Russ Roberts
Listen to the Sirens, Dec. 30, 2024
“The essential and also the most radical claim of settler colonialism is that settler colonialism is a structure, not an event.”
One of the stranger and more disturbing aspects of the world since October 7, 2023 is the ongoing and increased support for the Palestinians in the aftermath of the atrocities of that day. This is hard for some of us to understand—rape and murder and kidnapping are not the usual way to make friends and influence people. Why did so many in the West celebrate and exult in the so-called resistance? Somehow, the atrocities of October 7th invigorated the Palestinian cause rather than shamed it.
I thought I understood what was going on. It’s the standard logic that Arnold Kling identified long ago and that now seems commonplace. The left views the news of the day through the lens of the oppressor and the oppressed. Israel is the oppressor, the Palestinians the oppressed. The war in Gaza simply intensified the emotions behind the marches, chants, and encampments. There isn’t a lot of nuance in the modern world. A lot of people just pick a side. Some choose Israel. Some choose the Palestinians.
But they didn’t just choose the Palestinians. After October 7th, anti-Israel sentiment increased well before Israeli launched its counter-attacks in Gaza. But it’s a very special kind of anti-Israel protest movement.
The protests aren’t about criticizing or reforming Israel. They’re not about the settlements on the West Bank. They’re not about getting Israel to improve the daily life of Palestinians in Gaza. They’re not about pressuring Israel to accept a two-state solution. They’re not even about delegitimizing Israel. They’re about erasing Israel. They’re about denying any righteousness that might exist in the pro-Israel cause or more accurately, in Zionism. They’re about a utopian ideal of returning Palestine to the state it was in as if the last 76 years hadn’t happened. Never mind that the Palestinians didn’t have sovereignty then. At least the alleged settlers didn’t either.
The resistance is about turning back the hands of time. Put aside for the moment the reality that history only runs forward. This isn’t about history. It’s about myth and what inspires people. ….SOURCE