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Violent Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations Are a Feature of a Dangerous New Politics

(Tablet) Eitan Fischberger - Anarchic, pro-Palestinian rallies have continued to intensify across the U.S. since Oct. 7, marked by highly disruptive tactics. When one delves deeper into the protesters' driving ideology, it becomes clear that mass disruption is not a byproduct of their agenda, but the agenda itself. These groups' tactics have included blocking highways, vandalizing stores supposedly complicit in Israel's "genocide" in Gaza, disrupting Thanksgiving and Christmas ceremonies, defacing public monuments, and attacking the White House while screaming "Allahu akbar" and "intifada revolution." At the forefront of these demonstrations are various Islamic organizations often linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as fringe Jewish anti-Zionist groups. These groups find common ground in an ideology ostensibly influenced by works of French writer Frantz Fanon, that envisions a global revolutionary struggle and perceives their disruptive actions as a vital component of it. They believe that by obstructing crucial social services and public spaces, they effectively challenge superstructures deemed oppressive. This worldview is predicated on the notion that any inconvenience caused to innocent individuals is justified in the pursuit of societal transformation; their obstructive protest methods are a requirement of this worldview. In the protesters' eyes, "Palestine" is a stand-in for every ostensible victim class across the world fighting oppression, making any random cause and the Palestinian cause inseparable. Far from a legitimate expression of opposition, the anti-Israel protests across America have morphed into a troubling display of ideological extremism and physical violence cloaked in the guise of social justice and backed by wealthy domestic radicals and by foreign states like Qatar, the primary global sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood. Whatever one believes about the Israeli-Arab conflict, allowing violent demonstrators calling for genocide and supporting terror organizations like Hamas and the Houthis to own the streets of Western democracies sends a very dangerous message that threatens the fabric of a society built on liberal values and legitimate dissent.
2024-01-18 00:00:00
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