Anti-Palestinianism

Anti-Palestinianism refers to prejudice and discrimination against Palestinians. Anti-Palestinianism is sometimes referred to as a form of racism.[1][lower-alpha 1] Anti-Palestinian sentiment is common in Israel[lower-alpha 2] , the United States,[1] and Lebanon.[2]

Directed at an Arab group that is predominantly Muslim, anti-Palestinianism often overlaps with anti-Arabism and Islamophobia.[3] Emad Moussa, writing in Mondoweiss, says that anti-Palestinianism is a form of bigotry, "a multi-layered form of prejudice, inseparable from the overall anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment in the West".[4] Author and professor Sunaina Maira, citing historian Shahzad Bashir in the context of labelling, says "...an important aspect of anti-Palestinianism, that is, the moral panic whipped up about the "radicalization" of Muslim and Arab American youth is often accompanied by the charge that they are automatically anti-Semites if they are critical of the Israeli state’s policies."[5]

By location

Australia

On 15 September 2021, Australian author Stuart Rees argued that "a statement of anti-Palestinianism is desperately needed." and explains "it is not difficult to anticipate principles which would illustrate a significant document and the evidence on which it is based." and goes on to elucidate a human rights approach based in International law.[6]

The same month, the Arab Australian Federation (AAF) produced a document titled the "Sydney Statement on anti-Palestinianism". The statement was created as a response to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's Working Definition of Antisemitism. The document claims that the statement was necessitated by "decades of discrimination against the Palestinian people", reflected through "Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land", the plight of Palestinian refugees, attacks against Palestinian life and property, and widespread anti-Palestinian stereotyping. The statement also claims that anti-Palestinianism "target[s] media, institutions, students and academics if they criticise Israel or sympathise with the Palestinian people". The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) called the statement "odd and concerning", claiming that the statement entails a "broad and opportunistic appropriation of international rights" to suit a "self-serving narrative".[7][8][9][10]

Austria

In 2020, the Austrian Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the BDS movement.[11] In response, the BDS movement condemned the resolution as "anti-Palestinian" and "anti-democratic".[12][13][14]

Canada

In 2018, author and political activist Yves Engler criticized the New Democratic Party (NDP) for its conduct in respect of the Palestine Resolution that called for support of efforts to ban "settlement products from Canadian markets, and using other forms of diplomatic and economic pressure to end the [Israeli] occupation."[15]. Engler said it "demonstrated the need to directly confront anti-Palestinianism within the party."[16][lower-alpha 3]

In 2020, the University of Toronto allegedly blocked the hiring of Valentina Azarova as director of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) due to her pro-Palestinian activism. Dania Majid, president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), described this as an example that "anti-Palestinian racism is alive and well" in Canada.[19]

France

In May 2021, the French interior minister Gérald Darmanin requested that the police ban a pro-Palestinian protest in Paris. The Parisian journalist Sihame Assbague described the decision as an expression of "French colonial solidarity with the Israeli occupation forces."[20]

Germany

Anti-Palestinian sentiment is common in Germany. The German left, particularly the Antideutsch movement, has been noted for anti-Palestinian sentiment. Many pro-Israel Zionists on the German left regard being anti-Palestinian as connected to their solidarity with Jews.[21]

In 2019, the Bundestag declared the BDS movement to be a form of antisemitism. In response, the BDS movement condemned the motion as anti-Palestinian. The Palestinian B.D.S. National Committee issued a statement declaring the motion an "anti-Palestinian...McCarthyite and unconstitutional resolution passed by the German Parliament."[22][23]

British musician Brian Eno has argued that pro-Palestinian artists are subjected to "censorship and inquisitorial McCarthyism" due to the actions of the German government and anti-Palestinian groups.[24]

Israel
See also: Racism in Israel

Lebanon

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are treated as second-class residents. Palestinians in Lebanon are denied citizenship, restricted from certain jobs, excluded from formal education, and forced to live in refugee camps.[25]

United States

American public opinion has tended in favor of Israel and against Palestinians for a number of years, although pro-Palestinian sentiment has increased in the United States during the 21st century. In 2021, according to Gallup, only 30% of Americans had a favorable view of the Palestinian National Authority. Only 25% of Americans sympathized more with Palestinians than with Israelis, with 58% sympathizing with Israel. Only 34% of Americans believed that the United States should place more pressure on Israel in regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, 52% of Americans supported an independent Palestinian state. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have pro-Palestinian sentiments.[26]

In May, 2021, the Tayba Islamic Center in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn was vandalized with anti-Palestinian graffiti reading "Death 2 Palestine". The incident was investigated by the NYPD as a hate crime.[27]

In May of 2021, student leaders at the University of Michigan issued a statement denouncing the anti-Palestinian sentiment they alleged had been allowed to "run rampant" on campus, stating that Palestinian students had been "profoundly marginalized through censorship and threats."[28]

