An atmosphere of fear

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/gaza-palestine-israel-conflict-us-embassy-jerusalem-jared-kushner-donald-trump-a8355631.html

For how long are we to continue pretending that Palestinians are non-people?

Robert Fisk, poses the question that many of us have been struggling with for many years. Many years of atrocities carried out by the IDF against the Palestinian people, many years of the occupation of Palestinian lands, many years of illegal settlements built on land where once Palestinians had villages and grew olives or tended sheep and many years of watching Israeli expansionism slowly strangle any prospects of creating a two state solution or reaching any form of peaceful settlement of this long running conflict.

One of the major reasons for the acceptance of the status of Palestinians as, "non people", is the stance of successive American administrations since 1947, with unquestioning support for Israel. Within minutes of the declaration of the state of Israel on the 14th May 1948, the United States became the first country to recognise the new State, thereby ensuring that the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and most fertile regions of the countryside went unchallenged as the Israeli expansionism spread to Jerusalem, Haifa and Ashkelon. The much heralded "Arab Army" coming to assist the Palestinians "to drive the Israeli's into the sea" was no more than mythical propaganda spread by Israel.
The United States attitude of unquestioned support and frequent use of the veto at the United Nations Security Council, has over the years, emboldened Israeli governments to be repressive and brutal in their occupation of Palestinian lands annexed by Israel with wars in 1948, 1967, 1970 and 1973, with numerous incursions adding to the expanding "borders". In particular, their almost constant war of attrition against the people of Gaza has been particularly brutal with the use of disproportionate violence, illegal weaponry and a land and sea blockade of the country for many years. The violence on the Gaza "border" fence over recent days is but the latest Israeli aggression, killing more that 70 civilians.

The governments of the world stand by and do nothing in the face of these actions, which seems to condone the events as being somehow the inevitable results of Palestinian resistance. There is however another and probably more sinister reason why we allow the risk of Palestinians becoming "non people". Over many years and certainly over recent years and months, there has been a growing and expanding campaign by pressure groups and individuals, to demonise and censor anyone who dares to support Palestinians in their struggle against Israeli aggression, or to criticise the government of Israel and their actions in the occupied territories. The hysterical smear that is invariably used is that anyone who supports Palestine and criticises the Israeli government is rabidly anti semitic, which is of course arrant nonsense but which has led, with increasing regularity, to such pressure groups driving people out of their positions, expulsions and media vilification.
Why are we pretending that Palestinians are non-people? Apart from the support of the United States, apart from the rhetoric of Israeli governments and apart from the apparent indifference of governments, there is an atmosphere of fear amongst many people, that the stigma of being labelled "anti semitic" and the possible consequences of labelling, no matter how unjustified such labelling may be, is reason enough to be reticent in speaking out. Fortunately there many who will stand up to the bullying and abuse from those groups and individuals who follow the American lead and believe that Israel is right, no matter what. Fortunately again, these pro Israel groupings are losing the arguments and their drive to remove people who oppose them. We must ensure that our support for the Palestinian people continues and is spread to every person who will listen or we may always regret if we allow Palestinians to become "non people".