It has been claimed repeatedly, not just in the press, but by holders of the most distinguished offices of state, that the pro-Palestine protests we have seen in recent weeks are, in fact, hate marches. Some say that the Palestine solidarity movement is a hate movement.
When we enquire into the evidence on which these claims rest, we find that curated social media content is the only proof available: a picture of an objectionable sign; a video of objectionable conduct; and so forth. From this we are to infer that the marches are driven by hate and violence. But no rational person can agree with that conclusion.
First, an impartial observer will keep in mind that in any large gathering—certainly a gathering of tens or hundreds of thousands of people—there is sure to be some mischief. Everybody knows this, and so the whole question is about the proportion of mischief in the gathering; not whether some examples of mischief can be found. Those supporters of Israel who treat social media content as proof of a pro-Palestine hate movement, must accept that Israel’s supporters are also a hate movement, because examples of similar mischief can be found among them too. That is not to mention the massacre of civilians in Gaza that Israel’s supporters are facilitating.
Second, the available evidence indicates that the pro-Palestine marches have been overwhelmingly peaceful. The number of arrests has been minuscule in proportion to the number of people marching, and it is unlikely even that every one of those arrests is justified. Supporters of Israel argue that the police are simply not performing enough arrests, and are allowing crime to run rampant. But there is no credible evidence for this view; indeed, it depends on interpreting common slogans such as “From the river to the sea / Palestine will be free” in the least charitable way possible. No matter how often the slogans and their meaning are clarified, they are always construed as horribly as imagination allows.
The Palestine solidarity movement is not a hate movement. It is appalling that our political culture should require correction on such a simple point when, right before our eyes, genocidal violence is being perpetrated by Israel with the assistance of our government. It is that hatred, and that violence, that should concern the vast majority of us; not the real or imagined offence caused by placards and chants in London.
Notes in the Margins of the Days 