By, Bachar Bakour
The English author Oscar Wilde (d. 1900) wrote a renowned novel titled, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, which explores themes of beauty, morality, and the consequences of indulgence. The story follows Dorian Gray, a young man of remarkable physical beauty who becomes the subject of a portrait painted by the artist Basil Hallward. After meeting Basil’s friend, Lord Henry Wotton, a cynical aristocrat who advocates a life of hedonism and the pursuit of pleasure, Dorian wishes that he could remain forever young and beautiful while his portrait ages in his place.
Dorian’s wish mysteriously comes true, and as he descends into a life of excess, sin, and moral corruption, his appearance remains unchanged. However, his portrait becomes increasingly grotesque, reflecting the degradation of his soul and the consequences of his actions. As Dorian indulges in every vice, hurting those around him and abandoning any sense of morality, the painting reveals the toll of his corrupt life. Dorian murders Basil Hallward, who confronts him about the corruption of his character, now vividly reflected in his portrait.
Haunted by guilt and the horrific transformation of his portrait, Dorian ultimately spirals into madness. In a final attempt to rid himself of the burden of his conscience, he stabs the portrait, unknowingly killing himself. In the end, the once-beautiful Dorian is found dead and aged beyond recognition, while the portrait has reverted to its original, youthful state. The relentless aggression and daily massacres in Gaza over the past year have recalled the Wilde’s novel, which I never imagined would become a stark reality. In this story, I see Israel resembling Dorian Gray, Western nations embodying Basil Hallward, and Britain playing the role of Lord Henry Wotton. Britain’s original sin is Balfour’s infamous declaration in 1917, a statement of British support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
Since its inception in 1948, the year of the Nakba, the state of Israel has consistently received unwavering political, military, and moral support from the West, in particular the United States. Despite countless violations committed by Israel against Palestinians—from the Nakba until the Al-Aqsa Flood—Western thinkers, politicians, and organizations have continued to offer their backing and moral justifications. Western public opinion has been either in support of Israel, sympathetic to its cause, or at the very least, silent.
For decades, Israel, with the help of the West, has worked tirelessly to sanitize its image and enhance its global standing. It portrayed itself as a lamb among wolves, the sole “democratic” nation in the region, advocating peace and love. Israel frequently organized free trips for European and American tourists, using these visits to propagate the Zionist narrative, which claimed a historical right to the Promised Land, supposedly stolen by Arab and Palestinian “terrorists” and “savages.” This narrative remained unchallenged or unchecked until the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, which revealed the true nature of Israel and its allies.
After the Al-Aqsa Flood, Western governments quickly abandoned the values they had long championed, such as respect for democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression. These governments and their media outlets have shown an unquestioning allegiance to Israel, uncritically accepting Israeli propaganda filled with fabricated stories, such as claims of children being beheaded or Israeli women being slaughtered and raped. These fabrications serve to present Israel as the victim, asserting its “right to defend itself” against the “terrorist” Hamas.
For example, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously condemned Russian military violations in Ukraine, stressing the need to hold the perpetrators accountable. Yet, following the Al-Aqsa Flood, the Chancellor visited Israel, affirming Germany’s unwavering support and Israel’s right to self-defense. He even urged German security forces to crack down on any demonstrations in support of the Palestinian resistance. However, when it came to Israeli crimes against civilians, Scholz remained conspicuously silent, without uttering a word of condemnation.
This bias has prompted many politicians, thinkers, and influencers on social media to highlight this disgraceful hypocrisy. They have pointed out the stark contrast between how the United States and the European Union handled similar events, like the war in Ukraine, where they swiftly accused Russia of war crimes and demanded adherence to human rights and international law. But in the case of the Al-Aqsa Flood, they turn a blind eye to Israel’s violations of those same laws and standards.
And when student protests broke out in response to Israeli aggression in Gaza, beginning at American universities and spreading across Western nations, many were met with repression, violence, and imprisonment. In the U.S., the government and university administrations reacted with force, making arrests, issuing arbitrary dismissals, and leveling accusations such as “anti-Semitism” and support for Hamas. These protests drew participation from students of all backgrounds, ages, and ideologies. Notably, Jewish students and academics who opposed the occupation’s crimes also joined, which undermined accusations of anti-Semitism and fears of Holocaust repetition.
Hundreds of massacres, thousands of casualties—many of them women and children—the killing of the sick and premature infants, the harvesting of organs from martyrs and skinning of their bodies, mass graves, field executions, starvation, disease, and epidemics, sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners, their starvation, humiliation, and use as human shields, and more than 80,000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza.
Social media is flooded with videos of hospitals and schools being bombed, fathers retrieving the lifeless bodies of their children from under collapsed buildings, and mothers mourning over the corpses of their babies. Yet, Western governments’ response has been to provide seemingly endless military and political support to Israel, while labeling any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism.
Returning to Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Israel resembles Dorian Gray, revealing its true nature in the mirror of Gaza, where its grotesque face, vile actions, and racist agenda have been laid bare. Just as the young Dorian murdered Basil Hallward, the artist who painted his portrait, Israel has morally destroyed the Western regimes that stand behind it. Through its atrocities in Gaza, Israel has stripped away the facade of these governments, exposing their political hypocrisy, moral bankruptcy, and hollow claims of championing human rights and freedoms.***
(Dr. Bachar Bakour is Associate Professor in FIDS, AHAS KIRKHS of the IIUM.)
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