The silence after the ceasefire
While “ceasefire” activists once filled the streets calling for peace, their silence after the Sharm El Sheikh agreement exposes a deeper truth — this was never truly about the Palestinians. The selective outrage of the smartphone generation reveals how moral posturing replaces empathy, leaving us divided even in moments that should unite us.
Thirteen Brazilian activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla arrive in Sao Paulo Credit: Anadolu
You’d expect that the same folks who were marching for a “ceasefire” and denouncing the so-called “genocide” would now be back in the streets celebrating the peace plan agreed in Sharm El Sheikh.
In some way, they got what they asked for. It doesn’t happen often — and those of us who’ve lived a bit longer know that life isn’t necessarily fair.
But they seem unaware of the troubled nature of existence. They’re not even conscious that their silence has revealed their contradictions — in other words, this was never really about the Palestinians.
If they genuinely cared about Gaza’s population, they would be pleased to see the IDF withdrawing.
If they lost sleep over the killings in that corner of the Middle East, they would be condemning the public executions taking place now that the Israelis have stepped back.
That’s the issue: no Israel, no interest.
Bloodshed only matters when Jews can be blamed.
These activists aren’t short on selfishness either. They are the activists of the smartphone and selfie era. They may be naive, but not entirely — they know that one day they might find themselves in the job market, a terrifying place when your only skills are TikToking and moral outrage.
Some will end up at the welfare office asking for financial support. There, they may encounter members of the same communities they once claimed to defend — groups who, for years, have benefited from Europe’s generous social systems.
I’m not sure they’ll get along. They only share one thing: an enemy, the West. Beyond that, there’s little reason for celebration.
The new peace plan — Trump-style in spirit, pragmatic in tone — has upset more than a few university students who, perhaps inspired by Greta Thunberg, abandoned classrooms to save the world. It also frustrates unions that, given liberal capitalism’s relative respect for workers’ rights, must invent new causes to justify their existence. Even a few right-wing activists now find themselves idle, wondering if the Ukrainian-Russian war might offer a new stage for their indignation.
All this confirms what many of us already fear: as a species, we’re not truly looking after one another.
We should all be thrilled at the thought of hostages returning home and humanitarian aid reaching Gaza — two good reasons to smile.
And perhaps, for once, we might shift our attention to our own private affairs.
Because, truthfully, we all have a lot to sort out.
Just as it won’t happen overnight for the Middle East to breathe peace, it will take time for us to fix ourselves.
