The current Western governments have been giving full and unconditional support to Israel’s oppressive policies and atrocities. Pro-Israeli Western governments do not take into account their citizens’ views on the latest developments in Palestine. They prefer to support the Zionists but not their people. However, they know that their pro-Israeli positions damage their relations with other countries. They even avoid discussing Israel’s atrocities, both in their respective domestic setting and on international platforms. They question the legitimacy of any political authority, including the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), that questions Israel’s crimes against innocent Palestinians. However, despite all pro-Israeli political campaigns and media coverage, a large part of the Western public insistently criticizes and opposes the Israeli atrocities. Millions of people from different countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, took to the streets to condemn Israel’s oppressive policies. The Zionist Israel has been committing all types of crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, with the unconditional support of its associates, i.e. the governments of the Western countries. While the Israeli government has been hitting any target in the Gaza Strip, including residential areas, marketplaces, hospitals, places of worship (mosques and churches) and schools (including the U.N. schools), pro-Israeli Western governments continue to provide unconditional support to the Zionist regime. While Israeli forces are killing children, women, international aid workers and journalists, pro-Israeli Western governments prefer to remain silent against all these atrocities. Instead of deterring Israel from committing more violent acts, the Western governments have been trying to abandon their traditional values of free speech and freedom by forbidding their citizens from criticizing Israel’s oppressive policies and atrocities against innocent Palestinians. Pro-Israeli governments are trying to punish institutions or heads of institutions that remain silent about the peaceful demonstrations. Officials in Western countries are trying to undermine the independence of higher education institutions. For example, presidents of some Western universities were punished for their neutral perspectives and their tolerance toward the pro-Palestinian peaceful demonstrations or other kinds of reactions.

Two political camps

Considering all these, one can easily see that the world is divided into two political camps: pro-Zionists and anti-Zionists (pro-Palestinians). Compared with the Zionist camp, which is largely concentrated in the West, the anti-Zionist camp is truly global and diverse. The pro-Zionist camp includes the political parties that form the current Netanyahu government, the majority of the Israeli political establishment, most Western governments, some radical Christian groups who also claim to be Zionist, and ultra-nationalist and far-rightist groups. The anti-Zionist (pro-Palestinian) camp consists of most countries (especially the non-Western states), Muslim nations, Arab peoples, the world public opinion (including the Westerners) and a small part of the Jewish people (especially those who live in the Western countries). The pro-Zionist camp can be divided into three categories: ideological Zionists (Jewish and Christian Zionists), anti-Muslims (both in the West and the non-Western part of the world), and the pragmatists who support Israel in exchange for a particular material benefit (economic or political gains). Similarly, the anti-Zionist camp can be divided into several categories: Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims and the global coalition. Palestinians and Arabs mainly are anti-Zionists because Zionists occupy their lands, not only Palestinian lands but also lands that belong to Lebanon and Syria. Since Muslims oppose the occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is accepted as a holy site by all Muslims, they are positioned as anti-Zionists.

Divided coalition

The global coalition, extending from Indonesia to Canada and Russia to South Africa, is divided into two groups. One group thinks that the Zionist camp represents a traditional imperialist mindset. Therefore, any anti-imperialist or anti-colonialist group supports anti-Zionist social movements and political actors, i.e. Palestinians. The second part of the global coalition opposes the Zionist camp solely for humanitarian reasons. Individuals and people who still have compassion in their hearts and believe in justice support Palestine. They do not want to see the mass killing of innocent children, women, sick and elderly people in Palestine. All in all, unlike the Zionist camp, which represents a shallow political objective, the global coalition represents humanity and universal values. [Daily Sabah, December 19, 2023]