An incisive look into the West’s troubling double standards that have perpetuated human suffering in the Israel-Palestine conflict, with an emphasis on the erasure of Palestinian history and dignity.
In the aftermath of the latest wave of attacks by Hamas against Israel, a renewed conversation has ignited regarding the blatant double standards perpetuated by Western countries in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The global media has largely presented a one-sided narrative, shedding light on the tragedy suffered by Israel but remaining overwhelmingly silent about the devastating consequences endured by Palestinians in Gaza, with casualties exceeding 22,000—most of whom are civilians.
This skewed perspective serves as a haunting reminder of the long-standing, unequal treatment given to the Palestinian people, whose history and humanity are often erased or marginalized. A glaring double standard exists, wherein the lives and statehood of Jewish Israelis receive near-sanctified status in the contemporary West, while Muslim and Christian Palestinian lives continue to be devalued and dismissed.
Philo-Zionism: The Pillars of Denial
Philo-Zionism, the political and ethical stance that justifies Israel’s actions, rests on two problematic pillars. First is the ingrained Western belief that Israel’s formation serves as moral recompense for centuries of European antisemitism, culminating in the Holocaust. Second is the ceaseless racial stereotyping of Palestinians as non-Western, barbaric opponents embodying a peculiar form of antisemitism.
Consequently, the West has refused to recognize the Palestinians as a distinct people with their own long-standing history and culture in Palestine. This denial dates back to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which notably neglected to explicitly mention Palestinians or Arabs, merely alluding to “non-Jewish communities.”
A Historical Pattern of Negligence
This erasure persisted throughout the Mandatory Palestine period between 1920 and 1948, as Western statesmen and European Zionist leaders collaborated to forge enduring settler-colonial structures. This was in spite of the protests, petitions, and uprisings by Muslim and Christian Palestinians during the 1920s and 1930s. The West continued to prioritize European Jewish Zionists, systematically sidelining native Palestinians.
In sum, as this most recent cycle of violence further exposes the West’s relentless double standards, we must confront the harsh reality that an attempted genocide is unfolding before our eyes—enabled, in part, by the erasure of Palestinian history and humanity.
