In a bitter twist of fate, nearly every nation that has suffered genocide has built its national identity around that trauma. Israel, too – having not only established a state but, through the wheel of Zionism, brought much of the world under its influence – now stands as a nation once subjected to genocide that is today inflicting genocide upon another people.
The late Jewish philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who died in 1994 and had courageously criticized Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, warned: “If oppression is justified by suffering endured in the past, this constitutes Hitler’s posthumous moral victory.”
For 75 years, the world largely failed to see this ongoing oppression. Under the influence of conventional media, a slow-acting mechanism of death took hold of Palestinians: their homes were destroyed, their fields seized, and their lands were expropriated and resettled by thieves – under the label of “settlements.”
Palestinians were forced to navigate labyrinths to move from one place to another within their own land, struggling to reach their homes or places of work.
In effect, this amounted to a step-by-step attempt to erase Palestine. At times through occupation, at times through raids, at times through imprisonment and torture – Israeli prisons have now become mechanisms where not only torture but even rape, sanctioned by law and backed by the state, is effectively legitimized, representing one of the most monstrous episodes in human history. No nation has ever so openly justified such awful evil. Yet today, for Israelis, everything appears to be deemed legitimate.
At international meetings, global events and across intellectual forums, most Jewish representatives have for decades shed “crocodile tears,” recounting the atrocities committed by Hitler. Museums were built, donations collected, and, particularly in the U.S., a state was structured primarily under their influence.
In the aftermath of the attacks on Oct. 7, nearly 100,000 people lost their lives. The intentional killing of women and children, the use of starvation as a weapon and the slaughter of animals have become so normalized that humanity now stands ashamed of its own conscience.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel found themselves increasingly isolated at the U.N., the U.S. took a step toward a cease-fire. Yet, the rogue state Israel has exerted every effort to undermine that cease-fire. One day, it attempts to assassinate a Hamas leader; another day, it kills innocent children. It bombs Lebanon indiscriminately and continues every form of unchecked aggression.
Turning to the West Bank, Israel seeks to legitimize its actions in Gaza under the pretext of fighting Hamas, yet it sets fire to areas where no conflict exists. Olive groves are destroyed, Palestinian homes are burned in attempts to settle the land, and civilians are harassed and shot in the streets. In the West Bank, as in Gaza, similar acts are carried out without justification.
For years, the core problem of the Israel-Palestine conflict was framed as one between Jews and Muslims. Yet the situation has reached a point where Christians in Palestine suffer no less oppression than Muslims. In Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, Christians are humiliated by Zionists, detained by police, and subjected to pressure even during their most legitimate religious rituals.
Zionists have so thoroughly influenced Christians in the U.S. that a distorted belief has taken hold – that Christianity itself cannot exist without Israel or Zionism. Today, dissenting voices are emerging in the U.S.: “We do not need Israel or Zionists to believe in God or to reach heaven. As Christians, we can reach God directly,” some now declare.
Across the world, demonstrations are being held against Zionism’s media and global monopoly, protesting the oppression in Palestine.
During wartime decades ago, two major rallies were held in Istanbul on Jan. 1. Yet it appears that the upcoming protest in Istanbul in the coming weeks will be more powerful and more passionate than any before.
From a distance, some ask what protests truly achieve. In reality, these demonstrations – in Latin America, the Nordic countries, Spain, Türkiye, Indonesia, and Malaysia – represent the awakening of humanity’s conscience against this system of oppression and predation. In that sense, they have provided a measure of relief against Netanyahu’s unchecked aggression.
As these protests continue across the globe, it is anticipated that Israel’s excesses will face increasing constraints.
Speaking on behalf of Istanbul-based NGOs and pro-Palestine groups, Bilal Erdoğan, a member of the High Consultation Board of Turkish Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), emphasized in a recent statement that civil demonstrations are a way of speaking to the world – proof that humanity’s conscience is still alive and that these protests will serve as a voice for justice against genocide and massacres. The participation of sports clubs alongside tens of civil society organizations in Istanbul signals that a powerful voice will rise from Türkiye against Israel, and that the people of Istanbul will not forget the Palestinian cause.
