The flag of hypocrisy.

 Why I don't 'do' flags anymore.

Once again, we will be judged by our social media profile. Are we on the 'right' side? Do we have the flag of the oppressed posted so everyone can see how compassionate we are? At the moment, the Palestinian flag is the 'go-to flag' to cover the cracks of hypocrisy we here in the West are so keen to hide. 

Don't get me wrong, Palestinians need our support. The only hope for future peace in the region is a two-state solution, and one day, let us hope both sides will agree on it and get around the table to accomplish it. Meanwhile, thousands are dying, and protest is needed.

But let us remember there are not just two sides involved in this conflict.

For example, I have noticed that a lot of people who vehemently oppose Israel seem very quiet when it comes to Iran - and their involvement with Hamas, and also their treatment of women within Iran. We 'progressives' like to think we are always on the right side, but are we? It's not the people or issues we support that reveal our hypocrisy, but the ones we are silent about, and posting flags on our social media profiles won't change that. We can shout and scream about the role the U.S. and other allies play in the conflict, rightly so, but what about the bigger picture? 

We (progressives) seem to be stuck in some 'Cold War' nostalgia. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' logic. Iran hates Israel, so we keep quiet about the lack of democracy and human rights in Iran. Is it that simple? Maybe the enemy of my enemy is an even bigger asshole.

That is why I don't post flags on my Profile because there isn't enough room for nuance. 

To put it more comedically, while wearing clothes probably made by slave labour, using an iPhone (which in itself is a threat to all our privacy and freedoms), marching for the right to wear a headscarf while ignoring the women who die in other countries because they want the choice not to wear it, and so on and so on, because of the hypocrisy inherent in my own life I don't feel that I should be waving flags. 

Stop the war on the Palestinian people, free the hostages, stop Hamas.