For the last few years, the more activist, young and left-wing parts of society – often characterised as “woke” – have been criticised for prioritising micro-aggressions and identity politics at the expense of truly material issues, which actually affect real people’s lives.
There has been, the theory goes, a sort of misfocusing of the lens: the left tying itself up in knots over whether to say pregnant “woman” or “person”, or whether someone who once said something silly on Twitter 10 years ago should be sent to live out the rest of their days on Mars.
But that has changed. The lens is now firmly focused on Palestinians. At liberal utopia Glastonbury, it was a near-novelty to see a set which didn’t refer to Gaza between songs. “Free Palestine” is the protest you are most likely to come across on any given day in London. These protests are not wholly confined to the left, of course – in May, more than a dozen senior Tory MPs and peers broke ranks by calling on the Prime Minister to immediately recognise Palestine as a state. But it is, broadly, the left who have most vocally taken up the Palestinian cause.
There could hardly be a more worthwhile one. There are more deaths in Gaza per day than any conflict in the 21st century; it is home to the highest percentage of child amputees in the world. Even Lord Sumption, a leading light among Conservatives, believes genocide is the most plausible explanation of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Despite this, it took until May this year for the UK Government to suspend trade talks with Israel and impose limited sanctions. It has yet to stop the full supply of arms, or sever financial ties with the country.
So why are pro-Palestinian protests in the UK routinely dismissed and derided?
When people wave flags, take to the streets or post on social media, some deem it performative – but how else should people raise awareness or put pressure on the government?
It is true that we live in a democracy – and voters last year made full use of that, allowing five independent MPs running principally on a pro-Gaza platform to win seats from Labour in the general election. But for the next five years, there is little pro-Palestinian campaigners can do in a purely democratic sense, short of writing letters to their MP.
Indeed, when Greta Thunberg did go further and helped to sail a ship of aid to Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade, her actions were described as “pathetic” and invoking “hollowness” in headlines of right-wing newspapers.
It is said that so-called “activists” prefer virtue-signalling to real action. But when people do go further – take Palestine Action spray-painting military aircraft and blocking the entrance to an Israeli defence company – they are condemned as reckless.
In a similar vein, it is argued that metropolitan liberal elites post online and wave placards, but rarely do something which actually jeopardises their bottom line. But what then of Sally Rooney turning down a Hebrew translation of her books in a boycott of Israel? The Co-op refusing to stock products from Israel – nearly unnoticed in the news – is surely a prime example of people willing to incur costs because the plight of Gaza weighs heavily upon them.
Because, surely, if the “woke” activists don’t care about what is happening in Gaza, we must ask what exactly they should care about. If repeatedly committing war crimes by bombing hospitals and schools under UN protection, if using starvation in breach of the Geneva convention isn’t a red line – where is there one? If we don’t believe we should do something about Israel killing 23 people queuing for the very food they were supposed to be distributing, what in the world should rouse people from indifference?
It should go without saying that antisemitism is a very real problem. There was an alarming swell of support for Hamas’s actions on 7 October when more than a thousand people were killed, including hundreds of young people at a music festival, including from, for example, the Palestine Action co-founder. I occasionally see – horrifically – posts online minimising Hamas fighters’ rape of Israeli women on that day, and the humanity of Jewish people generally.
I know that Jewish people I’m friends with feel unsafe from the repercussions of anti-Israel fervour; I bemoan that many – in particular on the left – don’t seem alive to the fact that’s unacceptable. You can certainly debate the wisdom of saying “death to the IDF”, when Israel’s army is in large part conscripted.
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But that accusations of antisemitism have become a way to shut down any criticism of Israel feels totally reductive. Palestinians becoming collateral in Benjamin Netanyahu’s battle to save his political future (many suggest an end to the conflict would see him swept from office) is not representative of Judaism – as evidenced by the increasing intensification of Israelis protesting against him. The remarks of his finance minister that “Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians… will start to leave in great numbers to third countries” do not echo the beliefs of Jewish people.
To believe Palestinians should have a home of their own, just as Jewish people so need, is not some wishful appeal to abstract values or lofty idealism. It is surely the only practicable option. Pro-Palestinian protesters, after all, are not asking for an act of charity or redistribution – but for the people of Gaza to not have their food cut off, or over 90 per cent of their homes ruined.
So perhaps it’s on those who accuse pro-Palestinian supporters of tokenistic gestures and virtue signalling to tell them exactly how they should respond.
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