Supporters of Israel often claim that the conflict exists because there is no one to talk to on the Palestinian side, arguing that Palestinians are irrational extremists without leaders. However, the real cause is Western irrationality.
Israel’s Role: Strategies to Prevent a Palestinian State
It starts with Israel itself. Since the 1970s, the Likud government has been planning to build massive settlements in the occupied territories to prevent the formation of a Palestinian state. More recently, Prime Minister Netanyahu has kept Hamas in power to sow discord and thus prevent a Palestinian state. Consider also Netanyahu’s coalition with Bezalel Smotrich, who openly advocates for annexation (from the river to the sea) and argues that annexed Palestinians should pledge allegiance to Israel or leave the country. A think tank led by Meir Ben Shabbat, Israel’s former national security advisor, published a paper on October 17 stating that there is a “one-time and unique opportunity” to permanently relocate the population of Gaza to Egypt. The author is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Western Zealots: Divine Promises and Diabolical Schemes
In the Western world, we have figures like former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who claims that God has promised the land, including the occupied territories, to Israel. In the Netherlands, there are zealots, like Dutch MP Gert-Jan Segers, who believe that supporters of Palestine are part of a diabolical plan to destroy Israel. You can’t debate with zealots.
Western Fallacies: Ad Hominems and Whataboutism
Western sophists also play a significant role. Take for instance Assita Kanko in the newspaper De Telegraaf, who, instead of addressing legitimate criticism from civil servants, attacked them with a column titled, “You didn’t hear the ‘critical’ civil servants about many other abuses.” Or journalist Wierd Duk, who tweeted, “Azerbaijan has ‘cleansed’ Karabakh of more than 100,000 Armenians. No civil servant has spoken about it.” And Esther van Fenema, a Dutch psychiatrist, columnist, author, and political party leader, who psychiatrically diagnosed young supporters of Palestine:
“It’s difficult to understand the activism of mainly left-wing youth. They are certainly not orthodox religious, and injustice exists in many places in the world. Is it partly and perhaps underlyingly a resistance against our dominant Western ideology with its extreme individualism?”
And the best fallacy-monger of all, Arthur van Amerongen, wrote in HP/De Tijd:
“Nobody talks about the occupation of Western Sahara, the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus, the genocide by Turkey on Armenians, Kurds, and several other minorities that nobody knows. Don’t think that Moroccan street thugs will demonstrate against the bloody oppression of their Muslim brothers and sisters in China and Myanmar. The hatred against Israel is ordinary hatred against Jews. Period.”
(By the way, there is an economic embargo against Northern Cyprus.)
The above examples are not exceptions. You can hear the same fallacies in the media from others like Elma Drayer, Leon de Winter, Adjiedj Bakas, Afshin Ellian, Esther Voet, Ronny Naftaniel, Arend Jan Boekestijn, and many others. They are like a zombie tsunami. You can throw endless rational arguments at zombies without any result.
The Effect on Western Governments
When the Israeli government wants to expand, the well-reasoned arguments of the Palestinians fall on deaf ears. Then only Western governments remain who could force Israel to peace, as Nathan Thrall proves in his book “The only language they understand: forcing compromise in Israel and Palestine.” (Who, by the way, says he pulls both parties by the ears.) But Western governments are often not inclined to do so, especially when they are friends with the Israel lobby, like Dutch PM Mark Rutte, or are zealots themselves, like Pompeo.
Public opinion only influences governments if there is a critical mass that makes enough noise. That critical mass does not exist, partly because many citizens think irrationally, as the above examples show. As a result, this conflict has lasted for more than half a century because neither Israel nor its supporters are susceptible to reason.
Be First to Comment