We want to live in a fair, compassionate society where we celebrate diversity and protect one another from harm. Whilst some progress has been made in that direction over the past century with regards to freedom of speech; and women’s, LGBTQ+ and BAME rights; in the last decade, things seem to have been sliding backwards again.
Among this generation’s political leadership of the democratic world, we have become saddled with disrupters and paranoid ideologues who are making grand claims and peddling conspiracy theories and victimhood wherever they can. The internet provides them with an arena in which to operate that they previously did not have.
The disrupters tend to be mainly interested in their own, personal ambitions to hold power. They weaken our democracy by pitting us against each other based on identity politics and putting out false information to convince us that we need them to be our champions.
The ideologues paint imposing pictures for us about one, simple economic theory that can create utopia, or that one great evil conspiracy is behind all the world’s problems. So, if we all band together and pick the right policy or stand up to the monster, we’ll be saved. Part of doing that seems to be cancelling and shutting down anyone who puts a foot out of line when it comes to non-compliance with the ideology. It also involves trying to force ideas and groups of people into a pre-existent binary framework on pretty much every issue, which in turn inevitably leads to racist tropes and stereotypes emerging towards those on the ‘wrong side’.
The Israel-Palestine issue has become a convenient stage for the above-mentioned political actors to put on their one-dimensional, simplistic performances due to factors in its recent history and the emotional connection that people in various societies around the world have to that region. Its symbols are being co-opted time after time, with far right, far left, both sides of the Northern Ireland conflict, both sides of the Kashmir conflict, and others all waving Palestinian and Israeli flags.
As Palestine-Israel becomes the architype for all good and evil in the world, a point is reached where neither side can allow even an inch of understanding that the other side might have a point. How can there be ‘two sides’ when it is merely colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing? How can there be ‘two sides’ when a democratic member-state of the UN is being threatened out of existence by a genocidal terrorist organisation?
The point of SNS is that the next generation of political leaders and civil society voters become equipped to do better than those in recent times. We want them to be able to recognise the disrupters and ideologues and reject their messaging in favour of an approach that is based upon listening to the needs of all the people they are supposed to be representing and finding practical solutions to meet those needs.
As the Israel-Palestine issue has become so saturated with manipulative messaging, it’s a good starting-place to turn back the tide. Empathy is one powerful tool that makes it more difficult for disrupters and ideologues to divide civil society and stands at the heart of our programme. The ability to navigate diverse narratives without feeling threatened by them, and respectfully disagree is another. Finally, empowerment in terms of confidence, hope, communication skills, and interconnectedness across borders is key for the next generation to shape a different future. This is why meeting Palestinian and Israeli activists who are working for justice and peace in their own societies is key.
Ultimately, that is the point of SNS – to play our part alongside other organisations working in this space so that the next generation are better equipped to build that fair, diverse and compassionate society than the previous one, and to ensure that the disrupters and ideologues don’t get a second act in a show of social and democratic break-down, for which we pay very expensive tickets