In November of 2021, Palestine Legal filed a complaint with Washington, D.C.'s Office for Human Rights against George Washington University, alleging that the university had discriminated against Palestinians in its offering of trauma services.[29][30]

Examples

Opponents of anti-Palestinianism sometimes allege that it is as serious a moral failing as antisemitism, but believe that anti-Palestinianism goes unrecognized or underrecognized within Western societies.[31]

After fashion retailer Zara condemned anti-Palestinian comments made by one of its senior designers in June 2021, the East Jerusalem born and raised model Qaher Harhash said the fashion industry should stand up against anti-Palestinian sentiment:[32]

"We usually see brands standing against anti-Semitism, but it's also time we see brands standing against anti-Palestinianism."[33]

In 2015, Spanish BDS activists accused the Jewish-American rapper Matisyahu of being anti-Palestinian and temporarily succeeded in having his appearance at the Rototom Sunsplash festival cancelled.[34][35]

Digital anti-Palestinianism

The censorship of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices on the internet, particularly on social media, has been referred to as "digital apartheid"[36] or "digital occupation".[37]

Facebook has been accused of anti-Palestinian bias by digital rights activists.[38] Other websites accused of anti-Palestinian bias include Zoom, YouTube, Twitter, and PayPal.[39]

See also

Notes
  1. '"we are united in opposing all forms of racism, including anti-Palestinianism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia; we condemn anti-Palestinian, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and other racist violence;".'(CUNY 2021)
  2. 'For much of the 20th century, mainstream American and Israeli public discourse did not even tolerate the word “Palestinian.” In The Question of Palestine, published in 1979, Edward Said observed that, “merely to mention the Palestinians or Palestine in Israel, or to a convinced Zionist, is to name the unnameable”.' [1]
  3. The NDP passed a Palestine Resolution in 2021[17][18]

Citations
  1. Beinart 2021.
  2. Moor 2010.
  3. Abu-Laban & Bakan 2021, pp. 143–149.
  4. Moussa 2021.
  5. Maira 2016, p. 150.
  6. Rees 2021.
  7. "The "Sydney Statement on anti-Palestinianism": An Analysis". AIJAC. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  8. "Shaoquett Moselmane - Accusations of anti-Semitism should not shield Israel from criticism". November 24, 2021.
  9. "Sydney Statement on Anti-Palestinianism". Australian Muslim Times. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  10. "THE SYDNEY STATEMENT ON ANTI-PALESTINIANISM" (PDF). Arab Australian Federation. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  11. "Austrian Parliament Adopts Resolution Condemning Anti-Semitism and the BDS Movement". Embassy of Austria, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  12. "BDS movement condemns Austrian Parliament's anti-Palestinian resolution". bdsmovement.net. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  13. "Palestinian boycott movement slams Austrian parliament anti-BDS motion". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  14. "BDS Movement Slams Austria's Anti-Palestinian Resolution". International Middle East Media Center. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  15. "Palestine resolution narrowly stopped from hitting NDP convention floor". Ricochet.
  16. "It is long past time to confront anti-Palestinianism in NDP - Yves Engler". yvesengler.com. May 15, 2018.
  17. April 10, Christo Aivalis /; Read, 2021 / 4 Min. "2021 NDP convention day two: Party takes historic step on Palestine". canadiandimension.com.
  18. "Palestine Resolution 2021". Palestine Resolution 2021.
  19. "'Anti-Palestinian racism': Appointment row at Toronto university". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  20. "France asks police to ban pro-Palestinian protest in Paris". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  21. "The Israelis challenging the German left's anti-Palestinian politics". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  22. "Germany designates BDS Israel boycott movement as anti-Semitic". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  23. "German Parliament Deems B.D.S. Movement Anti-Semitic". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  24. "Artists like me are being censored in Germany – because we support Palestinian rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  25. "Palestinians in Lebanon: 'It's like living in a prison'". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  26. "Americans Still Favor Israel While Warming to Palestinians". Gallup. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  27. "A NYC mosque was vandalized with anti-Palestinian graffiti". CNN. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  28. "US campuses become a growing front in Israeli-Palestinian conflict". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  29. "Complaint alleges University discriminated against Palestinian students". The GW Hatchet. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  30. "George Washington University Employees Offered Support to Palestinian Students. Now They Say They're Paying the Price". Jewish Currents. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  31. "Fight anti-Palestinianism as we would anti-Semitism". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  32. Abdelkader 2021.
  33. Alz & Ayoub 2021.
  34. "Matisyahu Tour News: 'One Day' Singer Cut From Spanish Concert Over Palestinian Issue". Latin Post. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  35. "Should Matisyahu play at a peace festival?". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  36. "Digital apartheid: Palestinians being silenced on social media". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  37. "How to End Israel's Digital Occupation". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  38. "Digital rights activists accuse Facebook of anti-Palestinian bias". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  39. "Rights groups to PayPal: End discrimination against Palestinians". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2021-12-07.

Sources
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