Everywhere in the world, except in the warped consciousness of Western "progress", strength matters. Those who have it remain, those who don't disappear or bow their heads in humiliation.
Since the massacre of Hamas on October 7, the Middle East has changed, but so has the world. The shock of the first shock was replaced by the cynicism of great power politics and the self-defense reflex of the Arab systems. The saddest thing is that in Western Europe and the United States, global "progress" has been placed on a platform with Russian propaganda, blaming the victim, and even hating it in the case of Westerners. Because the Russians act at least in accordance with their narrow national interests, from the point of view of power politics, when they want to bring the billion Muslim world to their side.
On the other hand, American and European "progress" does what it does out of ignorance, self-hatred, and ideological blindness.
Narratives that describe the conquering Ottoman Empire or the Arab caliphates as some kind of tolerant, multi-ethnic state in contrast to the colonialist West would be worthless if they weren't so prevalent in these circles. Israel suddenly became very alone, with barely more than a dozen states supporting it in the UN - including Hungary. The internal distortions of the West may very well oppress the Jewish state. In Paris, London or Berlin, you slowly have to pay attention to the atmosphere of the street in the same way as in Amman or Cairo. Crowds can march shouting Allahu Akbart!, effectively supporting a genocide. Because what Hamas wants is not a two-state solution, but the physical destruction of Jewry, but at least its expulsion.
The war in Gaza also cast a dark cloud over Ukraine.
Due to the failure of the summer offensive, the initially gloomy mood reached its lowest point. Although only those who didn't want to see it didn't see it: Ukraine will be secondary at the moment when the USA is facing a crisis in a more important region. In a way, Israel is in a reverse situation to Ukraine. It can win the war militarily - which Ukraine, according to its own military leaders, is not capable of. There is no question that they can invade the entire Gaza Strip and crush the military wing of Hamas. Of course, the destruction of the entire organization can only be interpreted at the level of political communication: Hamas is an idea, an ideology, in that sense it cannot be definitively defeated. He could only disappear if the air around him ran out, but that can hardly be counted on. The majority of Gazans would apparently hardly accept a compromise that does not ultimately lead to Israel's self-annihilation.
So military victory is possible, even if it will not be easy or quick. But in the battle for the sympathy of the global majority and the far left in the West, Israel is at a disadvantage. To this, the one-time UN Secretary General would say that the attack by Hamas did not take place in a vacuum. Well, nothing happens without history. The Russian aggression in Ukraine also has a history. But starting a war is starting a war, a massacre is a massacre, and when we start explaining that this war started for no immediate reason is a good war, that this massacre is morally different, then we cross a red line. And now, this is exactly what a large part of the progressive-far-left Western intelligentsia is doing, on the same platform as the Russian propagandists. Scott Ritter, who is American but works for the Russians, explains that the young Israelis at the festival died in the crossfire. Meanwhile, they are protesting at American universities against colonialist, colonialist, apartheid Israel.
They do not deal with the fact that, unlike the vast majority of Arab states, Israel is a democracy, where Palestinian parties sit in the Knesset, and there have even been examples of them being in government.
There is no question that there are excesses on the part of the Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and also that the walls do not look good on the screens. But meanwhile two million Palestinians live much better and freer as Israeli citizens than the vast majority of the four hundred million Arabs. Not to mention the fact that nobody in progressive circles is interested in the suppression of the tens of millions of Christians in the region and their sometimes slow, sometimes faster liquidation. However, they are the oldest religion and culture of the region after Judaism, not Islam. If we go far back in history, there is no doubt who is the real conqueror in this region.
Of course, none of this matters to the people on the "progressive" side of the cultural warrior barricade. Facts don't matter. It doesn't even matter that Hamas would wipe out Tel Aviv's thriving gay community with blood and iron in a matter of seconds. What's more, if Islamic extremism were to break free in Europe or the USA, they would first exterminate Western progress with great enthusiasm. For them, unbelievers are much worse than religious Christians.
You can and should feel with the tragic fate of the Palestinians.
But it should be understood: this situation today is mainly the failure of their own leadership and the failure of the Arab states.
A two-state solution would have been possible. Not ideal, not just from the Palestinian point of view, but those who seek the "ideal" and the complete victory of their own justice are usually doomed to failure. After the massacre of Hamas, the peace process that had been struggling from the beginning died. Whether it can be revived one day is the question. Probably yes, because there are no "constants" in the world, only in the minds of ideologues.
Now, in 2023, Israel has no choice: it must fight and win. Defeat, retreat can mean the beginning of the final destruction. Because Hamas and Hezbollah do not want reconciliation, but Palestine "from the river to the sea". There is no room for compromise. Everywhere in the world, except in the warped consciousness of Western "progress", strength matters. Those who have it remain, those who don't disappear or bow their heads in humiliation.
Nothing has changed, history has not stopped.
Israel has not forgotten this. A significant part of the intellectuals of the West, and even the majority of European states, do. The basic reflexes of self-defense are eliminated by "progression". It's time to wake up, take our internal crisis seriously, the 21st century. the great crisis of the 20th century, which we are constantly entering, and which will remain with us for at least another generation.
Featured image: Tamás Purger
