Esa's Notebook

Pro-Gaza demonstrations against Israel’s military action have intensified in many European countries.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is enormous, and hostilities in the region should cease as soon as possible. However, protesters have unilaterally condemned Israel’s military action and are demonstrating for the rights of Gazans. The protesters never say anything about Hamas’ military action against Israel or Hamas’ attempt to wipe Israel off the map.  Or Iran, or Hezbollah. In their rhetoric, these entities do not exist., but there are only Israel and its ‘repressive policy’.

In that sense, the rhetoric sounds as one-sided as, say, the pro-Che Guevara demonstrators, as Bill Maher highlighted well in his video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltQQKL8HRWg). In that rhetoric, there was no room for criticism of Marxism or Stalinism. Not then, nor in left-wing revolutionary rhetoric later.

There is also a feature of Gaza demonstrations, which has been repeated in several demonstrations originating from students that have started abruptly. The mayor of New York City commented on the riot at Columbia University in early May, saying out loud (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt4-PX-d6ac) what many have suspected, or perhaps even knew: outside agitators have joined the protesting students. Provocateurs who are not originally the protesters in question, but outsiders whose sole aim is to foment chaos.

Inciting chaos is their way of increasing instability in society. Students unconsciously act as a tool for this influencer.

Many protest movements have been and are fertile platforms for outside influence: climate activism, radical feminist protests, political demonstrations against various governments, etc. Influencers want to infiltrate them and turn the movement in the direction of destabilising society.

Who those influencers are is unclear. Are they political extremists? Or even foreign states? Hard to say. What is clear, however, is that hardly any major protest movements since the 60s have been free from the infiltration of these influencers. They are security risks for Western societies.