Why the Overton Window has Suddenly Shifted on Israel-Palestine
There is little doubt that the Overton window on Israel-Palestine is rapidly
shifting. To understand why, MintPress spoke to academics, experts, and
rights groups familiar with the subject.
by Alan Macleod
May 24th, 2021
By Alan Macleod
WASHINGTON - The Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin once said of history
that there are decades that go by where nothing happens, and there are weeks
where entire decades happen. In the past week, it seems as if the U.S.
attitude towards Israel and Palestine has changed more than in the previous
50 years. Everybody seems to be acknowledging it, from progressive media to
pillars of the establishment like The New York Times and The Washington
Post. "The dam is cracking," wrote Abier Khatib of the Open Society
Foundation.
Objectively, the violence during Operation Protective Edge - the 2014
Israeli assault on Gaza - was far worse. Even as Israeli forces broke the
newly adopted ceasefire just hours after they signed it, storming the
Al-Aqsa Mosque again on Friday, the casualties are nothing like those of
seven years ago, when well over two thousand Palestinians were killed. Yet
in 2014, the reaction from the American political elite was one of total
support for Israel.
As Ryan Grim from The Intercept noted, at the peak of the 2014 onslaught,
Jessica Ramos, a progressive Democratic Party district leader in Queens, New
York, took to Facebook simply to post the message "Palestine <3," a
statement that elicited a storm of condemnation and near hysteria from the
political and media classes.
But seven years later, Ramos' innocuous statement is nothing to the strong
denunciations of Israel seen in the highest halls of power. Rep. Mark Pocan
(D-WI), leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, straightforwardly
labeled Israel as the "oppressor," condemning it for the "forced removal of
people in their homes," subjecting Palestinian children to military trials,
and the "dehumanization of the lives of the Palestinians by having roads and
entrances that are separate for some people which, all too often, looks like
former South Africa." This is not a both-sides issue, he concluded,
insisting that "if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have
chosen the side of the oppressor."
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), herself no radical, described Israel as an
"apartheid" state. Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN), one of the first Muslim women to
serve in Congress, denounced the violence. "The United States should not
stand idly by while crimes against humanity are being committed with our
backing," she said.
A number of other prominent Democrats even offered a structural critique of
U.S. empire, directly linking oppression abroad with oppression at home, in
the style of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he said that the United States
is "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stood up in Congress to condemn the Biden
administration's pro-Israel vetoes at the U.N. Security Council and
suggested that "we are scared to stand up to the incarceration of children
in Palestine because maybe it will force us to confront the incarceration of
children here on our border. By standing up to the injustices there, it will
prompt us to stand up to the injustices here."
"The ethnic cleansing continues now," said Michigan Congresswoman Rashida
Tlaib at a protest outside the State Department. "What they are doing to the
Palestinian people is what they continue to do to our black brothers and
sisters here; .it is all interconnected."
"I rise today in solidarity with the Palestinian people," began Rep. Cori
Bush's (D-MO) speech in Congress, a statement utterly unthinkable just a few
years ago. Bush linked the systematic state oppression of people of color in
the U.S. with that of the U.S. empire abroad. "The equipment that they used
to brutalize us [at Ferguson] is the same equipment that we send to the
Israeli military and police to terrorize Palestinians," she said.
Centrists quiet
Perhaps more significant than the full-throated solidarity for Palestine
from progressives, the New York Times suggested, was the conspicuous silence
of the establishment wing of the party. Famously pro-Israel senator Chuck
Schumer, it noted, has been "largely silent" since the assault began on May
7. The Times, generally strongly pro-Israeli government, even gave Senator
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) an article to state categorically that "Palestinian
Lives Matter."
Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, went further than most of her colleagues,
very publicly accosting Joe Biden on his trip to Michigan, forcing a
response from the president and showing the efficacy of inconveniencing
those in positions of power.
Democrats nationwide are paying close attention to the mayoral race in New
York City. Andrew Yang, who drew a great deal of his support from the left
and those who wanted to see an anti-establishment figure win, has seen his
numbers crash spectacularly after endorsing Israeli actions in Gaza this
month. "I'm standing with the people of Israel who are coming under
bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists. The people of NYC
will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel who face down
terrorism and persevere," he said. As a consequence, Yang has faced a
rebellion from his own supporters, and has been consistently heckled by New
Yorkers to the point of canceling publicity events. In March, he was polling
at 32% - the runaway favorite for mayor. Today, his support has dropped to
15% and he has fallen into third place, per findings from Polling USA.
The Taiwanese-American entrepreneur should have seen this coming. In March,
he was strongly challenged by podcast hosts Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinski -
two progressives very supportive of his candidacy - on his opposition to the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Yang dodged the question then
but had time to see the writing on the wall.
