Blinded by White Culture and privilege

The front page of a national newspaper in Scotland speaks volumes about the difference in the way that the media covers the war in Ukraine and the ongoing 70+ years of undeclared war inflicted on the people of Palestine from the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip and the refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

Many media analysts and liberal observers will dismiss it all as naked racism at play but it actually stems from something far more corrosive and deeply ingrained in Europe; something far more insidious than “simply” being influenced by the colour of someone’s skin. It’s called White Culture, and it embraces all the power, privilege and access that goes with it for the chosen few.

White Culture is where the Establishment — including royalty — lurks and thrives largely unseen. Figures who own global media outlets, mega-corporations and industrial giants are urged to follow specific Establishment lines. In media terms, this manifests itself by, for example, a Ukrainian civilian standing in front of a Russian tank with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher or petrol bomb being hailed as a hero, whereas an olive-skinned child such as Faris Odeh, who was shot dead by Israeli troops for throwing stones at an Israel Defence Forces tank in 2000, is labelled as a terrorist.

There are thousands of Palestinian children like Faris Odeh in cemeteries across the occupied Palestinian territories, but don’t expect tears to be shed by those in power in the West. Many of those privileged by White Culture are Zionists and have nothing to do with Judaism, but everything to do with promoting the rogue state of Israel. Much to Tel Aviv’s fury, Israel has been confirmed as an apartheid state by human rights organisations — Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem — for which there is an abundance of compelling evidence and proof, if proof is indeed still needed. Ukraine has exposed the hypocrisy of Zionists in the West, who don’t give a hoot about human rights if they impinge on their interests.

READ: Rights group appeals for help for Palestinian refugees

Israel’s racist policies have nothing to do with skin colour and everything to do with White Culture. To understand this fully you just have to look at the racial background of politicians surrounding British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to realise that White Culture has nothing to do with skin colour or race. It is a state of mind.

Someone who fell foul of “the club’s” rules is Baroness Sayeeda Warsi who broke political ranks during Israel’s 2014 military offensive against the Palestinian in Gaza and resigned on principle. There’s no room for principles or honour in the world of White Culture, though, so the former co-Chair of the Conservative Party was cast out into the political wilderness. Any chances that she might have had for an early return or rehabilitation were crushed when she exposed the Islamophobia within her own party.

A casual glance at Boris Johnson’s front benches in the British House of Commons reveal people of colour, but they are not there to promote diversity. The likes of Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Health Minister Sajid Javid, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Climate Change Minister Alok Sharma and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi are simply the enablers of White Culture. They do it so well that they have been propelled through the ranks of the Conservative Party and are allowed to sit at the top table. Ability is way down the list of qualifications for such status.

There’s a similar story unfolding on the opposition benches where Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would have you believe that he too promotes ethnic and religious diversity by pointing out the number of black, brown and olive-skinned MPs who surround him. Again, this is not about diversity: access is not the same as acceptance; not the same as equal opportunity; not the same as integration on a level playing field.

READ: French politician: ‘Ukrainian, not Arab, refugees are welcome’

Socialist voices will have you believe that this is really a case of “us and them” but it’s far more complex than that. Do they really think that the likes of Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg look at Robert Grady, the Scottish thug on the front page of the Daily Record, and identify closely with him simply because he too is White?

Grady, from Edinburgh, is now in Ukraine wielding an assault rifle and taking part in a recruitment video with his new comrades urging other volunteers to enlist to fight the Russians. His Facebook messages include one boast that he intends to kill as many Russians as he can. Known to his friends as Rab, the Hibernian Football Club fan has been on the receiving end of a football banning order for violence after a cup final in 2014.

This thug is now one of the good guys according to the new media narrative. Had Grady decided to volunteer to help Palestinians fight the Israelis, he would not have made it to the airport check-in desk; he would instead be facing the full weight of draconian anti-terror laws. In his warped world view, Grady might think that he’s a White supremacist fighting against Putin’s Russia, but in reality he’s cannon fodder for the propaganda machine which has sprung up to promote the West and demonise all things Russian.

The attack on Vladimir Putin’s Russia is unprecedented, with instant global boycotts, freezing of accounts and trade bans affecting all aspects of Russian life, from sports to industry and even the once untouchable oligarchs. Imagine if the same level of sanctions and support had been given in favour of the Palestinians at any time during their 74-year struggle for freedom and democracy; Palestine would be a thriving independent state by now.

The Palestinians will no doubt still despair at the injustice of it all, but at least they now know that the discrimination from which they suffer at the hands of the great and good in the international community has nothing to do with the colour of their skin. It’s down to people blinded by White Culture who are abusing the privileges that this gives them.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.