Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November/December 2023, pp. 16-17
Seven Views: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood Changes Everything
By Dale Sprusansky
MOST AMERICANS KNOW very little about the Middle East. What little they do know mostly comes from their limited and selective consumption of the news, the mouths of politicians and the sermons of religious leaders. All three of these sources are heavily influenced by the efforts of pro-Israel special interest groups.
Operating within this context, activists have made substantial progress in moving the Palestinian solidarity movement forward in the U.S. over the past decade. Israel is now regularly referred to as an apartheid state by mainstream news outlets and human rights organizations; legislation to protect Palestinians from Israeli human rights violations has been introduced in Congress; a “squad” of congresspeople regularly give voice to Palestinian concerns; the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli soldiers prompted unprecedented official and popular criticisms of Israel; college campuses are filled with intersectional organizations committed to the Palestinian cause; academic groups and churches have adopted resolutions endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement; polls have shown decreasing support for Israel among Democrats, Independents and even Christian evangelicals; awareness of the machinations of the Israel lobby has spread widely; social media has allowed a new generation to learn directly from Palestinians without the gatekeeping of the mainstream media; Israel’s current unfiltered government has caused many to finally grasp the anti-Palestinian racism that grips far too many Israeli minds; Israelis taking to the street en masse to protest the state of their “democracy” has given rare space to many in the West to openly criticize the Israeli government; The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s decision to endorse supporters of Jan. 6 insurrectionists has led many to identify pro-Israel advocacy with right-wing extremism. There was—until early October—a real sense among activists and observers that things actually were beginning to change on the Western front.
To be clear, the progress has been slow and utterly inadequate for Palestinians suffering the daily barbarity of siege, occupation, home demolitions, bombings, night raids, settler pogroms, land theft, an apartheid wall, checkpoints, indefinite detention, torture, assassination, harassment, second-class citizenship and exile. The U.S. still sends billions a year to Israel, offers it unequivocal international support, has worked tirelessly to normalize relations between Israel and Arab capitals and has done little to ease—or even acknowledge—the suffering of the Palestinian people. Palestinians have every right to be wholly unimpressed with the “progress” made by their Western allies 75 years into the Nakba.
That being said, the future for Palestinian advocacy looks bleak following the latest outbreak of mass violence. One can’t help but wonder if the gains of the past decade have been largely lost under the bodies of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s 1,000-plus Israeli victims. In the wake of the attack, politicians, even those normally sympathetic to Palestinian concerns, have lined up to greenlight a full-fledged Israeli assault on Gaza. Even the typical pro forma, half-hearted calls for Israeli restraint have all but disappeared. Many European countries have suspended aid to humanitarian efforts in the West Bank and pledged support for Israeli military efforts. New York City Mayor Eric Adams insinuated that his constituents who support the right of Palestinians to resist occupation and besiegement are terrorists. There are wide-spread calls for student groups to be prohibited from hosting Palestinian solidarity rallies. Civil rights groups have documented a sudden rise in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry. Disputes regarding the right of Palestinians to use violent resistance have broken out online among activists who typically agree on Palestinian issues. The White House was lit up in Israeli colors on Oct. 9. All major American sports leagues issued widely-shared social media posts supporting Israel, without ever mentioning Palestinians. A Philadelphia sportswriter was fired for criticizing such a statement issued by his city’s 76ers basketball team. The news media has described the attack on Israel as being akin to 9/11 and Hamas’ tactics as mirroring those of ISIS—the implication being that a full-throated “war on terror” against Gaza is justified. Israel has in turn dropped any pretext that it seeks to warn civilians before an air strike. The bottom line: it’s a downright hostile environment—even more so than usual—in which to utter a word of sympathy toward Palestinians or nuance regarding Israel.
The hard work of activists over the past decade has undoubtedly reached many Americans and forever changed their perspective of the “conflict.” However, the news of Hamas’ assault has reached far many more people—instantaneously and brutally. “Israel Attacked” is one of the few headlines regarding foreign affairs that U.S. newsrooms are willing to devote countless hours to (conflicts in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ethiopia and elsewhere barely register). The media, of course, ignores the context of the past 75 years to focus solely on the dynamics of the day: dead, frightened Israelis under siege. Yes, the occasional Palestinian, such as Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, slips onto CNN, but Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer and their Zionist cohorts control the 24/7 wall-to-wall coverage (although such coverage almost never includes reports from Gaza). Even MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin, who has witnessed first-hand the indiscriminate violence Israel inflicts upon Gazans, seemed reluctant to ask tough questions to elected U.S. officials or Israeli representatives in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas offensive. Meanwhile, the neoconservative Wall Street Journal led the way in trying to pin blame for the attack on Iran, priming the U.S. and the world for all-out war against Tehran.
Contemplating the scope of death from the river to the sea is enough to make one nauseous. Observing the mainstream response to the ongoing war is enough to make one weary about the path forward for Palestinian activism. Have the minds and hearts of the public become severely hardened by what they’ve seen (and haven’t seen) on their screens? What is the future of Palestinian advocacy when our neighbors, co-workers, leaders, family and friends have been freshly and overwhelmingly compelled to associate Palestine with a level of terrorism akin to 9/11? We can only hope that much of the solidarity work done in recent years endures—and there is good reason to believe those who have “seen the light” won’t suddenly turn the switch off on the Palestinian people. But there’s likely a long road ahead. Keeping the momentum going will be exponentially challenging given the tidal wave of unwavering support Israel has just received at the expense of Palestinians.
Dale Sprusansky is managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
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