My Interview with TRT World (Türkiye)

On 7th October 2024, the one-year anniversary of the current phase of Israel’s settler-colonial genocide against the Palestinian people

I was interviewed yesterday on TRT World, as part of a special coverage on the anniversary of the 7th of October 2023. TRT World and Al Jazeera are the only news channels (to the best of my knowledge) that report the truth about Israel’s settler-colonialism, and that see and show Israels’ actions for what they are. They are the only channels that demonstrate empathy, and concern for the Palestinians people, and do not act as mouth-pieces for Israel.

As I say at the end of this short interview, any media outlet that repeats the myth of symmetry between a settler-coloniser and its victim, are aiding and abetting a settler-colonial genocide. In addition to violating International Law, supporters of Israel act immorally, and inhumanely. They are also intellectually dishonest, not to mention cowardly.

‘Balance’ is appropriate when two sides of a conflict are equal in power. Where there is abuse in the context of imbalance of power, there is only side any decent human being can choose — the side of the victim. There is no balance in domestic abuse. There is no balance in child abuse. There is no balance in settler-colonialism and genocide.

Perpetrators cannot see themselves. If they could they would not perpetrate. You cannot reason with a perpetrator, bargain with them, or placate them, or expect them to do the right thing. We have to stand up to perpetrators, protect their victims, and dismantle the power structure that enables them to dominate. This is the principle we follow in relationship therapy, in cases where there is domestic abuse for example, and one side is more powerful than the other. All well-trained relationship therapists follow this obvious rule.

If I sound angry in the interview, it is because I am. When those who have the power to stop the carnage are siding with the perpetrator, it is right and proper to feel anger, and express it. There are times when being ‘nice’ is not the right way to be. When perpetrators become upset or insist on their ‘hurt feelings’ it is just their way of trying to continue to take the centre of attention and deflect support from their victims. Part of our activism for Palestine is to ignore Israel’s attempts to make itself the focus. I am disgusted by the UK media’s reporting on 7th of October as if it was a tragedy that befell Israel. Israel’s tragedy is its single minded obsession with its settler-colonial project and sense of entitlement. Israel’s tragedy is self-inflicted. Israel could choose to stop its own suffering right now, by giving up on their crazy fantasy of having a ‘racially pure’ ghetto at the expense of another people. It is OK to feel sadness, pity, compassion for perpetrators. They are not proper human beings, so it is appropriate to feel sorry for them. But it does not mean letting them get away with what they do, or abandoning their victims. Perpetrators are as dangerous, as they are miserable, and bereft of what makes us human.

Israel’s supporters are on the wrong side of history. They owe the Palestinians, and the rest of us an explanation for their choice to continue to support Israel. Those of us who stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people, Israel’s victims, have nothing to explain or justify.

I hope what I say in this interview (or in any of my essays) offers some support, validation, and encouragement to those whose hearts and ethics are in the right place, but who might feel a bit unsure of themselves.

Supporting the Palestinian people is the right thing, indeed the only thing a decent human being can, and must do in the circumstances.

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