Before October 7, the entire world had forgotten about Palestine. Nearly a year later, it’s all anyone talks about. Israel’s brutal reaction to the Hamas attack has made the world understand what Zionist ideology truly is, burning down decades of mass manipulation. Up until that day, much of the world believed Israel was a model democracy forced to use violence against Arab barbarism. Few were aware of the Nakba of 1948 and decades of occupation passed off as legitimate defense. This was because a single narrative dominated, and anyone who dared to object faced accusations of antisemitism. Perpetrators disguised as victims. If a year ago someone had mentioned the global Jewish lobby that has even bought the White House and controls mainstream politics and media, they risked being labeled a conspiracy theorist and laughed at. In the past year, the world has witnessed Biden’s complicit inaction, the thunderous applause for Netanyahu in Congress, the biased elite press, and the now-public figures that reveal how much the lobby pays every American politician. Their reactions to the genocide are also on record.
In recent months, the political deadlock and media conformity have given way to a heated debate, and many countries have officially recognized the State of Palestine and launched cooperation programs. These are historic steps forward and clear victories for the Palestinian cause. Before October 7, the dust had settled on the UN’s resolutions, ignored for so long, and everything had been stuck in a deadlock. In the last year, more has happened within the walls of the UN than in the last thirty years. The Palestinians have even been granted a seat, their rights have been recognized, and this is only the beginning. The International Courts are examining evidence to indict Israeli leaders—scenarios unthinkable a year ago. After decades of total impunity, Zionist leaders could even be charged with crimes against humanity. This marks a potentially historic turning point with profound political implications.
Certainly, over the past year, Israel has not stopped massacring civilians in Gaza or trampling on international law, but this only strengthens the Palestinian position. A year after October 7, the Middle East has never been so united and combative. Arab countries, traditionally self-centered, have found themselves standing side by side in support of the Palestinian cause, with direct interventions in the conflict by Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen, and to a lesser extent, Syria and Iraq. The traditional hypocrisies of countries like Egypt and Jordan remain, but only at the leadership level, while their people are fully in solidarity. Before October 7, Israel was even on the verge of signing an agreement with Saudi Arabia, with Netanyahu showing maps and new spheres of influence at the UN. All of that has gone up in smoke, with Riyadh making it clear that they refuse to even speak to Israel unless it accepts the two-state solution. Chinese support for the Palestinian cause is not new, nor is it a minor detail, given the new geopolitical scenarios.
But Israel’s brutal reaction to October 7 and its warlike fury have changed the winds in the West as well. Even here, people have opened their eyes and taken to the streets, waving Palestinian flags from American campuses to European capitals. Today, political complicity and deafening silences, which had been accepted as normal for decades, are scandalous. An increasingly multi-ethnic and aware society rejects such abuses of power, demands respect for human rights for everyone, and insists that justice also be served in the Middle East to ensure such tragedies never happen again. Yes, a great victory for Palestine, but also for all of us. And the certainty that after this tragic year, nothing will be the same again.
