By Chuck Stephens
LAST week, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee was stormed by a mob that made 6 January 2021 look like a pillow fight. Led by “the Squad” (four far-left congresswomen in cahoots) the anti-Israel faction on the far-Left of the Democratic Party has been very vocal, even calling their president “Genocide Joe” for his staunch support of Israel after 7 October 2023.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch in the UK, there has been a rebellion in the ranks of the Labour party. Thirty councilors have resigned so far over Keir Starmer’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Labour party in Scotland was not impressed by Starmer’s make-or-break speech explaining his position. Sarwar said that his membership card would remain in the dustbin. No less than sixteen Labour frontbenchers have distanced themselves from Labour’s official line.
In France, Emmanuel Macron’s support for Israel seems to be wobbling. He was conspicuous by his absence in the march against anti-Semitism in Paris on the week-end.
In South Africa, parliament is voting today on an EFF motion to close the Israeli embassy in Pretoria. South Africa has already initiated proceedings at the Hague, asking that Israel be investigated for war crimes.
Meanwhile, Israel has recalled its ambassador to South Africa for consultations, pending the outcome of the parliamentary vote. It is hard to imagine that there is no support for Israel among the ANC contingent in parliament. Opposition parties other than EFF are likely to oppose the motion. But then again, due to cadre deployment, ANC members of parliament have to vote as they are told to.
There are national elections in South Africa in mid-2024. Elections are slated for next year in Britain and India too, probably in that order. And then of course the November 2024 elections in the USA. It is a year that will define the future in the short-to-medium term. Going into these elections, the Left is fragmenting everywhere you look.
Bill Clinton won two terms as president on the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid!”. By the end of his second term, the USA had no national debt. He paid it off.
One has to wonder if the young voters of Argentina have not just charted the outcome of all these 2024 elections? The ANC is likely to sink below 50 percent for the first time. Starmer was the favorite in the UK until the recent rebellion in his own party. Sunak’s appointment of Lord David Cameron to a senior cabinet post suggests that he is calling up his reservists for the upcoming election.
India seems to like its Hindu Nationalist party, which is expanding into more provinces than ever. Modi is making India great again, just as Milei – the first libertarian ever to be elected as a head of state – promises to make Argentina great again. The post-Covid new normal is economic stagnation.
In the USA, the economy is sagging and Trump is on the warpath. The more he is harassed in the courts, the more popular he becomes. Endorsements keep coming in. Will the hostage crisis in Gaza cost Genocide Joe his second term? That is precisely what happened to Jimmy Carter in a previous hostage drama, in Iran.
The pro-Israel contingent believes that the hostages will only be freed if Hamas is kept under relentless pressure. The release of a large number of hostages seems to be coming soon. Watch this space. This will exonerate to some extent (in the eyes of Israel’s allies including Genocide Joe and Kalashnikov Kier) Israel’s use of force.
Let’s be honest that instead of the conflict escalating into a regional showdown, Muslim allies of the Palestinians have chosen rather to fight a media proxy-war. For a few weeks, Israel enjoyed empathy. But as it trampled down Gaza City, the “collateral damage” on civilians gave rise to a media storm of opposition.
Media noise and marches disapproved of the inevitable impact on civilians in urban warfare. Israel has soldiered on, blaming Hamas for using civilians as human shields – which is definitely a war crime. When accused of war crimes like collective punishment, Israel points to the use of hospitals by Hamas, which is clearly against the Geneva conventions. It has taken various precautions to move civilians out of harm’s way.
But the media storm will pass in due course. Ask Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is already opining that Ukraine has become the forgotten war.
Truth has a very inconvenient way of always slipping out. It is part of its dynamic nature. Truth is elusive – it can never be captured or pinned down.
A lie doesn’t become truth. Wrong doesn’t become right and evil doesn’t become good, just because it is accepted by millions of people.
As Mark Twain observed: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” This takes time. But clearly there is a modicum of common sense remaining on the Left. That is why it is fragmenting.
I mentioned above the Muslim allies of Palestine. They are not all Arabs, even if they use Arabic as a lingua franca. Persians are not Arabs. Egyptians are Africans, who despise the Muslim Brotherhood, a group with close connections to Hamas. It is even documented that Palestinians are descendants of the Philistines, who were climate refugees from across the sea (probably the Western Mediterranean, possibly Sardinia?). They invaded port cities of the Levant first and then took on Egypt. They were soundly defeated by Egypt, the superpower at that time. Egypt settled them in Gaza on the principle of “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”.
Palestinians are pawns in a bigger game of chess. The Muslim powers like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Indonesia are not taking them in as refugees for a reason. They are merely pawns in the Big Lie that Israel does not exist. A deception that is anti-Semitic. So when they say that Hamas is not terrorist but rather leads a liberation struggle, they are on the edge of denialism. That Israel has a right to exist. They chant “from the river to the sea” meaning Israel’s eradication. Which explains why they have not formally recognized the state of Israel for 75 years. Now they want to engage Israel in a media proxy-war – the state that isn’t even there!
The irony is that the holy Quran does not condone the savage acts of terrorism committed by Hamas on 7 October. Moderate Muslims know not to say so out loud. The media rage is hollow. It is having the effect of fragmenting the Left, which could hand 2024 elections to the Alt-right.
Read: The death of truth by a thousand cuts
The writer is an author and activist at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership.
