Israel's victimhood narrative crumbles amid growing pile of Palestinian bodies

Istanbul, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur, among others, have also shown their support for the Palestinian cause.

Powerful slogans echo across the streets, demanding an end to the genocidal war against Palestine. Protestors emphasise people's right to life, freedom, equality, and dignity – universal principles that should apply to all human beings, regardless of their geographic location or ethnicity.

Notably, Russia, China, and India did not witness such demonstrations.

Why now?

Israel's longstanding status as the victim in the eyes of the global community has gradually eroded since the first intifada (1987-1993). It has proven increasingly difficult to rebuild.

Today, Israel's efforts to assert its right to self-defence and label Hamas as a terrorist group have encountered significant pushback.

Many view these claims as thinly veiled attempts to divert attention from Israel's historical track record of pursuing colonialist, discriminatory, and aggressive policies against Palestinians, dating back to its foundation more than seven decades ago. These policies have only intensified since Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza 56 years ago, after the 1967 war.

Now, Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip are seen by some as a campaign of extermination against the Palestinian population.

Western and European communities appear to be increasingly attuned to Israeli propaganda, as well as the bias of their own governments, often at the expense of truth and justice. They see that Israeli favouritism among their elected officials can encroach upon their own rights, such as freedom to dissent.

Several governments have cracked down on public denunciations of Israel's policies and actions under the pretence of combating anti-semitism, which has long served as a cover for their unwavering support for the state.

However, a growing awareness of such underhanded tactics underscores the resilience of civil societies across the world.

They are now recognising that their freedoms are interlinked, and the connection between defending their own freedom of expression – and the right to protest on their own land – and the championing of the Palestinian cause as a universal matter of liberation and justice.

Hypocrisy unveiled

These demonstrations have also shone a light on the hypocrisy of those who outwardly tout the values of freedom, justice, dignity, and equality – particularly those who are simply posturing, or view them as exclusively Western ideals.

Further, many are angered by what they perceive as double standards employed by certain Western governments based on their own interests.

Nevertheless, grassroots movements within Western countries, whether through protests or statements from academics, writers, and artists, have underlined the truly universal nature of these values – a collective achievement of humanity's progress, which cannot confined to any particular group.

Further, these dissenters have asserted that discrimination has no place among individuals or societies, whether based on geography, race, religion, or any other criteria, serving as a testament to the growing influence of liberal democracy.

"Not in our name"

Israel's failure to manipulate global public opinion – even among Jewish people – under the pretext of combating terrorism or self-defence has also become evident.

Its efforts to paint the victim as the perpetrator, and to portray itself as the victim instead – effectively erasing the historical context of the Palestinian conflict – have crumbled.

Within the global Jewish community, including in Israel, segments of people have begun to reject these long-standing claims, recognising how far they are from the larger reality shaped by Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and its ongoing and varied aggression against the people.

The slogan "not in our name" has loudly resonated in the United States, Germany, France, and Britain—a significant and crucial development.

More and more, Israel has been characterised as an apartheid regime by prominent Jewish figures such as Ilan Pappe, Gideon Levy, and Abraham Burg.

Even Thomas Friedman, known for his pro-Israel stance, wrote in the New York Times: "Every day that the sun doesn't shine in Gaza, the water doesn't flow, the electricity doesn't operate, and hunger or disease becomes widespread, will be the fault of every Israeli and even every Jew in the world. Is Israel ready for that burden?"

Public statements

In the West, as well as among the global Jewish community (and within Israel itself), Israel's approach to the Palestinians has evolved into a moral, political, and security burden.

Some see it as a potential threat to Western interests and values, and the standing of Jewish communities; these concerns are rooted in complex issues of identity and loyalty.

Several high-ranking officials have exacerbated such concerns with their public statements.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu's comment that dropping a nuclear weapon on the Gaza Strip is "an option," Defence Minister Yoav Galant's attempt to dehumanise Palestinians by labelling them as "beastly people," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's call for the erasure of the village of Hawara (near Nablus), and Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's prioritisation of his family's access to Jerusalem over the freedom of movement for Palestinians in their own land have all contributed to changing perceptions.

These statements arrived on the heels of a series of remarks by Israeli leaders expressing a desire for Gaza to be submerged in the sea.

Meanwhile, Israeli author and Haaretz columnist Levy has offered a more critical perspective on Israel, stating in a 2018 keynote speech: "The second very deeply rooted value (among Israelis) is we the victims, not only the biggest victims, but the only victims around... I don't recall one occupation in which the occupier presented himself as the victim. Not only the victim – the only victim ... To quote here, the late (Former Prime Minister of Israel) Golda Meir ... she once said, 'We will never forgive the Arabs for forcing us to kill their children."

In another speech, he stated: "There's no Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is a brutal Israeli occupation which must come to its end, one way or the other ... In our dark backyard, there is a regime which is today by far one of the most cruel, brutal tyrannies on earth ... and this regime cannot be defined but as an apartheid."

In a more recent October 8 piece in Haaretz, Levy wrote: "Behind all this lies Israeli arrogance; the idea that we can do whatever we like, that we'll never pay the price and be punished for it. We'll carry on undisturbed ... We now have to cry bitterly for the Israeli victims, but we should also cry for Gaza. Gaza, most of whose residents are refugees created by Israel. Gaza, which has never known a single day of freedom."

Undoubtedly, the suffering and anguish endured by the people of Gaza over the past month have stirred the global conscience, reaffirming Palestine as an issue of freedom, justice, and dignity that challenges humanity, across the board, to uphold its values and shape its future.