A hypocritical world and the new generation of resistance

Despite the guardians of world order constantly claiming to uphold human values and international law, time and again they prove themselves to be complicit with Israel in its crimes — if not actual collaborators. We all saw the media frenzy over a mistaken identification of an Israeli detainee’s body, as if this single error — caused by the lack of required equipment — were the only injustice worth addressing. Meanwhile, in Gaza and the West Bank, daily massacres unfold amid a deafening silence and international indifference.

At the same time, Israel blatantly reneges on its commitment to release 600 Palestinian prisoners, despite guarantees from Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Where are those guarantees now? Why hasn’t the international community reacted with the same urgency it showed over a single misidentified body? The answer is simple: because the victims this time are Palestinian, and in the eyes of Western politics, their lives hold no weight.

This hypocrisy isn’t just a passing contradiction, it’s a deliberate strategy to crush Palestinian resolve and persuade them that resistance is futile. Yet, these very policies only deepen the conviction that justice will never come from the prevalent world order, and that only strength and power backed by unyielding resolve can reclaim Palestinian rights.

For decades, Palestinians have been fed empty promises of “peace talks” and a “two-state solution”, all while settlements expanded, more and more land was stolen, massacres continued unabated and Palestinian prisoners were stripped of their basic rights. As a result, a new generation is bound to see international order for what it truly is; a cover for the occupation, hence leading it to embrace resistance as the only viable path to attaining their dignity and freedom.

OPINION: Complacency and hypocrisy should not play a role in the genocidal aftermath

The world wonders how Palestinian resistance endures and why young Palestinians are willing to pay the highest price to defy occupation. However, what it neglects to see, is that their stand isn’t born from nothing, rather it is a direct response to international betrayal over generations, relentless Israeli aggression and Western hypocrisy that turns a blind eye to Gaza’s destruction but erupts in outrage over a minor Palestinian misstep.

If the world wants to understand why Palestinians refuse to place their trust in its order, it must ask itself: How can a people facing daily slaughter and oppression believe in international justice? How can they entrust their fate to a system that has always sided with their coloniser?

The occupation may succeed in keeping the world silent, but it will never silence the Palestinians. Every day that passes with this state of abject global hypocrisy, only fuels the fire of resistance, forging a generation even more determined to reclaim its rights without waiting for justice from a world that has already chosen with whom it has sided.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.