theTangentSpace

My country is gaslighting me about Palestine

Two stories about Palestine have been dominating the headlines recently. No, they're not about the IDF whistleblowers who allege they were ordered to shoot at civilians queueing for aid, or the new displacement orders amid deadly airstrikes. No, they're two stories about the protests of British citizens against the killing. And the response from the British media and political establishment can only be considered gaslighting.

The first story is the Glastonbury chants. Grime-punk duo (didn't know that was a thing until this hit the news) Bob Vylan lead a chant of "Death, death to the IDF!" during their set. Now, it's not something I'd personally want to chant, but I'm not going to fingerwag, because that's just playing into the hands of those trying to turn our heads away from the issues Bob Vylan was trying to spotlight.

However, by the reaction, you'd think Bob Vylan had called for the death of all Israelis. In fact, the reason you'd think that is that's exactly what was splashed across the front page of the Mail On Sunday in an obviously defamatory headline, followed by a repeat of the same lie on the front of the Daily Mail the next day. This is gaslighting. We all heard the chants — they were, as numerous outlets have gleefully pointed out — beamed into our living rooms by the BBC, as well as being clipped on every news site. And now we are being asked to disbelieve our own ears. Numerous other outlets, politicians, and commentators referred to the chants as antisemitic.

It shouldn't need to be said, but chanting "death to the Russian Army" is not the same as chanting "death to all Russians". It wouldn't be considered anti-Russian racism to make such a chant. Ah, one might say, but no one is making such a chant about the Russians — the fact that such a chant is being made about a Jewish army and not any other is what makes it antisemitic. But that's not the reason. The IDF are engaged in a genocide on one front, multiple illegal occupations and land grabs on another, and bombing yet another regional power a few hundred miles away. We are watching and reading about civilian massacres almost every day. I'd say that goes a pretty long way to explaining why the IDF is uniquely unpopular at the moment.

The BBC asked Wes Streeting for his view on the chants in light of them being condemned by Tel Aviv. His response was surprising, perhaps perplexing. He said rather than worrying about a chant at a music festival, the Israeli government needed to "get its own house in order", which seems like a welcome intervention — but he didn't mention Gaza at all. Only that they need to rein in the West Bank settler movement. He's not wrong about that but... that does rather miss the point? Seems again like gaslighting, that this is the main thing that is currently wrong with Israel's policy toward Palestinians. Still, I suppose he can't say that, because his government is complicit in Israel's crimes in Gaza.

The second story regards Palestine Action, a non-violent direct-action (NVDA) protest group that disrupts the British arms industry and, most recently, the Royal Air Force. Members broke into RAF Brize Norton and used spray paint to damage the engines of two refuelling planes. The target was selected as Brize Norton is used to launch planes to RAF Cyprus, where there is reason to think RAF aircraft have been providing the Israeli military with intelligence.

The response from the British government, and parliament, abetted by the right-wing media, has been to bring forward legislation proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group. The House Of Commons have voted to proscribe them. If the legislation passes the House Of Lords, "supporting" them will be punishable up to 14 years in prison.

Again, I feel I am being gaslit, equating NVDA with terrorism. Surely, to be a terrorist, one must have attempted or conspired to cause... terror? Like, is anybody terrorised by some guys spray painting a refuelling plane? What they did was illegal, sure. And one would expect the government to come down very hard on a group committing criminal damage against military assets. But it's not terrorism.

It's worryingly authoritarian. By disagreeing with their classification as a terrorist group,could I be said to be supporting Palestine Action? When we start to label groups who are not terrorists as such and make it illegal to "support" them, we're starting down a road of making it illegal to support groups or express views British government, or perhaps state, does not like.

This week, I feel like I have been losing my mind. A 10-second chant has been causing more outrage than the mass starvation and slaughter they were protesting against and, as MP Zarah Sultana has said, a can of spray paint is being treated like a suicide bomb. Words no longer have meanings, and the truth doesn't matter.