Israel is displaying barbaric brutality to save Western civilization

The number of publications on Europe's colonial history has been increasing in recent years. The studies on Europe in the last century were constructed on the concepts of the Enlightenment era, and the burdens of colonial past were made invisible. Today, this may seem like a strange expression to Turkish readers, but according to Walter Mignolo, this situation stemmed from their time of colonization. There was a certain hierarchy, and generalizations like modern European thought always represented the summit. Europe had taken on the burden of civilization, trying to bring the outside of Europe to its own time. Until just a few years ago, most of us experienced the resistance of the non-European to this evaluation. Today, however, the veil over the "heinous history" is lifting, and we are witnessing the collapse of ongoing colonial domination. The fact that Europe is now beginning to be seen as a periphery is not an ordinary event, and new studies on Europe's colonial past have a significant share in this.

When Edward Said wrote his book "Orientalism," could anyone have known that the perception of Europe could be shaken so much by a Palestinian-origin intellectual? However, the reactions against him showed that the importance of this new approach was understood. This situation is still valid today. The most brutal attacks on Palestinians that history could witness have revealed the reality of Europe and its natural extension, Israel. We must see that these events open the door to a new historical perspective. Although it may not have fully emerged in Turkish publications, the existence of Israel and the brutality against Palestinians are seen as a continuation of Europe's colonial past. This was an unexpected development. Especially in the foreign press, globally influential newspapers and magazines are addressing Israel's brutal attacks on Palestinians as a continuation of European colonialism. They do not view Israel's brutal attacks as a religious war or explain them with the sacred texts of Jewish history. Israel is clearly considered a colony of Europe and the United States. Undoubtedly, the tremendous resistance displayed by the Palestinians is also seen as an anti-colonial struggle. This is a very important change, and its impact will be better understood over time.

It is impossible not to notice that certain segments in Turkey have fallen into meaningful silence on the issue of Palestine. This silence needs to be interpreted from different angles, but it can be said that this silence stems from not knowing the heinous history of Europe. The direct impact of the terms we use has a significant role in this. To put it more clearly, when it comes to the colonial history of Europe and the imperialist activities of Israel, the existing concepts not only fail to show the reality but also lead to ambiguity. Unfortunately, most of the terms and explanatory models we use have gained meaning based on ideologies that are based on class differences and contradictions. Therefore, it is not possible to see reality in all its clarity. This naturally prevents going beyond universal issues such as exploitation. Yet, today, especially in Palestine, the brutality of nations against other nations is rampant. The issue goes far beyond the concept of the "other."

Generalizations like European history or Europe's colonial history can also be problematic. Therefore, it is especially important to emphasize that Israel's recent brutality directly overlaps with the colonial expansion of the Anglo-Saxons. This is a very important difference. The similarity between the colonial brutality displayed by the Anglo-Saxons in the 19th century in North America, Africa, and Asia and the brutality that Israel is exhibiting in Palestine today is remarkable.

To put it bluntly, generalizations like Western civilization no longer provide a useful ideological perspective. This recent brutality should be charged to the Anglo-Saxons. If the Anglo-Saxons had not allowed Israel, Palestine would not have been drenched in blood from the beginning. This is not a brutality seen recently. Nations are also accomplices in this crime. If there were a different situation, we would have definitely seen some events in the opposite direction by now. But it didn't happen. Israeli President Isaac Herzog's statement, "This war is indeed a war to rescue Western civilization, the values of Western civilization," should have caused a reaction among the Anglo-Saxons as well.