Hamas-Israel conflict: undressing the hypocrisy!

Freedom of speech is a sacrament that defines democracy. Much to our dismay, it has become an endangered species. Allow me to drive the point home. In a Muslim country, when I show solidarity with the people of Israel and condemn Hamas for their brutal and atrocious attack on Israel on October 7, as I should, I am given a tongue-lashing and labelled as a Zionist. In the West, when I criticise Israel for their indiscriminate and barbaric retaliation and speak against the horrible war crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza, as I should, I get raked over the coals, even get accused of antisemitism. As a case in point, Harvard’s Kennedy School denied fellowship to Kenneth Roth, a Jew himself and former head of Human Rights Watch, for his criticism of the Israel government. Roth reacted by saying that it sends the wrong message to the younger academics that if you touch Israel, if you criticise Israel, that can be a career-killing move, that you will get cancelled. Similarly, Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, was pressured to remove three of his advisers for blasting the Israeli government for the genocide in Gaza.

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear,” proclaimed George Orwell, known for his dystopian novel Nineteen Eight-Four (1984). SG Tallentyre, an English writer, went one step further, “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” A few months ago, the Biden Administration dropped selection of a leading law professor at Yale University to an international human rights position for portraying Israel as an apartheid state. A sad turn of events because dissent, no matter how unpopular, is part and parcel of democracy and must not be silenced. “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public,” declared Theodore Roosevelt, the 26^th President of the United States.

We have been brainwashed into thinking that our world is divided into two polar opposites: the West and the East. American imperialism typifies the West led by the US and its allies, also known as liberal democracies, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Israel and Germany. The East, on the other hand, is led by authoritarian regimes of Russia and China and their allies. There is also a bloc of emerging economies that include India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and South Korea, among others. In this convoluted world of political, trade and economic relationships, we are often forced to take sides when faced with regional or global hostilities. It is however as plain as daylight that the hypocrisy of the West is as blatant as the hypocrisy of the East. So, the question arises: should we take sides?

“Do we support Palestinians just because they are Muslims?” asks Imran Jan, a fellow Op-Ed writer with The Express Tribune. “What if the Palestinians were Jews or Christians, should we then discard their suffering and decide that we shouldn’t care?” A poignant question no doubt. Unfortunately, it’s never about humanity. When the East and the West headbutt each other like rams, it’s always about power. It’s an open secret that Israel has been the largest recipient of US foreign aid since World War II, the military aid soaring exponentially since 1967. As BBC reports, President Barack Obama, in 2016, signed an overall package of $38 billion in military aid to Israel over the decade 2017-2028. Why does the US provide billions of dollars in military aid to Israel every year? Because of their mutual commitment to democratic values.

Let’s examine the democratic values shared by the US and Israel. 1) Israel provides a corridor for United States to stretch its influence in the Middle East and beyond. 2) Mossad not only supplies all the military intelligence to the US that CIA can never collect on its own, it also assists the CIA in carrying out covert operations in the region — and beyond. 3) “Israel is the most productive, cost-effective, battle-tested laboratory for the US defense industries and Armed Forces,” says Yoram Ettinger, an Israeli researcher and Middle East expert. 4) According to Gen Alexander Haig, former US Secretary of State, “Israel is the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, which does not require American soldiers on board, is located in the most strategic area for U.S. military and economic interests, and cannot be sunk.” Let’s ask the question: who needs the other more: the United States or Israel?

Here in Pakistan, we take pride in being the most vociferous supporters of the Palestinian cause while at home we continue to engage in human rights violations including child labour, violence against women, domestic abuse, persecution of religious minorities, enforced disappearances and abductions, curbs on freedom of speech, violence against journalists, censorship and extrajudicial killings. Bribery and tax evasion are as ubiquitous in our beautiful country as toxic chemicals and bacteria in our drinking water.

“You ask me what forces me to speak? A strange thing — my conscience.” Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2023.

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