The hypocrisy of the western world is non stop. The tru face of the west is so apparent. I grew up in the UK and was until now oblivious of this rampant disregard for “others”.
When reflecting on the 75th year of the ongoing Nakba, Ilan Pappe wrote that on May 15, 1948, "the message from the world to Israel was that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which was well known in the West, was acceptable - mainly as compensation for the Holocaust and the centuries of antisemitism that had plagued Europe."
To this day, most Western elites firmly hold onto this belief - that it is legitimate to continue imposing the punishment for the crimes of their forefathers upon the Palestinians (window dressed of course with an elaborate mythology). The same imperialist superiority complex - that Europeans are civilised while black and brown people are heathens - which justified colonialism (the white man's burden as it was called) is very much alive and well. It just manifests itself in different forms, such as Western feminism, in this day and age.
I’m almost at the point where my eyes refuse to read about the cruelty, the pettiness, the atrocities handed out daily, hourly in Palestine. It is too much to force my mind to grapple with the fact that these are real women, real children, the unshakeable, unbearable grief at the loss of children, parents is real…. While birch-white wooden puppets spout platitudes as empty as their souls. My eyes are scorched with tears for Gaza’s mothers. Can we really do nothing?
It’s so much more than disappointing when people who I’ve respected and who have a really influential position in the world don’t use their voice for good and are so selective in their feminism. Excellent piece. As a relatively new mother I cannot fathom the cruelty Gazas mothers are facing.
Like you, I can't get over the hypocrisy and the willful disregard from "liberals", "progressives" and "humanitarians" over the barbarity of the Zionist genocide. It is incomprehensible....until you follow the money...
"Gaza has exposed how meaningless feminism is when it mobilizes its global forces against a piece of clothing but not against a live-streamed genocide whose primary victims are women."
You piece is heartfelt and sincere. That being said, I saw words like "All" "Plastic", etc. and they are not helpful. I believe they distract from the message. Not all of us are ignoring what is happening, we are not all plastic barbies. Messages sent like this continue to divide. I for one will say, as a feminist, I support more being done for Gaza and my heart aches when I see what is happening to the children. But I am also ill equipped to speak intelligently about what is happening due to all the misinformation and while I have always felt that Israel has not worked for peaceful solutions with Palestinians and has done all in their powr to avoid a 2-state solution. Why do I hesitate at all? I do not understand the role of Hamas in contributing to this tragedy. This is one of the areas of greatest misinformation. Additionally, I feel that many of the palestinian protests and how they protest here in the United States is not helpful. I have heard messaging that Israel needs to be wiped out. If I were you, I would be equally horrified and angered about what is happening, but do understand, daemonizing western feminists will not help. That is why I subscribed to Zeteo. I am trying to get more and better information, but messages delivered that says that I share responsibility because of the color of my skin and where I live, makes it hard to receive the messaging. I write my representatives, sign petition after petition, and make contributions to organizations like the world kitchen and aid for gaza. As women and mothers, we need to work together and not tear each other down. A perspective which may be ill informed and definitely overwhelmed by what is happening and what is not happening.
So called Western Feminism's outrage over Iran's anti-hijab protests is nothing short of shallow, drum beating hypocrisy. The deafening silence over the forced starvation, deliberately nutrition denial, blockade of everything required even to give birth at all, ensuring thousands upon thousands of miscarriages so babies are born at all, thus making sure they don't grow up to be " terrorists ". Let alone the inhumane PR stunt of wheeling incubators into ruined hospitals, after denying fuel to the generators that provide oxygen to the incubators. And after the premature babies have died from lack of oxygen, leaving their bodies to decompose! Monstrous! Not a plausible Genocide, the darkest definition of Genocide ever! Makes the Nazis look like amateurs! There must be accountability, if not, we're all complicit. This is not Self Defense, it's Murderous, Vengeful, Genocide of Innocents. For Shame, not in my name. Stop arming the Fascist, Rogue, Apartheid State of Israel. South Africa is right, the ICJ doesn't need years to make a decision. Just look at the untold videos uploaded by the IDF themselves on TikTok. All the evidence ever required, from their own lips. End the Slaughter, or remove the word Human from the Lexicon. We're all complicit animals if we don't. Boycott, Divest, Sanction. End of discussion.
