Many supporters of Israel, especially in India, are primarily motivated by anti-Muslim prejudice. They know virtually nothing about the conflict in the Middle East. And even if they did, it would make very little difference. Such is their bigotry when it comes to Islam that anyone who fights Muslims becomes their favourite.
This helps explain why Indians, after years of supporting the Palestinian cause, have become more pro-Israeli over the last decade. It cannot be a coincidence that the rise in support for Israel has paralleled the rise in support for Hindutva-type politics.
But over the last year, I have begun to ask myself whether a similar global shift has taken place on the liberal side as well. Are we now in a situation where liberals (and, in the Indian context, secular liberals) have got so used to seeing Muslims in the Middle East as victims that we are unwilling to condemn violent behaviour that is beyond the pale?
Liberals’ love for Hamas
I find it impossible to defend what Israel has done to civilians in Gaza; the destruction, the bombings, the deaths, the enforced starvation, etc., are horrifying.
But can anyone defend what Hamas did on 7 October two years ago? To see that terror attack in context, try to imagine it had happened in Pahalgam. Suppose the terrorists had raped women, shot videos and made them public. Suppose that they had taken women, children and babies hostage, dragging them across the border to be kept in dark tunnels as bargaining chips to get terrorists released from jail. Suppose over 800 civilians had been massacred, many of them while they were watching a music festival.
How would we have felt?
I have enough faith in India to believe that we would not retaliate like Israel. But I think we would have expected the world to agree with us that this was a crime against humanity.
And yet, many liberals are unwilling to offer more than a few token words of condemnation. Hamas still glories in that slaughter but bizarrely, some liberals refuse to condemn it, treating murderous terrorism and mass rape as a legitimate part of a freedom fight. As terrible and indiscriminately violent as Israel’s response was, the bombings might have ended if Hamas had offered to release the hostages it took on 7 October. While I saw innumerable demonstrations and protests against Israel, demanding a halt to the bombings, I saw very few calling on Hamas to release the innocent hostages.
This rationalisation of Hamas continues. As recently as a week ago, there were pro-Hamas demonstrations in New York City. Eventually, the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who is hardly a Zionist reactionary, had to come out and oppose the demonstrations and describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
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Tides are turning
I was reminded again of liberal biases when I saw events in Iran unfold over the last month. You don’t have to be an anti-Muslim bigot to recognise that the Iranian regime represents a return to a dark medieval era where primitive religious fundamentalists ran society and where women were treated as less than human. Any protest against the regime is surely to be welcomed as a call for a move to the 21st century.
But, as the protests gathered steam last December, they were downplayed by mainstream media, especially in the West. What little we knew about them came from social media. Even that may be a problem now because the regime has restricted internet access. By the time the global media took note, the protests had spread to smaller cities, and the regime had responded with great brutality.
There were signs that what was happening was unprecedented. Photographs of gestures of defiance and protests against Iran’s Supreme Bigot, the ruling Ayatollah, almost broke the internet.
Media responses were still muted. As author JK Rowling tweeted, “If you claim to support human rights yet can’t bring yourself to show solidarity with those fighting for their liberty in Iran, you’ve revealed yourself. You don’t give a damn about people being oppressed and brutalised so long as it’s being done by the enemies of your enemies.”
The tide now seems to be turning.
The revolts in Iran are too massive to be ignored. But you have to ask yourself: why did it take so long?
I think that as liberals, we have fallen into the trap of dividing the world into good guys and bad guys; into victims and aggressors. If history has taught us anything, it is that there are no good guys and bad guys; just good principles and bad principles.
Sadly, we have forgotten this. And that accounts for our moral confusion today.
Vir Sanghvi is a print and television journalist and talk show host. He tweets @virsanghvi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)