The pro-Hamas, pro-Palestine, anti-Israel rallies on the streets of Canada, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East are nothing new. Ever since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, Arab politics has largely been defined by the Palestinian question. The question for the rest of us is: what drives this sentiment? Is this expression of political support driven by sympathy and affinity for Muslims in Palestine? Is this a question of human and religious rights? Or is it a decades-long attempt to change a regional geopolitical situation that Arab rulers believe is unfairly tilted towards a lone Jewish state in a sea of Arab monarchies?

‍

It is simply not the case that these demonstrations are an expression of solidarity for Muslim human and political rights because one doesn't see the instant outpouring of emotions, pain, and anger when Muslim populations across various conflict zones and under various dictatorial regimes suffer far more atrocities than the Palestinians.

‍

Take, for example, Iran. The theocratic regime in Iran has been running a reign of terror for nearly 45 years. Its record of torture and atrocities against its own people is well documented and well known.

‍

Following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was killed for not wearing a proper hijab, we did not see widespread protests across the Muslim world. The government in Turkey even rounded up protesters who dared come out. In Iran, tens of thousands were arrested, and some were sentenced to death. But the same governments encourage protests against Israel.

‍

Now, look at the case of the Assad regime in Syria. More than 350,000 people have been killed in the Syrian Civil War, largely due to atrocities committed by the Assad regime and the Islamic State group. Yet there has been near-total silence from those who are now championing the Palestinian cause.

‍

According to the Foundation for Political Innovation, as of 2021, al-Qaida had been responsible for over 14,000 deaths. The Taliban had killed 69,303 people. And since the Taliban retook Afghanistan in August 2021, it has slaughtered at least 1,000 people. Where is the outrage over the Taliban on the streets of Middle Eastern and Western cities?

‍

In Sudan, an estimated 200,000 people were killed in a mass genocide that took place between 2003 and 2005. Yet the Muslim world hardly took notice.

‍

The pattern of this selective rage shifts slightly if the U.S. is involved and reaches its peak when Israel is involved. We saw it when U.S. forces were rooting out terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, there was almost total silence when Russian President Vladimir Putin was annihilating Muslims in Chechnya.

‍

In northwestern China, the Uyghur Muslim population has been the victim of a cultural genocide perpetrated by Communist authorities. Their religious and human rights have been stripped, and many are being held in concentration camps. Yet again, the Muslim world remains silent.

‍

Perhaps this is exactly the reason much of the world is not rallying behind the Palestinian cause this time around. People can easily see through the thinly veiled hypocrisy and selective outrage.
‍

There is another interesting paradox. When Muslim regimes like Iran, Turkey, and other Persian Gulf states abuse the human rights of their citizens, almost all Muslim governments choose to side with the regime instead of the victims. But when the U.S. or Israel is involved in any conflict in the Muslim world, the same regimes take cover behind international human rights laws that they have scant regard for.
‍

The Pakistani military mastered this art of duplicity and hypocrisy. It received billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. and its allies to fight jihadis in Afghanistan, supported many of the same jihadis in their fight against NATO, turned a blind eye to terrorism perpetrated against Pakistani civilians, and stoked anger over U.S. drone strikes, leading to widespread protests.

‍

This is all about politics, not the political rights of Muslims. Israel is the only modern, democratic, and technologically advanced state in the Middle East. Compare it with the Muslim monarchies of the region, and you have a stark contrast. Support for the Palestinian cause comes from a fear that if Israel is allowed to exist in peace and security, its democratic values will eventually permeate the region.

‍

Monarchies and dictatorships dread that day.