’s al Mawasi massacre where two-ton US made bombs obliterated humble tents and everything and everyone in them.
And the grief and rage of Palestinians also grows, in ways that will impact generations to come. Whether in historic Palestine, in Arab countries or in the broader diaspora, the Palestinian national consensus going forward has been permanently altered by the carnage in Gaza and the lack of world response.
Here in the belly of the imperialist beast, not only have our governments slavishly promoted and defended the Israeli genocide, but they have also worked to silence pro-Palestine advocates on multiple fronts. From student protestors on campuses, to community organizers, to professors who dared to speak out – we have seen fraudulent lawsuits, attempts to level “hate crime” charges, firings and dismissals, as well as increased violence from local police forces. But despite this heavy-handed suppression, people from small communities and large cities are still out on the streets speaking up for Palestine and refusing to stand down.
We thought that the public postings on social media by Zionist soldiers revelling in their lewd and brutal acts in Gaza would be enough to sway anyone with a conscience. In fact, the phenomena and impunity of such social media stories is something that will be studied for years to come. To openly brag about committing war crimes and sharing them to the world like some sort of “trophy” is unfathomable. Either the Israeli military leaders had no control of their own soldiers, or they thought this kind of behaviour helped reinforce troop morale and would intimidate Palestinians. Either way, this is a sick society in decay.
We certainly knew the horrific history of Zionist brutality and knew that this was their legacy long before October 7, 2023. Recently, Canada Palestine Association unearthed some of its archival documents from1982, showing local actions around the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the Sabra/Shatila massacre. Some of their posters from that time carried images of Palestinian and Lebanese children that could have been taken today in Gaza. The slogans were almost identical – No More US Weapons, Stop Israeli Genocide! The parallels with the current Gaza genocide were both haunting and eerie.
How did we get from the Sabra/Shatila massacre to the repeated massacres in Gaza? What are the take-away lessons here?
If anyone needed further proof, it is clear that Western governments are not responsive to their constituents and only care about public opinion when, and if, they think it might impact their electoral agenda.
There was an assumption that at some point, the US-led empire would realize that “Israel” was damaging their national interests and would turn away from their unconditional support. Although this may still occur, the interdependency between the interests of Zionism and its imperial backers is now more solidified than ever. Both realize that the downfall of Zionism will contribute to greatly diminishing the power of the US and its allies in the region (and globally), and this is leverage that Israeli PM Netanyahu is exploiting to the fullest.
There is no international “rules-based” order to appeal to, no Western “morality” worth cultivating. Palestinians and all oppressed people must rely on their resistance, themselves and the support of genuine allies. They must never surrender their right to resist, to return, and to independently decide their own strategy and tactics.
Also published in Al Mayadeen English.
Cover photos: Michael YC Tseng, Social Media