Oh please. Give it a rest. Yes, Israel is to be condemned for attempting to starve 2+ million Gazans. Terrible as the Gaza situation is, blaming Hilary Clinton (of all people) is absurd. NO ONE (except Palestinians) supports the blood thirsty, self-cannabalizing Hamas. Many are pressuring President Biden to increase humanitarian support while limiting military gifts to Israel. You boil a complex problem down to a simple solution. And where are all the region's governments when it comes to helping the Gazans?
Remember Secretary of State Madeleine Albright calmly stating that the death of 500,000 Iraqi children was worth it? Here we are decades later. Same callous empty leadership.
I wish that I knew how I could help. I've written and called legislators, I've donated for food and medical supplies, I've shared my views with everyone around me. It wasn't difficult to organize a "Grannie's Rally" several years ago to denounce a Trump supreme court nominee. But the only thing I now seem to do for the children in Gaza is watch the atrocities on TV as thousands of innocent children are killed and maimed. Thanks for your unfiltered voice .... A Feminist and A Grandmother
I've never been able to reconcile how the right wing can fight against abortion and at the same time support the death penalty and not support families and ensure that children have what they need to survive and be successful. This is no different. Gazans are not "their people."
This is not just a feminism thing. Only white liberals count in western culture. Anyone who is the wrong colour or religion or wants an alternative to neoliberalism is likely to be considered a non-person.
I have much sympathy for you and all the civilians in Gaza, but ask why do the Israelis need to have extended battles to gain control of hospitals if they are just hospitals and not military bases for the enemy? Is it the doctors and patients putting up the resistance? Why does Hamas say all the civilian victims are martyrs rather than tragic deaths? Why doesn’t Hamas release the hostages and surrender or at least leave civilian areas to save Palestinian lives? Why didn’t Hamas build shelters for the civilians?
It has been Israeli policy to respond to Hamas attacks with overwhelming force for years. This isn’t unexpected. So why are so many now not shaming and blaming Hamas for bringing this upon the civilian population and demanding they do whatever they can to make it end?
Hamas actions and speeches enable the most right wing people in Israel to act out and to silence the peace movement.
An excellent piece!
The hypocrisy of the western world is non stop. The tru face of the west is so apparent. I grew up in the UK and was until now oblivious of this rampant disregard for “others”.
When reflecting on the 75th year of the ongoing Nakba, Ilan Pappe wrote that on May 15, 1948, "the message from the world to Israel was that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which was well known in the West, was acceptable - mainly as compensation for the Holocaust and the centuries of antisemitism that had plagued Europe."
To this day, most Western elites firmly hold onto this belief - that it is legitimate to continue imposing the punishment for the crimes of their forefathers upon the Palestinians (window dressed of course with an elaborate mythology). The same imperialist superiority complex - that Europeans are civilised while black and brown people are heathens - which justified colonialism (the white man's burden as it was called) is very much alive and well. It just manifests itself in different forms, such as Western feminism, in this day and age.
I’m almost at the point where my eyes refuse to read about the cruelty, the pettiness, the atrocities handed out daily, hourly in Palestine. It is too much to force my mind to grapple with the fact that these are real women, real children, the unshakeable, unbearable grief at the loss of children, parents is real…. While birch-white wooden puppets spout platitudes as empty as their souls. My eyes are scorched with tears for Gaza’s mothers. Can we really do nothing?
It’s so much more than disappointing when people who I’ve respected and who have a really influential position in the world don’t use their voice for good and are so selective in their feminism. Excellent piece. As a relatively new mother I cannot fathom the cruelty Gazas mothers are facing.
Like you, I can't get over the hypocrisy and the willful disregard from "liberals", "progressives" and "humanitarians" over the barbarity of the Zionist genocide. It is incomprehensible....until you follow the money...
"Gaza has exposed how meaningless feminism is when it mobilizes its global forces against a piece of clothing but not against a live-streamed genocide whose primary victims are women."
This perfectly wraps up the piece.
