Moral Abdication

Western governments and elites have supported the destruction of Gaza, silencing the Palestinians and those who speak on their behalf.

Providing a record of the Gaza War's first six months, drawing on a rich range of sources, Didier Fassin examines how Palestine's history of occupation and oppression has been negated. In its place, a false vocabulary and grammar afflicts the mainstream media. Under these conditions, a call for a ceasefire or a reference to humanitarian conventions is enough to prompt the ever-ready accusation of antisemitism. Censorship and self-censorship abound. Reporters covering the conflict routinely treat the value of human life as if it were dependent on ethnicity. Dissenting voices are silenced with specious reference to the Holocaust or the supposed existential threats to Israel. Fassin analyses the geopolitical and economic stakes in the Middle East, concluding that the events following the 7th of October have shown the West devoid of the values and principles proclaimed to be foundational.
Academic, author, and physician, Didier Fassin is a recipient of the Gold Medal in Anthropology and the Nomis Distinguished Scientist Award. The author of twenty-three books, he is a member of the American Philosophical Society and a former Vice-President of Médecins Sans Frontières.