Palestinians support Hamas.
Netanyahu (and his bunch of evil fellows) is correct when he claims that he needs to kill all the Palestinians to eradicate Hamas ultimately. Hence, genocide is necessary and justified, as several Israeli politicians and government members blatantly keep uttering. In fact, according to several independent investigations and polls (some of them also reported by Reuters and Associated Press), three-quarters of Palestinians supported the October 7th attack. Now, the approval is almost unanimous: the people you see yelling on TV aren’t angry with Hamas; they are with Israel! Palestinians are under constant siege in Gaza and oppressed in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians are sealed in the occupied West Bank. A humiliating wall divides Palestinians from Israelis. The former aren’t allowed to cross the border; the latter can move freely, including the army and the police. Isn’t it consequent that Palestinians believe that Hamas freedom fighters attacked legitimate foes? The consensus for Hamas has grown both in the besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank after the Israeli retaliation and the ongoing genocide. It is now up to 90% of the population, undeterred by the bombs, destruction, snipers, and carnage. No surprise: how could anyone in the world welcome the killers of their children, spouses, and friends?
A global public opinion
It’s not a local conflict: the Israeli-fomented hate is spreading all around the world. Anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiment, already worldwide spread, have grown to almost the entire Palestinian population (source: Associated Press) and everywhere on the planet. By watching Arabic, Turkish, Russian, and Chinese television, one can realize how the narrative of events diverges significantly from what Western media report. No doubt they also wage propaganda but propose a different discourse. Nowadays, non-Western media and communication strategists are as sophisticated and professional as their Western counterparts. The non-Western world media do not consider Hamas a terrorist group but a legitimate representative of a people fighting against occupation. Hamas is not on the list of terrorist groups of several States, including Turkey, India, China, Russia… and excuse me if that’s not enough!
However, the auto-proclaimed ‘free world’ media flooded the citizens with one-sided information. We won’t get to an uncontested truth if we compare the two opposing narratives. Truth is a serious matter to establish and assert. Yet, we might have a vision closer to reality through denials, false evidence, counter-denials, and revelations. On specific events, doubts remain, but on principles, the people’s judgment is indisputable: on one side, there is a wealthy world supported by a mighty army whose bases mushroom all over the world; on the other side, there are people who oppose tanks and jets with slings and fight with courage and conviction. Yes, they are not lovely pacifists, and they also have rifles and rockets that are more like fireworks than weapons. We can’t compare U.S. and Israeli military and economic power with the Palestinians’.
Consequences in Europe
In the European metropolises, more than 20% of the population — who are immigrants and second-third generation children of immigrants — share the anti-Western sentiment of billions of people worldwide who are subject to different propaganda. They have lost hope of integrating into European society and stepping into the middle-class milieu and are less and less passive listeners of the Western narrative. Alternative sources of information are now available to them. This population, for the most part, is poor and marginalized and suffers continuous attacks and discrimination to the point that the term Islamophobia has been coined, and acts of racism occur daily. However, racist assaults against immigrants create much less scandal than a few acts of anti-Zionism that are cunningly (and foolishly) confused with ahistorical anti-Semitism. The Western media emphasize fabricated antisemitism to justify Israel and its allies’ crimes, which makes opponents even angrier. Most of the Jewish associations still support the Israeli government or cowardly keep silent. Just a few are straightforwardly condemning the genocide, e.g., Jewish Voice for Peace and others.
Urban Geography and Terror
The ongoing genocide in Gaza is already provoking some random attacks in Europe. Out of millions of people, it is statistically probable that some agitated, psychopathic, marginalized, and isolated extremists perform them out of any plan. Attacks will sow anxiety and turmoil, nonetheless. If Western governments keep relying on just repression, autonomous terror cells will form or wake up. They hide in high-density metropolitan slums that look very much like Gaza, where immigrants are concentrated and constitute most of the population. Soon, they can organize and carry out more effective panic-creating attacks. Eventually, more prominent groups could directly orchestrate significant strikes or a series of raids, with the possible complicity of States. There is no doubt that terror attacks (in as much as colonial wars and genocides) are unjustifiable… but how can we avoid them? How long will our military, economic, and alleged moral superiority last? Shouldn’t we pursue a course to peace and respect? If not for ethical reasons, at least for strategic convenience.
