Palestine and Global Democracy:
How shifts in perception may be harming democracies worldwide
Disclaimer
Before proceeding, I must state the obvious fact that criticising Israel or the Zionist ideology should not be mistaken for antisemitism, nor a means to arrive at such destination. Just like criticising the political behaviour of Saudi Arabia or the Vatican is not Islamophobic nor anti-Christian. Policy, Politicians and other influential elites or processes, are seldom representative of the intentions and morals or entire populations, ethnicities and religious doctrines. I have delved a bit more into this in my essay “Why is Comparing Islamophobia to Antisemitism a Valid Analogy?” — Which you can read here.
Palestine: How we got here, and what changed
It could be argued that the war on Palestine and its people has been incessant as far as modern memory allows us to remember. The Nakba, the perpetual Intifada, the destruction, the dead, the unwillingness for dialogue and lasting solutions… It should not be considered provocative to say that the birth of Zionism marked the death of Palestine.
Moreover, the Zionist project could have never been materialised without the support of the international community. A fact highlighted by the signing of the Balfour Declaration by the British in 1917, which marked the de facto suffering and annihilation of tens of thousands of Palestinians. A materialisation that would have proven unsustainable without the continued privilege and exemptions the state of Israel enjoyed throughout the decades. The state in question is the de facto perpetrator of the longest occupation of territory in modern history — an occupation that ignores international law.
Since 1917, the world has changed quite a bit, and so have politics. In spite of the relative lack of power we, the public, feel over how our countries are run, it is indisputable that the average voter is more literate, the amount of information available has skyrocketed, and the transparency (wilful or leaked) of decision-makers has also increased — to name but a few relevant factors. In many ways, the road that paved the signing of the Balfour Declaration, in private rooms, far removed from the general public’s physical and intellectual reach, and serving the interests of a western European elite, highly differs from today’s social, media, and political landscape.
In contrast, the overall literacy of populations has increased (both formally and informally), and the education system has found itself either at odds or complemented by vast amounts of easily accessible information. Even though I am well aware that quantity and quality aren’t necessarily synonyms, it is indisputable that public narratives are not as centralised as they used to. Whether talking about official school curriculums, public broadcasting systems, state propaganda, or others, the internet has offered a plethora of worldviews aside from the institutional ones.
Of course, there is a lot of useless, counterproductive, and outright insane information out there; But volume will never be a problem, if we know how to manage, digest and filter said information. This is why I believe that media and digital literacy can indeed save lives, a topic I explored further in the article “Can Media Literacy Save Lives?”.
Today, we have more (official and unofficial) mechanisms available to record interactions and hold officials to account — for example leaked videos of private meetings, or legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying these are perfect, just that they are additions to the once even-more-limited ‘public accountability toolbelt’, which was considerably more restricted during the meetings leading to the signing of the aforementioned Balfour Declaration.
In other words: under the right conditions of literacy and intellectual honesty, there is an increased amount of avenues to make better, and more informed, decisions about the world. A fact that appears to start impacting how people perceive the Palestinian struggle.
What is Changing?
According to recent polls and studies, public opinion is shifting regarding Israel’s conduct in (and towards) Palestine. Both in the global North and South, narratives are changing towards an increasingly critical tone of the state of Israel and its policies. This is resulting in a negative impact on the country’s economy, legal condemnation and persecution on the international stage, reactive recognition of Palestine’s statehood, and the reputational downgrade of the United States of America (USA) — to name but a few.
On the economic front, boycotts against brands like McDonalds or Starbucks have had tangible effects, with varying results depending on where you assess them globally. More popularly channelled through the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) Movement, but also at a more grassroots and local level (e.g. the ‘Boycat’ App), a variety of businesses worldwide have been reporting losses ever since Israel’s latest invasion of Gaza. Voting with one’s wallet, is voting nonetheless, and it does point to the materialisation of a shift in public opinion and perception.
Moreover, there have been changes in how some countries formally and legally pressure Israel to end to its aggressions. For instance, Israel was accused at the International Court of Justice (ICC) by South Africa of committing genocide in Palestine; a move that Spain is requesting to support. This marks an historical departure from the international impunity enjoyed by Israel, furthered by the USA’s choice not to block a ceasefire resolution at the United Nations (UN) Security Council. This is a departure so radical from decades-long ‘business as usual’, that the US’s abstention (as opposed to vetoing the resolution) sent shockwaves through the international diplomacy world — with Benjamin Netanyahu cancelling meetings with Joe Biden over the move.
Also on the international stage, more countries than ever recognise the legitimate statehood of Palestine; More specifically, Spain, Norway, Ireland and Slovenia have announced their official recognition of the state. This move is seen by many as a practical and necessary push for peace. It is also indicative of a further global shift in perception regarding Palestine, Israel, and the narratives surrounding them. Today, 147 countries recognise Palestinian statehood.
