'Palestine' is a cult that hijacked every cause.
When everything becomes about Palestine, nothing is left for Jews — not safety, not dignity, not truth. The obsession with Palestinianism is not about Palestinians; it’s about Jews.
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This is a guest essay by Adam Hummel, a lawyer in Toronto.
You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
There was a time when political movements had their own lanes.
Civil rights was about civil rights. Environmentalism was about saving the planet. Queer politics was about gay marriage. Immigration debates were about borders.
But, in 2025, everything — like literally everything — has become about Palestine. Or, more accurately, about “Palestinianism,” the reigning ideology of our times. It’s the omnicause, the universal issue into which every grievance, every struggle, every imagined oppression dissolves.
And the most ludicrous part? No one ever complains it’s too much. When Israel shows up in American politics, the Tucker Carlson’s and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s of the world suddenly get worried about “foreign influence.” The Left, of course, has been screaming for decades that Israel has too much sway in Washington, D.C.
But Palestine? Never too much. Palestine can colonize every movement, every campus, every protest, and no one bats an eye. If you can say “it’s all linked to Palestine” with a straight face, congrats! You’ve just earned your revolutionary merit badge.
Remember Ferguson, Missouri? An American city with a police brutality crisis. What did that have to do with Israel? Everything, apparently. “From Ferguson to Palestine” became a slogan overnight, as if the IDF had personally trained Officer Darren Wilson. Black Lives Matter marches quickly turned into Free Palestine rallies. Queer collectives? Also Palestine. Climate activists? They’ll glue themselves to highways or jump on another misguided flotilla while chanting “From the River to the Sea!” Illegal immigration? Somehow Israel is to blame for that too.
The logic goes something like this: Israel is bad, therefore every bad thing anywhere must be linked to Israel. It’s like six degrees of Kevin Bacon, except with more keffiyehs and fewer Academy Awards.
Palestinianism is not a political cause; it’s an ideology, a dogma, a catechism. The epicentre of the omnicause. Every other movement is subordinate to it, like serfs bowing down to their feudal lord.
Why Palestine, of all places? Not because of reality. Reality is messy and inconvenient. The real reason is ideological orthodoxy, a hangover from decades of Soviet propaganda. Back when the USSR wanted to rally the “Third World” against the West, Palestine was cast as the frontline of anti-imperialist struggle. And the propaganda machine worked so well that even decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, the narrative lives on. Palestine is the wellspring of revolution, the original victim, the eternal cause.
Of course, many people hold Palestinianism sincerely, as though it’s a legitimate worldview. Many others cling to it insincerely, because it’s the perfect cudgel to bash Jews. Sorry, did I say Jews? I mean Zionists. Right? Right?
The genius of Palestinianism is that it makes everything about Palestine so that nothing can ever be about Jews. Jewish assertions of indigeneity in the land of Israel? Dismissed as “settler colonialism” or alleged “Anti-Palestinian Racism.” Jewish claims of antisemitism? Ah, that’s just a trick to silence criticism of Israel. Point out that some of the anti-Israel accusations are demonstrably false? Now you’re “silencing dissent.”
It’s the oldest trope in the book: The Jew is always a liar. The Palestinian is always a victim and always telling the truth. When Palestinians are caught lying — like recycling footage from Syria or staging photos for propaganda — it’s not condemned; it’s celebrated as “legitimate resistance” to bring awareness.
Jewish pain is fake. Palestinian pain is holy. That’s the formula.
In the world of Palestinianism, international law and human rights norms aren’t principles; they’re weapons. Lawfare against Israel has become something of an Olympic sport. Every Israeli action, no matter how justified or restrained, is scrutinised with Talmudic precision. Did an IDF soldier fire back after being ambushed? War crime. Did Israel target a Hamas command centre that was literally and purposely built under a hospital? War crime. Did Israel apologize for an accident? Aha! That’s proof of guilt!
Meanwhile, Palestinians enjoy absolute immunity. Human shields? Legitimate resistance. Rocket fire from schoolyards? Brave struggle. Suicide bombings? Desperate yet noble sacrifice. Taking out billionaire Hamas terror leadership in Qatar in a precision strike? Breach of international law!
When the U.S. Air Force landed two helicopters in Abbottabad, Pakistan, to kill Osama bin Laden, the question wasn’t, “Did the U.S. violate Pakistan’s sovereignty?” The question was, rightly, “Why was Pakistan harbouring a terror mastermind?!” Today, if you dare to notice or, God forbid, call out the double standard, you are the problem.
Israeli good-faith errors, even when remedied, are eternal proof of “true nature.” Palestinian atrocities are either justified, denied, or ignored. No other people on earth live under this Kafkaesque system. Only Jews.
The more antisemitism increases, the less seriously it is taken. Why? Because when the mob joins in, the mob sets the norm. If decision-makers, police, and politicians themselves are swimming in antisemitic waters, then antisemitism becomes background noise, like traffic.
And Palestine is the grand exception. The “Palestine exception” means that anything done in the name of Palestine is not only excused; it’s celebrated. Samidoun, a Canada-based organization openly tied to terrorist groups, is banned on paper — yet operates with impunity in practice. Meanwhile, Canada’s tax authority revoked the charitable status of Jewish National Fund Canada, the Ne’eman Foundation, and other Israel-focused fundraising nonprofits, following complaints by anti-Israel activists.
“Double standard” is the wrong phrase. There is no standard for Jews. Only humiliation. Only contempt.
At the heart of Palestinianism lies a paradox so absurd it would make George Orwell blush. The ideology insists that Jews are powerful, conniving manipulators who secretly control the world and simultaneously that Jews are illegitimate, pathetic impostors who have no right to exist. Both lies coexist, and both are wielded at will.
And so every cause, every grievance, every revolution must orbit Palestine. Feminism? Palestine. Indigenous rights? Palestine. Climate justice? Palestine. Palestine is the sun, and every other planet of protest revolves around it. The Jews? They are the black hole at the centre of the universe; everything is blamed on them, everything is sucked into their orbit, but their own voice must never escape.
If you think this is exaggerated, go to any given protest taking place in some Western city. Watch as unrelated chants for climate justice suddenly morph into “Free Palestine.” Notice how queer activists march under banners supporting a regime that would happily stone them. Observe how self-styled anti-racists scream about “settler colonialism” while ignoring millennia of Jewish presence in the land of Israel. Did you know that reproductive rights are Palestinian rights?
To quote the famous rapper Biggie, “If you don’t know, now you know!”
Palestinianism has swallowed reality whole. It’s a cult with global reach. And the truly ludicrous part is that it’s become respectable in both non-Jewish and Jewish circles. It’s the opium of the academic, the incense of the activist, the bedtime story of the radical chic. Good night moon, good night chairs, good night anti-Israel activists with blue hairs.
This is dangerous. When everything becomes about Palestine, nothing is left for Jews — not safety, not dignity, not truth. The obsession with Palestinianism is not about Palestinians; it’s about Jews. Their cause is not pro-Palestinian; it is anti-Israel and anti-Jewish. It’s about erasing Jews, vilifying them, holding them to impossible standards, and then punishing them for failing to meet those standards.
Palestinianism is not solidarity. It’s not justice. It’s a cudgel, wielded by those who know exactly what they’re doing and by those too self-righteous to admit they’ve been duped by Soviet ghost stories.
But as long as the omnicause thrives, who cares about the facts?
Our humanity yes our HUMANITY has been hacked by this mass psychosis of ‘palestinianism’
Outstanding essay, Adam Hummel! (Along with the previous comments!)