10 | JANUARY 11 • 2024 J
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Opinion

Pro-Palestinian or Anti-Israel?
T

hose who claim to 
support the Palestinian 
Arabs, in fact, do 
precious little to help them. 
The plight of the Palestinians 
globally — such as the 
denial of civil 
rights by their 
own dictators, 
withholding 
of citizenship 
rights by 
other Arab 
nations and 
the murder of 
thousands of Palestinians 
by their Arab brethren — is 
largely ignored by Western 
leftists.
Where were demonstra-
tions opposing the 
“occupation” of “Palestinian” 
lands when Jordan seized 
Judea and Samaria (aka “the 
West Bank”) and Egypt took 
over the Gaza Strip following 
Israel’s War of Independence 
in 1948? 
Where are groups like 
Students for Justice in 
Palestine (SJP) and the 
Council on American-Islamic 
Relations (CAIR) today when 
both Palestinian dictatorships 
— the Palestinian Authority 
in Judea and Samaria, and 
Hamas in Gaza — ruthlessly 
oppress their people, 
denying them virtually all 
basic human rights and civil 
liberties?
Do any “progressives” 
protest the treatment of 
Palestinians by Arab states, 
where they are denied 
citizenship, restricted from 
many professions and have 
repeatedly been massacred 
and deported? Do feminists 

or gay activists on college 
campuses rail against the 
mistreatment of women or 
the LGBTQ+ community by 
Palestinian rulers or Arab 
society generally? Why not?
The reality is, those 
who call themselves pro-
Palestinian exclusively 
attack Israel — leveling 
false accusations against the 
world’s only Jewish state 
and the Middle East’s only 
democracy. Indeed, Israel 
is the region’s only nation 
where Arabs are granted 
not only citizenship and 
full equality under law, but 
also enjoy greater economic 
opportunity than most all 
other Arabs. Israel also 
provides significant material 
support to Palestinians who 
are not Israeli citizens — 
including healthcare, water, 
electricity and employment. 
Tragically, the only reason 
Palestinians get so much 

lip service (and not much 
more) from the Western left 
is precisely because they 
consider Israel — rather 
than Arab antagonists of 
the Palestinians — their 
archenemy. The cause of the 
hypocrisy is a perverse blend 
of neo-Marxism and classic 
antisemitism.
Leftists did not protest 
between 1948 and 1967 
when Jordan occupied Judea 
and Samaria and Egypt 
ruled Gaza, even though the 
international community 
declined to recognize either 
annexation as legitimate. 
Neither Jordan nor Egypt 
even mentioned forming a 
Palestinian state and, in fact, 
not even the Palestinians 
demanded statehood from 
them. Curiously, it was 
only after the Six-Day War, 
when the Jews recaptured 
their ancient heartland in 
Judea and Samaria, that the 

Palestinians and the left 
screamed “occupation!” 
The Western left is almost 
completely silent about 
criminal human rights 
abuses committed by the 
Palestinian dictatorships. P.A. 
President Mahmoud Abbas 
is now in the 20th year of 
his four-year presidency, and 
he has canceled “national” 
Palestinian elections since 
2006. In both the P.A. and 
Gaza, Palestinians are denied 
free speech, a free press, 
women’s independence 
and virtually all other civil 
liberties. Corruption in both 
dictatorships is rampant, and 
arbitrary arrest and torture 
are commonplace. 
Members of the LGBTQ+ 
community are ruthlessly 
persecuted and murdered. 
Yet leftist groups like Queers 
Against Israeli Apartheid 
ignore these outrages, and 
hypocritically criticize Israel 

Protest meeting in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., in support of Palestinian resistance to 
Israel during the 2023 Israel-Gaza war, Oct. 8, 2023.

TED EYTAN/WIKIPEDIA

PURELY COMMENTARY

James 
Sinkinson
JNS.org