Campbell: Why white Aussie lefties are critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians

Israel’s treatment of the non-citizen Arabs it has governed since 1967 has not been perfect – but do critics have any understanding of the predicament the Israelis are in, writes James Campbell.

There are plenty of injustices in the world about which one could get angry.

But though they may catch Australians’ attention for a brief period – today the Rohingya, the Tibetans the day before yesterday – most never really capture the public imagination or hold on to it in the way the rights and wrongs of Jew versus Arab in the area that between 1919 and 1948 was known as the British mandate of Palestine.

Indeed in my lifetime, aside from South Africa, the only overseas conflict in which interest has come close to Israel-Palestine were those enthusiasts for united Ireland who were prepared to excuse, and even on occasion, celebrate the butchery of the IRA. In the case of Ireland, it was because though the conflict was about many things, it was also about a division that had been central to our own history – Catholic v Protestant.

It was obvious the interest certain white Aussie lefties had about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians could be explained by unresolved, unexamined and, in some cases, unconscious problems they had with Jews.

A pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne. Picture: NCA Newswire/Nicki Connolly

Israel’s treatment of the non-citizen Arabs who it has found itself governing since 1967 has not been perfect. What marked out the Israeli critics was they never seemed to have any understanding of the horrible predicament the Israelis were in, surrounded by enemies on all sides who would snuff out the Jewish state if they were given half a chance.

They never seemed to give it any credit either for being the only country in the region that came close to subscribing to the norms of government lefties hold dear.

People walk outside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem, on which are projected pictures of the hostages abducted by Palestinian militants in the October 7 attack and are held in the Gaza Strip. Picture: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP

There was never any acknowledgment from the obsessive Western Israel haters that decisions taken, first by the Arab countries that claimed to be acting on their behalf, and later by the Palestinians themselves, had contributed to the predicament in which these people found themselves.

Which is why I had to suppress a smile on Friday when I got to the open “Letter from journalists to Australian media outlets” in which the signatories are calling on us to “provide historical context when referencing the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel”.

This conflict “did not start on October 7 and it is the media’s responsibility to ensure audiences are fully informed”.

“Important contextual references” include “the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their native lands in 1948 to make way for the state of Israel” and “the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel since 1967, including that the UN deemed Gaza an Israeli-occupied territory even after Israel’s withdrawal from the enclave in 2005”.

I would add other contextual references, not mentioned by the authors, include the refusal of the Arab states to accept the partition of the British mandate and the invasion of the territory by five of them in 1948.

Egyptian prisoners are rounded up by Israeli troops after being captured during the Six Day War in 1967. Egypt, Syria and Jordan had planned an attack but Israel pre-empted their invasion.

Israel conquered this territory in the Six Day War in which it smashed Egypt, Syria and Jordan in an attack that pre-empted their planned invasion. In other words, it would not hold this land now if its Arab neighbours had not sought to eradicate it by force. Nor would it hold the Golan Heights, which it captured in 1973 after another – failed – Arab attempt to snuff out the Jewish state.

The barrier that separates Gaza from Israel would not be there if the territory had not been used repeatedly as a base to launch attacks.

If time and again you fail to destroy your enemy by force of arms, should you really be surprised if your options keep getting smaller?

Back on the subject of expulsions, other important contextual references to keep an eye on might include the treatment of the Arab world’s Jewish communities, which as the New Statesman pointed out this week “despite having been established in antiquity” in the wake of the establishment of Isreal “were labelled Zionist agents, oppressed and expelled.”

Originally published as Campbell: Why white Aussie lefties are critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians