Why does Palestine bring out such strong feelings?

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I really don’t want this to become about individuals’ feelings about the conflict. There are plenty of threads for that.

I am interested in why Palestine provokes such a strong feelings about civilian in Britain. We didn’t see weekly marches and such intense, passionate feelings regarding any other conflicts over in, say, the past ten years (Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Somalia, and, of course, Ukraine). These all involve thousands of civilian casualties caused by conflict.

What is it about Palestine in particular that causes British people to feel so passionately about it?

Someone said to me today that, for them, it was the most pressing political issue. They have never even mentioned any of the other conflicts above. It got me thinking about it. If you care greatly about what happens in Palestine, why Palestine and not the other conflicts?

Please don’t come on and say you care about them all. It might be true but there is no doubt that the reaction to what’s happening in Palestine in Britain is much greater than the rest, which barely cause a murmur.

I generally agree, but will play devils' advocate in saying that Yemen should receive more coverage then, because don't we sell weapons to the Saudi regime that is bombing it?

For me, it's the official Israeli response that has made me feel pretty queasy. The sheer levels of denial, dissimulation and gaslighting from Israeli government and military spokespeople has been insane. It reminds me of abusive relationships I've been in- people who will stoop at nothing and argue black is white. Absolutely shameless.

It's worth noting that the official Russian propaganda on Ukraine is very similar- "war of anti Fascist liberation" my arse. However, pretty much everyone in the West is united in condemning the Russian government, has imposed meaningful sanctions and stopped selling them weapons. So there's not much to protest over there.

No. It's not.
It's asking why Palestine?
She's specifically starting a discussion about why this particular war gets more interest and coverage than other conflicts.

Conscious/deliberate antisemitism.

Unconscious/ignorant antisemitism. A huge factor IMO.

Political tribalism.

Fucked up ideas about colonialism, race and oppression.

Virtue signalling.

Some really good propaganda that feeds all the above.

This isn’t to say that people arent deeply distressed by the conflict itself, but why they focus on it in preference to others.

It provokes more reaction because of Eurovision, Israel is in Eurovision, Russia has been removed after sanctions- all the other countries do not belong

this sounds a bit flippant but it indicates how Israel is/was thought as of the Western democracies, even though those in Palestine did not have the same rights within the country.

As we can see the effect of the Israeli government action is malnutrition and genocide - some people may justify it as actions required for Israeli security, others may not but the evidence of harm to the general population of Gaza is quite clear. As Israel was ‘one of us’ it does feel
less removed than for example Sudan and therefore something those in the West have more responsibility for perpetuating

Social media would be a big influence, I think…
Some causes are more fashionable than others.

Mainly Iran.

I think there is a lot of useful analysis of this in the thread so far. I also think like pp says, there are ‘fashionable’ causes. Remember when it was trendy to wear ‘free Tibet’ merch when I’m sure few had much understanding of the nuance and thought the Dalai Lama was a goodie. It’s a popular position to signal to others that we are on the side of liberating the oppressed, alongside true and genuine feelings of horror at the scenes witnessed online.

I think it can even be a proxy/ symbolic way for people to explore and address their own histories and fears of oppression by parents, bullies, colonial nations.

No, it's not. That's part of the problem, you can't voice support for what is going on, and has been going on, in Palestine for years without being labelled anti-Semitic as you have just demonstrated. I don't for a minute condone what Hamas did but people think Palestine and Hamas are one and the same. They aren't. However, the Palestinian's have been treated dreadfully by Israel for many, many years. It doesn't just stem from October 7. I daresay there may be some who are anti-Semitic but many people are horrified at what is going on and make no mistake, Netanyahu has wanted to and has been completely open about wanting the destruction of Palestine and its people for years. Even some Israeli's are appalled by him.

They are. If you look for them.

Really good questions OP.

To use a comparison with Ukraine, t does seem odd that people get attacked at a synagogue but not, for example, at a Russian Orthodox church,

People seem to be able to accept that a Russian living here isn't necessarily a fan of Putin and the war in Ukraine, but they can't accept that a Jewish person may disagree with what's happened in Gaza.

