Shany Mor
WSJ, Oct. 20, 2023
“Western activists for Palestinians are dedicated to two nearly theological precepts: that Israel is evil, and that no Palestinian action is ever connected to any Palestinian outcome. Each precept is grounded in longstanding—and borderline racist—conceptions of Jews and Arabs.’
You might think that an atrocity like Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel would lead opponents of the Jewish state to temper their attacks. Instead, from college campuses to mainstream media outlets, elite left-wing circles have responded to the terror group’s barbarism by intensifying their denunciations of Israel. That may seem counterintuitive, but it’s typical. The worst demonization of the Jewish state has typically followed the worst atrocities against it.
Recall the Palestinian suicide-bombing campaign in the early 2000s. Then, as now, many in the West responded to the carnage by criticizing the Jews. International nongovernmental organizations resurrected the Soviet-era claim that Israel is an “apartheid” state. The United Nations joined the chorus and in 2001 met for a global conference “against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” in Durban, South Africa. Denunciation of Israel dominated the agenda.
Fast-forward two decades and Jews experienced the deadliest attack since the Holocaust. In response, many in the West have accused Israel of being a genocidal nation. The Washington Post’s Karen Attiah wrote on Oct. 13 that the U.S. “cannot stand by as Israeli officials engage in genocidal language and describe genocidal intent against Palestinians for the actions of Hamas.” England’s Guardian published at least three opinion pieces this week warning the same. Hundreds of international-law scholars from around the world signed a statement reporting that they’d found signs in Israel that “warn of a potential genocide in Gaza.”
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