Media moves off its square
Likewise, three years ago, CNN fired its contributor Professor Marc Lamont
Hill over his speech at the United Nations, where he compared Israel to
apartheid South Africa and hoped for a "free Palestine from the river to the
sea." That phrase, critics claimed, is a Hamas dog whistle calling for the
destruction of Israel.
Yet last week MSNBC host Ali Velshi felt comfortable going on a long
monologue lambasting Israel and calling for a complete rethink of U.S.
foreign policy with respect to the Jewish state.
"The idea that it is even remotely controversial to call what Israel has
imposed on Palestinians a form of apartheid is laughable. One look at a
current map of Israel, Gaza, and the Occupied Territories conjures up only
one other example: apartheid-era South Africa," Velshi told his huge
audience, as he highlighted how Israel systematically restricts Gazans use
of electricity and free movement.
Other MSNBC contributors were equally scathing. "The latest Israel-Palestine
crisis isn't a 'real estate dispute.' It's ethnic cleansing," read one
headline.
Meanwhile, political comedian John Oliver took aim at the "both sides"
rhetoric of much of the media, noting that "there is a massive imbalance
when it comes to the two sides' weaponry and capabilities," and joking that
bombing an international press office building "sure seems like a war crime
regardless of whether you send a courtesy heads-up text."
New York Times Israel
A headline like this was once unthinkable for the Times
Astonishingly, one could even hear accurate condemnation of the Israeli
government on Fox News. Contributor Geraldo Rivera sounded almost like an
anti-war activist as he told viewers that the United States had helped
Israel turn Gaza into "one of the world's largest prison camps." "It's
outrageous that we gave Israel these hundreds of millions of dollars' worth
of weapons without insisting on a ceasefire now," he said, judging that the
people of the U.S. are "complicit in an ongoing crime against humanity," and
even praising Congresswoman Tlaib for her stance.
"The 'Unshakable' Bonds of Friendship With Israel Are Shaking" wrote senior
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who started his column by stating
"If you oppose war crimes only by your enemies, it's not clear that you
actually oppose war crimes." Kristof condemned Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's government for bringing down a "rain of destruction
that has killed scores of children, damaged 17 hospitals and clinics and
forced 72,000 people to flee their homes," and rejected the notion that
criticism of Israel was anti-Semitic. In recent days, the Times has been
full of articles about the changing attitude to Israel/Palestine, seemingly
priming readers for a sudden shift in perspective.
Opening the Overton window
A key concept in sociology and political science is the Overton window: the
range of ideas politically acceptable in mainstream life at any given time.
Ideas inside the window are considered sensible and rational while those
outside are brushed off as too radical or unthinkable. It appears that all
of a sudden the Overton window on Israel/Palestine is rapidly shifting. But
why is this? To understand better, MintPress spoke to a number of academics,
experts and rights groups familiar with the subject.
"There's no question that discourse about Israel and Palestine has shifted
significantly since our book 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy' was
published [in 2007], although U.S. policy still lags behind this shift,"
said Stephen Walt of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of
Government. When the book was published in 2007, it elicited a "furious
backlash" from Jewish groups, academics and politicians that threatened to
end Walt and his co-author John Mearshimer's careers. Former CIA director
James Woolsey condemned it as "stunningly deceptive," while the National
Director of the Anti-Defamation League wrote an entire book-length rebuttal
attempting to prove Mearshimer and Walt were anti-Semites.
Walt maintains that much of the blame for the shift must be laid at the feet
of the Israeli government itself, explaining to MintPress that:
Firstly, it became increasingly difficult to overlook the Netanyahu
government's opposition to a viable Palestinian state and its continued
efforts to expand settlements and create a 'Greater Israel.' This problem
was all-too-clear during the Obama administration, which tried very hard to
promote a two-state solution, offered Israel lots of additional support, and
got stiffed at every turn. Netanyahu's open alignment with U.S. Republicans
probably reinforced a growing split with many Democrats."
In 2015, Netanyahu accepted an invitation from the GOP to speak at a Joint
Session of Congress, where he harangued President Obama and attempted to
scuttle the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal - thus openly interfering in American
politics. His closeness to Obama successor Donald Trump only deepened this
rift. Before, support for Israel was considered a bipartisan no-brainer. But
today, senior Republican figures consistently paint the Democrats as
Palestinian sympathizers and the GOP as Israel's only true friend, breaking
that framework. Today, polls show that Republicans are overwhelmingly
pro-Israeli, but more Democrats' sympathies lie with Palestinians.
The fact that Netanyahu himself is now tweeting out videos from far-right
pseudo-university PragerU as his military offensive sputters suggests that
he is aware that maintaining bipartisan support is untenable and that his
administration has decided to throw their lot in with the GOP and hope for
the best.