You piece is heartfelt and sincere. That being said, I saw words like "All" "Plastic", etc. and they are not helpful. I believe they distract from the message. Not all of us are ignoring what is happening, we are not all plastic barbies. Messages sent like this continue to divide. I for one will say, as a feminist, I support more being done for Gaza and my heart aches when I see what is happening to the children. But I am also ill equipped to speak intelligently about what is happening due to all the misinformation and while I have always felt that Israel has not worked for peaceful solutions with Palestinians and has done all in their powr to avoid a 2-state solution. Why do I hesitate at all? I do not understand the role of Hamas in contributing to this tragedy. This is one of the areas of greatest misinformation. Additionally, I feel that many of the palestinian protests and how they protest here in the United States is not helpful. I have heard messaging that Israel needs to be wiped out. If I were you, I would be equally horrified and angered about what is happening, but do understand, daemonizing western feminists will not help. That is why I subscribed to Zeteo. I am trying to get more and better information, but messages delivered that says that I share responsibility because of the color of my skin and where I live, makes it hard to receive the messaging. I write my representatives, sign petition after petition, and make contributions to organizations like the world kitchen and aid for gaza. As women and mothers, we need to work together and not tear each other down. A perspective which may be ill informed and definitely overwhelmed by what is happening and what is not happening.
Excellent piece of work Fatima. Keep it up
So called Western Feminism's outrage over Iran's anti-hijab protests is nothing short of shallow, drum beating hypocrisy. The deafening silence over the forced starvation, deliberately nutrition denial, blockade of everything required even to give birth at all, ensuring thousands upon thousands of miscarriages so babies are born at all, thus making sure they don't grow up to be " terrorists ". Let alone the inhumane PR stunt of wheeling incubators into ruined hospitals, after denying fuel to the generators that provide oxygen to the incubators. And after the premature babies have died from lack of oxygen, leaving their bodies to decompose! Monstrous! Not a plausible Genocide, the darkest definition of Genocide ever! Makes the Nazis look like amateurs! There must be accountability, if not, we're all complicit. This is not Self Defense, it's Murderous, Vengeful, Genocide of Innocents. For Shame, not in my name. Stop arming the Fascist, Rogue, Apartheid State of Israel. South Africa is right, the ICJ doesn't need years to make a decision. Just look at the untold videos uploaded by the IDF themselves on TikTok. All the evidence ever required, from their own lips. End the Slaughter, or remove the word Human from the Lexicon. We're all complicit animals if we don't. Boycott, Divest, Sanction. End of discussion.
Oh please. Give it a rest. Yes, Israel is to be condemned for attempting to starve 2+ million Gazans. Terrible as the Gaza situation is, blaming Hilary Clinton (of all people) is absurd. NO ONE (except Palestinians) supports the blood thirsty, self-cannabalizing Hamas. Many are pressuring President Biden to increase humanitarian support while limiting military gifts to Israel. You boil a complex problem down to a simple solution. And where are all the region's governments when it comes to helping the Gazans?
Remember Secretary of State Madeleine Albright calmly stating that the death of 500,000 Iraqi children was worth it? Here we are decades later. Same callous empty leadership.
I wish that I knew how I could help. I've written and called legislators, I've donated for food and medical supplies, I've shared my views with everyone around me. It wasn't difficult to organize a "Grannie's Rally" several years ago to denounce a Trump supreme court nominee. But the only thing I now seem to do for the children in Gaza is watch the atrocities on TV as thousands of innocent children are killed and maimed. Thanks for your unfiltered voice .... A Feminist and A Grandmother
I've never been able to reconcile how the right wing can fight against abortion and at the same time support the death penalty and not support families and ensure that children have what they need to survive and be successful. This is no different. Gazans are not "their people."
This is not just a feminism thing. Only white liberals count in western culture. Anyone who is the wrong colour or religion or wants an alternative to neoliberalism is likely to be considered a non-person.
I have much sympathy for you and all the civilians in Gaza, but ask why do the Israelis need to have extended battles to gain control of hospitals if they are just hospitals and not military bases for the enemy? Is it the doctors and patients putting up the resistance? Why does Hamas say all the civilian victims are martyrs rather than tragic deaths? Why doesn’t Hamas release the hostages and surrender or at least leave civilian areas to save Palestinian lives? Why didn’t Hamas build shelters for the civilians?
It has been Israeli policy to respond to Hamas attacks with overwhelming force for years. This isn’t unexpected. So why are so many now not shaming and blaming Hamas for bringing this upon the civilian population and demanding they do whatever they can to make it end?
Hamas actions and speeches enable the most right wing people in Israel to act out and to silence the peace movement.