In the Jordanian royal's skewed moral equation, Hamas atrocities are discounted and Israel has no right to protect its citizens.
Could there be a better spokesperson for the craven, hypocritical refrain of “anti-Palestinian racism” than Queen Rania of Jordan?
Anti-Palestinian racism is the idea that any ‘erasure’ of the Palestinian narrative or identity is racist. According to the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, which first brought the term, denying the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), denying the right of return of Palestinians to Israel, or legitimizing violence against Palestinians, are all examples of anti-Palestinian racism. To advocate for the Israeli view in the Israeli-Palestinian narrative, to celebrate or even recognize Jewish indigeneity in Israel, to defend the IDF, could be deemed anti-Palestinian racism. That is, to not fall foul of anti-Palestinian racism, one has to reject, deny, minimize, and delegitimize the Israeli “narrative’ of the conflict.
Speaking at an economic conference in Italy, Queen Rania parrotted debunked Hamas talking points including that Israel is obstructing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza and that “over 20,000 children are estimated to be lost, detained, buried under the rubble or in mass graves” before ultimately saying: “Is the world saying that Israel’s security is more important than anyone else’s and, therefore, nothing is off-limits in its pursuit? That no level of Palestinian suffering is too high a price to pay? This devaluation of life must be called out for what it is: anti-Palestinian racism. This failure cannot stand.”
In other words: Sure, terrorists came into the homes of your innocent civilians, going from family to family, and burned them alive, raped them, beheaded them, kidnapped, tortured and executed them. But enough is enough, fellas. Surely you’ve exceeded the correct level of suffering in this conflict. Your suffering has been sufficiently taken into account now. It’s just not sporting to continue.
In other words, why should a country prize the safety of its citizens and its borders over the safety or quality of life of its neighbors? This is the ridiculous question she poses. And the even more ridiculous suggestion that the Queen makes is that giving precedence to your own citizens constitutes “racism.”
In the Queen’s skewed moral accounting, it is anti-Palestinian racism, not Hamas’s actions and the future security of the people of Israel, that is fueling the IDF’s response (which, by the accounts of numerous military experts, is an almost uniquely measured response) and the world’s tacit acceptance of that response (although whether she is right in characterizing the world as supporting or accepting Israel’s response can be loudly challenged).
Hypocrisy and double standards are foundational to the anti-Palestinian racism framework. And so it is fitting that Queen Rania of Jordan, a country that has not shown great kindness to the Palestinian plight, should amplify its message to the great and good of Europe.
Rania accuses the West of double standards in how they treat Israel in comparison to how they treat the Palestinians. Excluded from her critique is the treatment of the Palestinians by her own country, Jordan, and the rest of the Arab world.
Why ignore the Arab world’s devaluing of Palestinian suffering? Indeed, why ignore Jordan’s complicity in Palestinian suffering? After all, many of the Palestinians in Jordan, constituting a majority of the country, do not have citizenship and are kept in refugee camps, and King Abdullah has refused to take in Gazans during the current conflict. Does this not count as anti-Palestinian racism for Queen Rania? Is anti-Palestinian racism a purely Western or dare I say “Zionist” phenomenon? Or, as is more likely, is it just the latest cynical rhetorical tool used by the anti-Israel and Islamist ideologues to delegitimize Israel?
In the Queen’s English, this is a great rhetorical trick – no one wants to be called a racist. And so if defending or even simply considering Israel’s point of view in the conflict is anti-Palestinian racism, then who would risk being tarred with such a brush when the social cost is so high? The result is that what one can say about the Israel-Palestinian conflict becomes a victim to this trick. Indeed, truth itself becomes a victim to this trick. One must weigh the cost of advocacy, independent thought and speaking the truth to being labeled racist and becoming a social pariah. Unfortunately, recent history has shown how difficult it is to withstand that sort of social pressure.
The best we can do is point out the trick and reveal the double standards behind anti-Palestinian racism and the hypocrisy of Queen Rania and others pushing this noxious pablum. It is a game of words we cannot afford to lose.
About the Author
Dr. Mika Hackner is Senior Research Associate at the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.
12/09/2024 by THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
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