After rejecting the suggestion that the October 7th massacre should be understood in context, many pro-War supporters of Israel now claim that its actions in Gaza should also be understood “in context” (presumably self defense or right to exist etc.) But there are of course fundamental differences. Israel is an occupyer. It’s not “defending itself” it’s fighting to continue the occupation of Palestinian lands, while subjugating millions of people to life of misery and hopelessness.
Historically, Palestinians’ right for self determination was ignored at the first opportunity such a question needed to be discussed, at the end of WWI, prioritizing Western interests in the Middle East over anything else. This is the context in which understand Pankaj Mishra’s essay.
From the abstract:
Memories of Jewish suffering at the hands of Nazis are the foundation on which most descriptions of extreme ideology and atrocity, and most demands for recognition and reparations, have been built. Universalist reference points are in danger of disappearing as the Israeli military massacres and starves Palestinians, while denouncing as antisemitic or champions of Hamas all those who plead with it to desist.
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Among other things, Mishra argues that the Israeli occupation of Gaza fosters a system of domination similar to Nazi Germany, generating "counter-memory" narratives that attempt to erase the suffering of Palestinians (a direct result of the Nakba and the ongoing occupation of Palestine).
Two argument struck me as powerful in this comparison, since they’re intuitive and well understood (at least by anyone who passed through the Israeli education system, or served in the army), regardless of everything else discussed in the essay:
Israeli narratives demonize Palestinians and justify occupation through security concerns.
The international community's silence and selective condemnation empower the Israeli occupation.
Two points that happen to echo the rise of Nazi germany and the world’s indifference to the #holocaust.