In the discipline of International Relations, three foundational pillars define its core: Social Science, Law, and History.
The first pillar, Social Science, is the study of human behaviour—recognizing it as a complex, evolving expression of existence. It explores morality, philosophy, and collective identity, reflecting the ideals and contradictions that shape human society.
The second pillar, Law, is the artificial structure humanity devised to impose order upon the inherent chaos of existence. Without it, civilization would have no stable foundation. International law, in particular, was born from the desire to regulate the conduct of states in an increasingly interconnected world. Its formation, especially after the atrocities of World War II, marked a turning point. Though imperfect, it represents humanity’s attempt to uphold shared values through the United Nations and frameworks grounded in human rights. Without these laws, we risk regressing into lawlessness, where human life is neither protected nor valued.
The third pillar is History—our collective memory, the reference point from which we draw lessons to navigate an uncertain future. History gives context, identity, and meaning to the present. To deny history is to deny the essence of human civilization.
It is through these three lenses that we must understand and confront the atrocity unfolding in Palestine—an atrocity committed by the Israeli state against an oppressed people, with full financial and military backing from the United States.
What Israel has carried out, and continues to do, has inflicted deep and lasting damage to the global moral order which was meant to be guided by international law and justice. Its actions openly flout these laws, disregarding the voices of the international community. Under a genocidal rhetoric, Palestinians are dehumanized—not just within Gaza or the West Bank, but globally, extending even to those who stand in solidarity with them.
This contempt is worn like a badge of honour by a regime that claims to possess the “most moral army in the world,” even as children, women, and aid workers are massacred. The Israeli elites, it seems, need not bother with human rights—because they no longer see those they kill as human. The irony is bitter: that the dehumanizers themselves lack empathy, compassion, or the values that form the bedrock of any civilized society.
Turning back to Social Science—the second pillar—its role has long been to interrogate power and speak out in defence of justice. From ancient philosophies to modern political theory, this discipline has championed human dignity and questioned oppressive structures. But those who dare to speak out today—especially within academia—face severe retribution.
In the United States, institutions of higher learning are under siege. Influential lobby groups, backed by financial power, now target students and faculty who dissent from the dominant narrative. Smear campaigns, ad hominem attacks, and threats are deployed against academics who advocate for Palestinian rights. These are not the tools of intellectual engagement but of repression—used by those whose power cannot withstand scrutiny or moral inquiry.
And now, we come to History—perhaps the most insidious battleground of all. The denial of Palestinian history is an affront not only to Palestinians but to humanity itself. There is an active and deliberate effort to erase their heritage, their roots, and their claim to their own land.
One of the most persistent Zionist slogans, “a land without a people for a people without a land,” is a lie. As Dr. Chandra Muzaffar articulates, the land of Palestine was never empty. It was home to a rich tapestry of communities—Jews, Christians, and Arab Muslims—who coexisted for centuries. Under Ottoman and later British rule, Palestine existed as a recognized cultural and geographical entity.
Professor Ilan Pappé has also documented the reality of 1948: a deliberate expulsion of Palestinians to clear the way for a Jewish state. He dismantles the myth of an uninhabited land and lays bare the truth of vibrant Arab life before Israeli statehood. Similarly, Karen Armstrong’s studies on religious history affirm the deep-rooted presence of Palestinian Arabs—Muslim, Christian, and Jewish—in the Holy Land. Her work highlights the rich, multicultural fabric of Palestinian society and the inclusive traditions that once defined it, directly countering the claim that Palestine never existed.
The greatest tragedy perhaps began with Western imperialism. The Balfour Declaration and British mandate facilitated the Zionist migration to Palestine, laying the groundwork for a catastrophe that still unfolds today. The suffering of the Palestinian people is not a recent phenomenon—it is the result of decades of dispossession, violence, and betrayal.
Despite this well-documented history, denial persists. This wilful ignorance—to erase the Palestinian narrative—is a form of cultural genocide. It is an attempt to annihilate not just lives, but memory, identity, and belonging.
All of this reveals a larger truth: the ideology driving the Zionist state is incompatible with the global order built in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust. Israel now operates in total disregard for international law, aided by a U.S. administration that seems beholden to Zionist elites wielding disproportionate influence over political and economic systems. What remains in the U.S. is a hollowed-out democracy, where even free speech—enshrined in the Constitution—has been weaponized and selectively denied.
The attack on dissent, the silencing of solidarity, and the denial of history are not isolated incidents. They are coordinated acts of oppression aimed at making the Palestinian people vanish—first physically, then culturally, and finally, historically.
But history cannot be destroyed—not while there are those who continue to write, speak, and bear witness. The Zionist propaganda machine is powerful, but it cannot erase the truth. Lies may win battles, but no civilization can stand on foundations built from deceit. The Nazis tried to rewrite history with the Aryan myth. The Zionists, in erasing Palestine, attempt something similarly grotesque.
This cannot be allowed to stand.
As people of conscience, we must speak out. History is not written by victors—it is written by those who refuse to forget, who commit themselves to preserving the truth in the face of overwhelming darkness. And that duty—to remember, to resist, and to reveal—now falls to us all.
Hassanal Noor Rashid
JUST Director of Programmes
International Movement for a Just World
April 23, 2025