Regarding the reputation of the US — the current keeper of the (mutating) World Order -, it has taken a very palpable hit on its reputation, as evidenced by multiple articles and polls. The US’s abnormal policy of ‘bombing them and feeding them’ — to quote John Stewart — has put it in the impossible position of having to explain why it is selling the weapons necessary to harm and kill the people it is then trying to send aid to; and, adding insult to injury, doing the former much more efficiently than the latter. Countries’ reputations matter, especially when they are in financial and military decline, because they are only as strong as those standing behind them. Credibility is one of few central factors defining the amount and quality of support nations get on the world stage.
A more worrying and immediate repercussion of this credibility loss is the possible deterioration of US-mediated deals between Arab states and Israel, which, regardless of how precarious or superficial, do affect the stability of the region to some extent.
There are certainly more factors to add to this list, but I believe these to be representative enough of the ongoing shift in perception and some of its effects on the world around us. Also, considering this is not the core issue in this article, I won’t attempt to pursue the compilation of a comprehensive list on the subject.
The Impact of Palestine on Democracies Worldwide
It is nothing new to say that democracies worldwide are facing increasing existential challenges. Failures in addressing socioeconomic disparities, the rise in mindless nationalism, voter disengagement, and many other factors have been contributing to the erosion of fully functioning democracies.
Vital to such disenchantment is the issue of credibility. The widening gap between voters’ wishes and the actions taken by their elected representatives is probably the first crack on the thin ice we are all transversing together.
Issues like widespread corruption, the rise of Identity Politics (something I have written further here — “Identity Politics: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”), and even the general ignorance about the role of Members of Parliament and respective procedures, are all contributing to widening the gap between representatives and represented; a gap that is, in some continents, being filled with an increasing number democratically elected antidemocratic players.
Democracies, and their defenders worldwide should be keeping their eyes on the issue of Palestine for two main reasons: the historic shift in attitudes and perceptions, and the impact on citizen-government relations.
First, as shown on polls and studies, overall support for the issue of Palestinian self-determination and peace is overwhelmingly shifting from sympathizing with Israel’s narratives, to opposing its disproportionate and undeniable aggressions. It is rare that we get to witness a conflict dragging itself across generations, and repeatedly making its way onto the world stage. Nations across the globe have seen this conflict unfold through the eyes of different generations of citizens, some of them who end up becoming policy makers, civil society participants or form NGOs. This evolution has been reflected in the mutating policy stances which now lead countries to acknowledge Palestinian statehood, or to no longer abstain from voting against UN resolutions condemning Israel’s actions.
Moreover, we live in an increasingly connected and closer world. In spite of traditional borders and sovereignty, it is indisputable that there are issues that transcend national grounds and unite citizens politically across the globe. The Palestinian struggle is now an issue that has become important to people’s voting tendencies nationally, while at the same time having an urgent presence on the world stage in places like the UN or the ICC.
In other words, the issue of Palestine has become an international event with the power to affect national politics worldwide.
Secondly, by witnessing the ineffectiveness of their governments in stopping what many deem to be genocide, the chasm between voters and representatives is widened. When protesters in the streets are the most apparent form of action any given country is bringing to the fore, the representatives of democratic institutions start to appear as ineffective as the institutions themselves. By continually ignoring the unignorable, governments worldwide are playing into the narrative that democracy is but a scam built to serve a few privileged elites.
Democracy, as a word and idea, comes from the Latin ‘Demos’ (‘People’) and ‘Kratia’ (‘Rule’), which means that the people’s voice should not be ignored when ruling the country. In the case at hand, when there is a global movement shifting toward the same narrative, it is increasingly self-destructive to our current democratic institutions to follow in the exact opposite direction of where the people want to go.
It is bad enough when political representatives actively ignore or oppose their constituents on national or regional issues (e.g. Catalonian independence in Spain); but, when the issue remains within national borders, the blame can be deflected to specific governments, and not the democratic system itself.
The issue of Palestine, as it stands today, can be harmful to the Democratic System worldwide because it is something that voters see as mishandled not only in their own countries, but in other nations as well. People are protesting, polls and studies show a shift in perception, and yet, regardless of the country, no real, concrete, steps are being taken by elected officials to align their actions with the wishes of the people they represent.
If democracy is not working in an issue as clear as putting an end to the killing of innocent people and animals, bombing hospitals and schools, assassinating journalists and NGO workers, and disregarding the authority of international bodies such as the UN or the ICC, when will it work? And why isn’t it working now?
In an era when trust and support for current democracies is declining, nations worldwide should be clinging to every and any opportunity to display reminders of why and how this political system works.
Seldom do we encounter issues that matter so strongly across democratic nations, and the struggle of Palestine should be of utmost importance for any politician, party, policymaker and democratic believer in the world. For if the issue of Palestinian liberation remains overlooked, it may be one of the last issues to be discussed democratically across both parliaments, and streets, in many parts of the world.
Democracy needs civic participation and action, and the minimum requirement for it not to go completely extinct is for elected officials to see and hear the people — How else can they represent them?
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