Israel-Palestine
American Leftist Discourse on Israel-Palestine is a perfect microcosm of everything that has gone wrong. Anti-Intellectualism allows for half-truths and dogma to take the place of honesty and facts, and Extremism stifles dissent.
Leftist Dogma allows for claims that Palestinians are indigenous to Israel-Palestine, which is true. However, Leftist Dogma does not allow for claims that Jews are indigenous to Israel-Palestine, which is also true. The story of David and Goliath refers to a fight between the Ancient Israelites (Israelis) and Ancient Philistines (Palestinians). Just because many Jews live in the diaspora, and have done so for centuries, does not make the Jewish people any less Semitic, and it does not mean that Jews are not indigenous to Israel-Palestine. If Jews are not indigenous to Israel-Palestine, where exactly are they from? This does not mean that the creation of the Israeli state was not a horrific mistake, and it does not mean that the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians, was not an atrocity of unspeakable proportions. A diaspora people does not have an unassailable right to return to their land, evict another indigenous group, and occupy their homes. This still does not change the fact that Jews are one of the indigenous ethnic groups of Israel-Palestine.
Leftist Dogma allows for claims that the Israeli assault on Gaza following Oct 7, 2023 is ethnic cleansing, which is true. Leftist Dogma does not allow for claims that the Oct 7, 2023 attack was a Pogrom and act of Genocide. The reasons for this reluctance to call a spade a spade is chilling at best, downright evil at worst. There are many in Leftist discourse who of course condemn all acts of Genocide, but there is an unavoidable and very loud minority of extremists that do not. They are utterly poisonous to the cause of Palestinian Liberation.
Leftist Dogma allows for claims that criticizing the Israeli government is not anti-semitic, which is true. Leftist Dogma does not allow for claims that criticizing the Gazan government is not anti-Palestinian, which is also true. Leftists that support Palestine in 2023 tend to inexplicably throw their full weight and support behind the tyrannical, genocidal, warmongering, islamo-fascist organization known as Hamas, without a second thought as to whether or not Hamas actually represents the best interests of the Palestinian diaspora. We believe that as long as the hard-right factions in Israel and Palestine are in charge nobody wins.
Furthermore, we take issue with Leftist alignment with warmongering theocratic demagogues in Palestine, and in other countries around the world. The tendency in Leftist discourse is to side with the current ruling party of all non-western countries and assume they are acting in the best interests of their people. What is surprising about this tendency is the consistent criticisms of western governments in Leftist Discourse. One would think that an ideology that so meticulously critiques countries like the United States would be critical of other countries as well. Alas, Leftist dogma and anti-intellectualism prevents honest and open debate and inquiry about the failings of non-western aligned ruling parties across the world. It allows Leftism to fall into the absurd trap of rooting for Hamas, of rooting for the Iranian Ayatollah, and rooting for Chinese or Russian Imperialists. We cannot allow ourselves to be taken in by governing bodies that are antithetical to peace, humanism, and solidarity.
That being said, we fully support calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and the ending of settler-colonialism in the West Bank. The people of Gaza have nowhere to go, and cannot escape the bombing. As unlikely as a sustainable peace has become, it must be the goal of the United States, and it is the goal of Social Democrats. We understand that Israel is not going anywhere. We understand that the Palestinians deserve a right of return, and we understand that those two competing truths are incompatible. Nevertheless, diplomacy must win out over bombing, and de-escalation must happen.
We cannot de-escalate if we are tied to Leftist Dogmas that force us to embrace extremist half-truths about the situation in Israel-Palestine. We must allow ourselves to take the situation at face value, with an open mind, and an intention to wage a radical peace.
