Protests against Israeli genocide really do matter

The online message posted on X by Palestinian Muhammad Smiry from the Gaza Strip was clear: “From Gaza, I want to thank everyone protesting for us.” Smiry’s hundred of thousands of online followers receive updates on the Israeli atrocities in the besieged territory from him. This was the first message that he sent when he resurfaced online after the internet blackout on 26 October.

That’s when the communications infrastructure was destroyed by Israel’s bombs and missiles. Gaza went silent, and people around the world who had been witnessing the genocide unfolding right before their eyes on social media wondered how much of Gaza would be left if and when it was re-connected to the web.

With disinformation in the mainstream and social media alike, double standards have become more obvious. Often ignoring what is being said by programme guests and commentators, news anchors parrot “But do you condemn Hamas?” as if reading from a pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian script.

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The fact that the “conflict” did not start on 7 October; and that the context was and is 75+ years of Israeli occupation and brutality, wasn’t allowed to sully the narrative: “But do you condemn Hamas?” they asked, even though what has been called Israel’s 9/11 is but a fraction of the kind of terrorism that has been inflicted by Israel upon the Palestinians for decades with total impunity. The occupation state’s “right t self-defence” was taken as read, and rarely challenged.

The asymmetric nature of Israel’s bombardment… has stirred the moral consciousness of people everywhere

Despite Western media’s best efforts to make this seem like an equal conflict — or perhaps because of such efforts — the asymmetric nature of Israel’s bombardment and the plight of the residents of Gaza has stirred the moral consciousness of people everywhere. Massive demonstrations are being seen all over the world against genocidal Israel. Narratives that try to pit Muslims against Jews are shattered as Jews join the protests, adamant that such injustice is not being carried out in their name. The message is clear: Palestinian lives are not worth any less than Israeli lives.

This is an important change. Palestinians have been pitifully underrepresented on the global stage: from the Balfour Declaration in 1917, that gifted the land of the Palestinians for the Zionist project without any consultation with the overwhelming majority of the indigenous inhabitants; to being ignored in the Mandate given to Britain by the League of Nations in 1922; to the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and the decades that followed. For all this time, Israel has been able to act with impunity with its crimes against the Palestinians, including the crime of apartheid. In fact, even now, as witnessed at the UN General Assembly, Palestine could only observe as a non-member while the world discussed its fate.

Palestinians have never stood a chance in face of the one-sided, pro-Israel narrative controlled by the world powers who back the occupation state without question. They stood no chance as Israel is framed as the perpetual victim, with its “most moral army” in the world, at war with barbarians and terrorists.

With the death toll in Gaza alone (never mind the killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank) passing 8,500 people (of whom 3,500 were children), calls for a ceasefire are growing. Public opinion is changing, even though the likes of Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak still oppose one. American Jews are leading protests in the US against Israel and calling for an end to its genocide, while major rallies have taken place in London in opposition to the stance taken by the British government. Opposition to Israel’s genocide also emanates from politicians in Spain and Ireland, while some countries have severed diplomatic links with the terrorist state of Israel.

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The sight of 1.5 million people in Turkiye rallying to support the Palestinians, and iconic Glasgow Celtic FC fans waving Palestinian flags — banned by UEFA — during a recent Champions League match, as well as protests in Berlin, Rome, Wellington and many more cities, one thing is for sure: the Palestinians are not alone; not this time.

To everyone who has been raising their voices online; keeping the stories of the innocent Palestinians who have suffered under Israel’s brutal madness alive; calling out their governments for supporting genocide; and taking part in demonstrations, I say this: your protests against Israeli genocide really do matter. So much so, in fact, that they are already making history.

Safa Baig is a student of public policy, and the co-founder of a community-driven learning platform called HamSukhan.

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