Netanyahu and the Israeli government still maintain unwavering support from
the extremely large Evangelical Christian movement. Chris Hedges - an
ordained minister and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who spent years
as the New York Times' Bureau Chief in Jerusalem - explained that the root
of their support lies in right-wing prophecies about the end times. For
their fulfillment, these prophecies require Israel to be under Jewish
control and for the al-Aqsa Mosque to be destroyed. Only when this happens
will the righteous ascend to heaven and the damned (including the Jewish
people) be cast into hell. Hedges told MintPress on Thursday:
There is this bizarre alliance between the ultra right in Israel and the
Christian right [in the U.S.] even though at their core the Christian right
is deeply anti-Semitic because it does not recognize the legitimacy of
Judaism. And that political alliance has strengthened as a new generation of
American Jews no longer have the emotional ties to Israel as the older
generation has and many of them have begun to question the murderous
repression of the apartheid state."
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Globally, Israel has aligned itself with a new cadre of right-wing
authoritarian governments, such as Narendra Modi's India and Jair
Bolsonaro's Brazil. Many far-right anti-Semitic hate groups also ironically
hold the state of Israel in high regard, as they see the Jewish supremacist
state as a model for their own dreams of a white nationalist nation. For
example, Norwegian fascist terrorist Anders Brevik, whose manifesto is full
of anti-Semitic allegations about Jews, professes to "love" the idea and
implementation of Zionist Israel for precisely this reason.
For all the pinkwashing and vegan washing, it is clear Israeli society has
lurched to the right, so much so that even former Prime Minister Ehud Barak
has warned that the country has been infected with fascism. A 2016 poll
found that 48% of Jewish Israelis wanted to see the Arab population
ethnically cleansed.
MintPress also spoke to esteemed Jewish American academic Noam Chomsky,
author of the classic 1983 book "Fateful Triangle: the United States, Israel
and the Palestinians." "In the 1970s, the Israeli government made a fateful
decision to choose expansion over security," Chomsky said, explaining:
There were clear options for a political settlement on the international
border, a two-state settlement in which both Israel and a new Palestinian
state would have 'the right to exist in peace and security' within secure
and recognized borders - to quote the words of a UN Security Resolution
supported by the main Arab states, bitterly opposed by Israel, vetoed by
Washington, one of many such opportunities. It was predictable then - and
predicted - that the result would be Israel's greater resort to violence and
repression, moral degeneration, and drift to the racist right."
Israel is, therefore, playing a very dangerous game, aligning itself with
far-right regimes and embracing groups that hate Jews the most, even as it
attacks anti-racist movements like the British Labour Party under Jeremy
Cobyn.
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Jumping the shark with American Jews
The fact that it has moved steadily rightward presents serious problems for
Israel, which needs the constant diplomatic, economic and military support
of the world's sole superpower to maintain itself in its current form. As a
whole, Jewish Americans are distinctly liberal: 71% identify as Democrats.
And while 58% still feel emotionally attached to Israel, a majority of the
younger generation report no connection to the state. Today, more Jewish
Americans say the U.S. is too supportive of Israel than not supportive
enough, and more than twice as many rate Netanyahu as a poor leader than a
good one.
Professor Walt suggested that much of the reason for this internal shift has
been the tireless activism of young Jewish people themselves. "The creation
of pro-peace groups such as J Street and the courageous writings of Peter
Beinart and others have opened eyes even more. The work of Israeli groups
such as Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem was very important too, along with
international groups such as Human Rights Watch," Walt told MintPress
adding:
Generational change here in the U.S. (both within the American Jewish
community and more broadly in society) has undermined the old narratives
about Israel and focused attention on minority rights. And the old claim
that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East" rings hollow when it
treats its own Arab citizens as second-class and continues to repress the
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza."
Both B'Tselem and Human Rights Watch came out with reports this year
formally designating Israel an apartheid regime, providing many more with
the framework and structure to repeat the allegation. "It was inevitable
that Human Rights Watch would have to declare Israel an apartheid state and,
from what I hear, Amnesty International is going to be next to say it," Asa
Winstanley of the Electronic Intifada told MintPress. "It puts Israel's
backers in a difficult spot because Human Rights Watch is really part of the
establishment, so they cannot just dismiss it and it makes it impossible to
ignore. It is harder for them to say Human Rights Watch is anti-Semitic, but
they're trying it anyway," he added.
Anti-Zionist Jews
Credit | Jewish Voice for Peace
Others emphasized the work of Palestinian activists worldwide for helping
shift the Overton window. "There has been positive movement in terms of how
people in the U.S. talk about Palestine, and I think we can attribute this
change to the work Palestinians are doing on the ground in Palestine and
here in the United States," Danaka Katovich, Middle East and Peace
Collective coordinator for CODEPINK, a female-led anti war group, told
MintPress:
Still, Palestinians risk a lot when they speak out against the occupation.
