#People !! The politically partial Western media coverage of the Palestine-Israel confrontation must stop. A narrative that wrongly condemns an oppressed peoples resistance against a colonial oppressor as terrorism not only denies the intrinsic nature of a suppressed peoples right to self-determination, but also harks back to the inter-state complicity of so-called developed capitalist democracies in each others colonial endeavours in the global-south. Ultimately, to obfuscate the narrative to the extent that Israel is seen as a helpless victim in the face of an onslaught that poses a significant existential threat is to completely devoid the narrative of all reality, to invent facts on the ground, and to deprive the Palestinians of the recognition and international support they so very much need. However most importantly: it is to deprive the world of the truth. Here in the UK, nevertheless, we are at risk of coming across as both naive and hypocritical. Naive, if we claim we didnt see this coming, if we treat these violent episodes as unprovoked or unconnected to wider a series of events and facts on the ground. That is not, of course, to justify the violence. As the Guardian columnist Gary Younge once wrote: To explain is not to excuse. But explain we must. Hypocritical, because we excel at our condemnation of Palestinian terror but stay silent when Israeli forces - fighter pilots, soldiers, settlers - are terrorising Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem, on the West Bank or inside the Gaza Strip. When I quit the government in the summer, I pointed out that the British government can only play a constructive role in solving the Middle East crisis if it is an honest broker and at the moment I do not think it is. Little has changed, it seems. My successor as Conservative Party chairman, Grant Shapps, is only too willing to criticise Palestinian terror while refusing to vote in favour of a Palestinian state in parliament, and give young Palestinians hope and dignity. #FreePalestine #EndIsraeliimpunity
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 18:20:23 +0000
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