Why do you support a genocide?
Nicholas Epley, a Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago, once wrote “Your brain’s greatest skill is its ability to think about the minds of others in order to understand them better.”
So, I decided to exercise that skill to understand why someone would support the genocide occurring in Palestine. Here are the reasons I came up with:
1. You profit off of oil and/or liquified natural gas.
In 2019, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) published an article titled “The unrealized potential of Palestinian oil and gas reserves” which outlines the discovery of around 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil in the Levant Basin.
“However, so far the Palestinian people have been prohibited from exploiting the oil and gas reserves in their own land and water to meet their energy needs and generate fiscal and export revenues.”
Ohh so “This Genocide is About Oil” (atmos.earth). I get it – profit over people! Cool!
But why would all those crusty old people flip me off as they drive by the ceasefire protests? Perhaps it’s because:
2. You hate Jews.
If you are an antisemite, it’s easy to ignore holocaust survivors such as Marione Ingram or Elliot Kukla, or the thousands of Jewish people who are calling for a ceasefire and saying to not to commit genocide in their name. (Rabbis for Ceasefire, Jewish Voices for Peace, If Not Now)
You’d also want to ignore the Neturei Karta Rabbis who stated at the November 4th March on Washington that “the very existence of the state of Israel, the ongoing occupation, including all brutal atrocities since its very beginning in 1948 are a violation of Judaism and are criminal and barbaric. According to Jewish belief, Jews are forbidden to create their own state since God placed them in exile and they are forbidden to end this Divine decree of exile by any physical means. This is especially the case with respect to killing and occupying – both of which are totally forbidden.”
Or perhaps you are cleverer than that. Perhaps you realize that when the true horrors of the Palestinian genocide continue to be revealed, such as the unlawful use of white phosphorus, IOF soldiers forbidding parents from seeing their newborn babies until they were found decomposing in the NICU, forcing civilians (including minors) to strip down under the guise of trying to find Hamas operatives (this is sexual assault by the way), murdering an elderly woman (Hadia Nasr) by sniper because she went viral online for saying that she is older than the state of Israel, bombing historical buildings such as the Greek Orthodox Gaza Church and murdering at least 69 journalists even (or especially) when they are wearing their press vests, you will find that equating these horrific actions with Judaism will make the Jewish people the scapegoat instead of holding the true perpetrators of these offences accountable. That makes sense – it’s a solid plan!
3. You hate people with brown skin.
If you hate brown people, you will certainly hate the rich and religiously diverse Palestinian culture and so you would totally be okay with:
· All living generations of Palestinian families being wiped out in the bombings, including the al-Dos family. It’s a very effective way to erase Palestinians and their oral history! This has been an effective tactic for a while.
· How this young Palestinian boy, Mohammed Nazzal, was treated in an Israeli prison.
· This grandfather, Khaled Nabhan, grieving the deaths of his 3 year old granddaughter Reem and 5 year old grandson Tareq.
· How this 13-year old girl named Alma was trapped under rubble but insisted the rescuers save her family first.
· The mass graves of Palestinian civilians being created because all the cemeteries are full.
· The Israeli Defense Minister outright saying “Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.” and calling Palestinians “Human animals.”
· The destruction of land including olive trees. (Here’s a short video made three years ago about the importance of olives and olive trees to Palestinians.)
There are so many more examples I can provide, but I’m sure someone is chomping at the bit to say “I am not okay with this because I hate brown people! I am okay with it because this is a necessary response to Hamas’ actions and stopping terrorism.”
Let’s dismiss all of that because when a population is trying to overcome oppression, they should protest peacefully and non-violently – kind of like how Palestinians have been doing since 1967, as detailed in this 12-page report. Even if everyone ignores their plight, even if they are treated as sub-human and forced to exist in an open-air prison, they should not resist in any other way. They should just back down and give up rather than retaliate and wait for the oppressors to see the error of their ways on their own.
4. You are susceptible to propaganda.
I refuse to believe that any single person was born with the innate belief that only some human beings have the right to dignity while the rest are condemned to brutal torture and death. This is learned behavior – either through the promise of money and power, but more frequently, through media and information consumption.
So, if you have been consuming all the very convincing pro-genocide propaganda, I get why you would support the war. This video actually spells it out quite well:
A must-watch by Saffana.
Side Note:
If you think you are immune to propaganda and manipulation, please do tell me what degrees and certifications you hold in media literacy – so I can personally make sure that the issuing institutions are fined and discredited.
If you don’t have any formal training in media literacy or research or journalism, use this as a reminder to be more discerning. You should be questioning and challenging everything you read, and validating the sources, including this blog post.
You should also be vigilant about your confirmation bias – personally, I am partial to points of view that reflect my value of human rights and dignity, but that can be exploited as well.
5. You don’t care.
This one makes the most sense to me – and I mean that sincerely. It is hard to care, because caring means facing the horrors that are happening and recognizing the part you inadvertently play. Almost everything we have has come from the genocide of Indigenous people, brutal slavery of Black Americans and the exploitation of many people around the world. That’s pretty hard to live with when you care. It’s much much easier not to.
But let me leave you with this thought:
If you were being persecuted and oppressed, and you knew someone who has the resources you have now, and they were aware of what was happening to you, what would you want them to do?
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