Abolitionists of today: historical social progress behind the pro-Palestine young generation

History is the tool for those willing to understand the evolution of human societies. In this regard, it is very interesting to witness the panic and alarm-ringing over the fact that the young generation is overwhelmingly supporting the Palestinian cause within the current tragedy in the Middle East. Titles like “Why is Gen Z so pro-Palestine and anti-Israel?” by The Hill, or “Young Americans are more pro-Palestinian than their elders. Why?” by The Washington Post are just some of these expressions. Unfortunately, those who panic over this are not actually willing to understand how the historical social progress proceeds.

History teaches us that there are no absolute ahistorical social truths. There are no universally right or wrong political positions. But since our Zionists are convinced that they are on the correct and morally superior side of the world, they are bound to come up with the most simplistic explanations for their diminishing support. Hence, students support Palestine because the university campuses are infested with anti-semites. The young people are pro-Palestine because they don’t know history. And also, to be sure, social media brainwashes them.

But are the supporters of Israel aware that there was no Tiktok at the moment when slavery was abolished in the 19th century? Facebook was likewise not available for the protestants in the 16th century. And the Great French Revolution took place before the arrival of Instagram. Therefore, all of such social transformations are the result of the gradually evolving social consciousness. In other words, they are caused by the constantly changing understanding of the social world. What was acceptable yesterday is no longer so today. That is why, for instance, historically there has never been such a wide-spread support for the Palestinians within the societies of the Western world. And history is full of such historical examples. Slavery in one of them. The following quote is for those who are absolutely convinced that there will never be a Palestinian state:

“No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.” (Constitution of the Confederate States of March 11, 1861)

We all know how history played out in this case. And here is a quote for those Zionists, who are starting to feel the pressure mounting:

“Yet none could deny that anti-slavery sentiment was on the increase. Southern slaveholders correctly viewed the small but growing number of abolitionists as part of an international movement steadily encircling them. Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, England in 1832. By 1838 all slaves within the British Empire, including Canada, had been given a gradual emancipation and were free.”

Of course, it is never easy to be in the front lines of a progressive movement:

“British abolitionists faced the challenge of ending slavery in a world that considered it fully normal.”

The State of Israel has also been established in a world that still considered colonialism and racial supremacy to be acceptable. But this world is now in the process of dying out. And it is mainly the geopolitical interests of global powers that still support the Israeli colonial project. In the same way as economic interests motivated the continuation of slavery in the southern states of the US:

“The next day the white town folk held a meeting and, with their clergy’s blessing, resolved to burn all mail concerning abolition.[...] The city council justified the destruction of newspapers by claiming they ‘would be likely to produce incalculable evil’ if people could read them and begin to question the slave-labor system the region was built upon.”

As a consequence, various justifications were proposed in order to continue with the institution of slavery:

“They launched into diatribes about white Southerners’ supposed constitutional right to own Black human beings, and biblical justifications for slavery.”

Yes, even biblical justifications. Sounds familiar, right? Little surprise then, that the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices in our modern times has its historical antecedents:

“Abolition in America stood at a crossroads in the mid-1830s. Reviled in the national press, denounced by demagogues, and attacked by mobs, abolitionists faced unprecedented hostility and violence coordinated by Southerners and their sympathizers in the North. [...] Those suspected of sympathizing with abolition were publicly defamed, put on trial, or expelled from their communities—even jailed, assaulted, or murdered. Torchlight parades and protest meetings erupted with demagogues decrying the propaganda from the North and vowing to prosecute those who had sent it.”

But with every passing generation the new social values are ever more entrenched. And the old norms are more firmly challenged. Carmiel Arbit has noted correctly, in relation to the pro-Palestine student protests, that "this new generation is going to go from campuses to the halls of government eventually". The old generations will die out, as is the law of nature, and will take their social consciousness to the graves with them. Slavery was once universally accepted within the so-called civilized world. It no longer is. There were times when colonialism was likewise universally accepted. Not so much anymore. And every transition period provides its own heroes. Here is a quote from an American abolitionist Lewis Tappan:

“We will persevere, come life or death, if any fall by the hand of violence, others will continue the blessed work.”

And we have heroes of our days. Just like in the pre-civil war USA there were abolitionists on both sides, today we have pro-Palestine voices everywhere. Be it Gideon Levy in Israel, Owen Jones in the UK, Francesca Albanese in Italy, or Kyle Kulinski in the USA. And those who are capable of reading history know perfectly well that such individuals will be championed by the future generations. Just as our generation reveres the abolitionists of the past.

Sources:
1. https://www.gale.com/intl/essays/orville-vernon-burton-debates-over-slavery-abolition-interpretative-historiographical-essay
2. https://time.com/6131768/republic-of-violence-abolition-literature/
3. https://historyreclaimed.co.uk/the-british-campaigns-against-slavery/
4. https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4353828-why-is-gen-z-so-pro-palestine-and-anti-israel/
5. https://www.axios.com/2024/10/05/gen-z-israel-pro-palestinian-protests
6. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_csa.asp
7. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/21/us-support-israel-palestine-poll/

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