[Salon] Palestine Is Alive in Europe




Palestine Is Alive in Europe - Opinion - Haaretz.com

Hanin MajadliOct 3, 2025 12:02 am IDT

An Israeli takes a short vacation in Europe. He is looking for a brief respite, a way to distance himself from the violent and traumatic reality in Israel with the venue's picturesque squares, delicious cheeses, green scenery and polite people. 

But then – amidst it all – he comes across a distressing sight – a Palestinian flag. Then, another one, and then a sign proclaiming, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." Finally, he encounters a giant rally for Palestine.

Oh, the horror. The vacation turns into a nightmare. These flags, these demonstrations, hidden from the Israeli eye, haunt him everywhere. He returns to Israel and uploads a worried post. It turns out that even abroad, Palestine does not give him a moment's rest.

More and more Israelis are returning from abroad with the same shocking conclusion – one that will be impossible to escape from for the foreseeable future: Historical Palestine, which was erased by force in 1948, is present everywhere outside its traditional borders. What has been erased here exists more strongly than ever there. Israelis who have been used to erasing the Palestinians from the landscape, from the language and from consciousness, are astonished to discover that the world has not done the same. 

On the streets of Europe, Latin America and even in Australia, Palestine is alive, present, colorful and tenacious.

There is a cosmic justice in all this. Since the Nakba, it has been effectively prohibited to fly the Palestinian flag on its home turf, and there is a proposal on the Knesset table to ban it by law as well. It has been erased from the history books and suppressed from the consciousness of generations. 

It is doubtful whether a single Israeli has ever seen the Palestinian flag on display in an ordinary way on the street, not just at demonstrations by Arab citizens. It is perceived as a shadow of a threat – a symbol of terrorism, horror, an enemy. Then, suddenly, outside the country, the flag itself appears before their eyes in a completely different way: beautiful, colorful, soft. A symbol of the demand for justice, humanity and solidarity. A flag that we are proud of and are not afraid to wave.

I think about the average Israeli, who has been taught there is no such thing as a Palestinian people, that all of us are "fifth column" and that Palestine is actually Jordan. How does he feel when he encounters a different reality overseas? What is it like to visit another planet, where the Israeli illusion shatters when it emerges from the consciousness of concealment?

But wait, what about the liberal Israelis, those who don't feel a need to erase the Palestinians, who are "ready to accept them" within the framework of an arrangement tailored to their Zionist standards? After all, they, too, are terrified of "from the river to the sea" and call the sign on which the slogan appears "violent." 

How impudent these Europeans are. Don't they know that liberation is only achieved by war? Haven't they heard of the two-state solution? The same solution that Israel buried and that most Israelis refuse to accept?

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest in Madrid, Spain, Thursday

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest in Madrid, Spain, ThursdayCredit: Bernat Armangue/AP 

And here the moral perplexity is exposed in all its ignominy: Israelis are shocked to their core by the widespread popular support for the Palestinians around the world, but are not shocked by the annihilation taking place before their eyes. The bodies of children under the rubble fail to awaken their conscience, but a colorful piece of cloth – a flag calling for freedom and solidarity – undermines their tranquillity. Such an order of priorities only reveals the depth of the ethical and moral failure of Israeli society.



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