They risk losing their jobs, educational opportunities, and more. It's their
bravery, determination, and stories that I think have caused the shift that
we are seeing today. However, there is still much to be done to change the
discourse."
Another difference from the days of Operation Protective Edge in 2014 is the
composition of Congress. Since 2016, a new wave of far more progressive
Democrats has been elected and challenged the party hierarchy from the left
on a number of issues, forcing many to, at least rhetorically, support
policies like a Green New Deal, Medicare for All and higher minimum wages.
Israel/Palestine is a foreign policy issue on which they have stood firm as
well. Some in this new wave, such as Ilhan Omar or Rashida Tlaib, are
Muslim, but other Democrats taking a new line towards Israel, such as Jon
Ossoff, are Jewish. Together, there are now simply too many elected
officials speaking out to effectively attack them all at once.
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"After our book was published, it became easier for people to talk about the
elephant in the room (i.e., the power of AIPAC and other groups in the
lobby). Everybody knew that what we had said was true, but now it was easier
to speak of it. What had been a taboo subject was now out in the open," Walt
concluded.
Chomsky has also noticed a difference. In the past, he said he needed police
protection to speak about Israel, lest his lectures were broken up by
demonstrations. But this has not been the case for some time. "Palestinian
solidarity is one of the biggest issues on campus," he stated in an
interview with Democracy Now! "[There has been an] enormous change."
The online battlefield
The rise of the internet and social media has played a big part in reshaping
how the public sees the conflict. Previously, virtually all images of the
Middle East Americans saw came mediated through the enormous corporate news
giants. Today, however, most people have a high quality video camera in
their pocket and the ability to share images with millions of people online.
This has helped break the grip over communication previously held by just a
few companies.
Raw images have undermined carefully crafted narrative from the Israeli
government. Walt brought up the example of the 2010 Israeli attack on the
Mavi Marmara aid ship as an example of social media "tarnishing" Israel's
image, stating that "it has become impossible to see Israel as a weak and
vulnerable David surrounded by a menacing Arab Goliath; instead, we all see
a powerful Israel using its superior military capabilities to oppress
millions of innocent people and deny them political rights."
Chomsky was of a similar opinion, that as Israeli crimes have become more
egregious they have been more difficult to suppress. "By now Israel's
internal racism has come under more scrutiny as well. With the veil of
intense propaganda being lifted slowly, crucial U.S. participation in
Israeli crimes is also coming more clearly into view. With committed
activism, that could have salutary effects," he said.
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Social media companies including Facebook have admitted to MintPress that
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Israel is uniquely preoccupied with trying to control its image online. The
government employs professional trolls to promote their country online and
defame critics. The Israeli state also has many deep connections with the
social media giants. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked boasted that she worked
closely with Facebook to censor Palestinian voices, with the Silicon Valley
corporation agreeing to take down around 95% of the content she asked them
to. Today, former Director General of the Ministry of Justice Emi Palmor
sits on Facebook's advisory council, the board ultimately responsible for
content moderation on the world's largest news and social media platform. In
her previous role in the Israeli government, Palmor directly oversaw the
systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the stripping of the
Palestinians' legal rights.
Palestinian advocates are constantly harrassed, and many have their accounts
flagged and reported spuriously. This reached a fever pitch last week, as
hundreds reported being locked out of their accounts. When asked for comment
by MintPress, Facebook insisted that it was merely a "technical bug."
MintPress CEO Mnar Muhawesh Adley was locked out of both her private and
public accounts.
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Israel certainly has not helped itself in the way it has treated foreign
journalists over the past two weeks. On May 15, Israeli airstrikes targeted
the 11-story building that housed the headquarters of both Al-Jazeera and
the Associated Press, levelling it to the ground. Rather than apologize, the
IDF insinuated that those organizations were in league with Hamas
terrorists. The IDF also roughed up veteran CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman
and his team. In total Israel has destroyed the offices of at least 23 media
outlets in the space of just a few days, according to Reporters Without
Borders. Foreign media have also been blocked from entering Gaza for weeks.
This ould yet prove to be an own goal, seeing as Israel relies upon Western
media to launder its image. But brazenly attacking your partners is simply
not a good long-term strategy, and could end up being a "big mistake," as
MSNBC wrote.
A chance like no other
With the United States changing its focus from the Middle East to China and
the Pacific, the signs are there that the taboo around criticizing the
Israeli occupation can be broken and that the Overton window is rapidly
shifting. Although Joe Biden is nothing if not a committed Zionist, he has
also proven to be willing to change his views to suit the prevailing
current. There has been no serious change yet; the U.S. government is still
supporting Israel, but there appears to be a serious rebellion both from
inside the Democratic Party and among many in the corporate media. The task
for those who support the end to the occupation is to expand the Overton
window and put radical change on the agenda. The times are a-changin'.