We live in an age in which the words “genocide”, “apartheid”, “colonisation” and “ethnic cleansing” are swiftly losing all meaning and, as the recently sacked adviser to the UN Alice Wairimu Nderitu has noted – after she failed to support repeated claims that Israel was guilty of such atrocities – this poses serious consequences for real victims. Too many within the literary and arts scenes of both this country, and across the West, are actively leading an assault against language, and by extension against humanity, by perpetuating the lies and false narratives that are the source of the tragic conflict in the Middle East. Moreover, they are “proud” to be doing so.
Since October 7, 2023, in a rush to be relevant and radical (condemning terror and, especially, sexual torture seems passé), a stampede of publishers, presses, cultural institutions and arts organisations have feted and platformed so-called Palestinian writers, artists and film-makers – very often with public funding. Among all the stunningly brave writers and artists from whom I keep receiving updates about “solidarity” and “unconditional liberation”, I have tried and failed to find a single one historically literate enough to understand that the ongoing conflict might be more complicated than: bad Israelis like to massacre innocent Palestinians and take their land. Bracketing, for a moment, the grotesque irony of feminist, trans and queer activist organisations signing up to th.