Why is that? It can only be "good" old fashioned anti-semitism.

And maybe in the UK there's some woke virtue signalling as the British government was responsible for the Balfour declaration in the first place. T'was a long time ago though and it would be better to make the best of the situation that exists now, rather than harking back all the time.

I'd like to see a lot more fuss being made about the plight of women in Afghanistan too but there aren't demonstrations about that.

And I answered about Palestine. What's your problem with that? Would you rather it was hushed up and forgotten??

I've never seen children being starved and blown up defended so vociferously before. Seeing Mum's on here talking about starving children's mums and saying well she looks well fed doesn't she, the implication being that the mum just isn't bothering to feed her child. Seeing mum's on here defend premature babies being left to die in incubators, people saying well why did their parents leave them(they were made to leave at gunpoint and told that their babies would be transferred elsewhere but instead they were left to to die by Israel). Seeing mums who watched a video of an 8 year old boy being executed on the street whilst running away say well he would have grown up to be a terrorist anyway.

I noticed an email from mumsnet about a report I made on a thread about a year ago, the thread basically said you shouldn't see your own children in Palestinian children, they aren't like ours, their 6 year olds are not like our 6 year olds, their 6 year olds are full of hate. The thread was obviously deleted but the openly racist rhetoric that has been used to defend the mass slaughter of children, I've honestly never seen the likes before.

Reading the disgusting things people have said about those suffering genocide has prompted me to speak up more than I might have otherwise. You don't see that in other conflicts, you don't get people arguing that Sudanese mums just don't love their kids enough and that's why they are being killed. You don't usually get people talking the word of the people committing genocide as gospel and then deciding that the genocide is fine because those committing it say it is even though all major NGOs and the UN say it really isn't fine.

The whole thing has just been a very bizarre wake up call to me, it's shown me how much racism exists, how easily people can put one group of people ahead of another without a second thought and that people will defend anything despite what the evidence and experts say if it is happening to people that they don't like.

Because the media chooses what it wants to report and steers the narrative. The only political hardline my Mother ever took was against apartheid in South Africa but she lived under it and one of my sisters was born in Cape Town in the early sixties.

Plus Social Media means virtue signalling is out of control.

You can voice support for Palestine and the peoples' plight without being antisemitic.

But it goes way beyond that in a way that it just doesn't for eg Russia/Ukraine or Yemen or the other conflicts.

I have no Jewish roots as far as I know but I do think it's antisemitic.

Oh fgs. Talk about a stretch! 😂
I'm joining in the conversation, started by the OP, concerning the interest in various world conflicts.
That's the discussion which interests me, and in which I am participating.
Nowhere on this board will you find evidence for the wild claim that I think Palestine should be hushed up. Seriously.

Eh? Two years ago thousands of Jewish children were killed?

No, you’re right, 1200 people killed, not children.

It would be nice if other atrocities around the world would be given some airtime for a change. It feels like other lives don’t matter as much.

Because many are secretly anti-Semitic and it’s as much about hating Israel as caring about Palestinians.

TBH I think it’s very, very much more about hating Israel than caring about Palestinians. The anti-Israel industry is motivated by hatred, not by concern for human life and welfare.

The antisemitic, anti-Israel movement is one of the most obnoxious and disgraceful political campaigns of all time.

Chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ gives away the antisemitic motives behind the protestors all by itself.

This.

So wait, what are you saying? You think that if people liked Jews more they would all cheer on Israel’s attacks on the Palestinians? Or take less notice of them? Or agree with them? Or show greater understanding?

And the only possible reason people might object to children being killed and maimed in their tens of thousands by a UK ally is because they dislike Jews?

Try having a look at the utter lack of logic you are displaying in your assertion! It is an absolute fallacy. It can only make any sense at all if you believe that antisemitism is actually mistrust of right wing Israelis and actually nothing to do with disliking Jews at all.

Anti- Semetism, OP.

Because the issue was created by the UK government. It is an issue of colonialism which most people aren’t very fond of these days.

try reading what I actually wrote rather than what you imagine or infer.

I didn’t say it was the only reason or that it applies to all.

no need to take it personally unless of course it applies to you.