Media has misled the young generation. As a result, the new generation is not aware of the real facts. If you think I am only talking about Pakistan, that’s not the case. This statement is also very famous in today’s America, where the government officials and pro-Israel analysts are promoting this. This so-called misguided thinking of the new generation in Europe, especially in America, poses a bigger problem for the Israeli army and the Zionist government than Hamas. And a clear example of this is what has been happening in the Ivy League universities of America in recent days. These are the universities which are producing future leadership of US for each and every walk of life.
The start of the new wave of protests in American universities began on April 18th from Columbia University. This university is in the state of New York, USA. Columbia University is not an ordinary university; rather, it is one of the Ivy League universities considered to be the top universities in America.
Students from Columbia University initiated protests by setting up tents in their campus. The protest that started from Columbia University spread to dozens of universities across America. Among the fifty top universities in America, including Harvard University, perhaps there is hardly any university where slogans for the freedom of Palestine are not being raised and protests are not happening.
The Israeli army and the Zionist government are concerned about these protests. To understand this, it is necessary to understand the thinking of the American elite, which is the most important element of America’s foreign policy. They believe that Israel is a fortress of interests for America and Western countries. Israel’s protection is in America’s national interest. Therefore, irrespective of America’s internal economic conditions, Israel and its army should not face any reduction in the budget provided to them. It is difficult to keep Israel’s existence intact without America’s financial, military, and diplomatic assistance to Israel.
Despite thousands of differences among its two political parties on America’s internal and external policies and ideology do not differ in the thought, concerns, ideologies, preferences, and actions on maintaining Israel’s supremacy.
This is the current situation of the world’s sole superpower, America, whose blessings and complete state support are inevitable for the existence and expansion of Israel. And this is the same America where slogans against Israel are being raised in its top universities. Muslim students are also participating in these protests, but their numbers are negligible. The majority of protesters are local Americans students, who are going to lead and manage the US after a few years. This situation is not only of America but also of Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and all European countries where protests are taking place, and the young generation there is coming forward.
The increasing opposition of Israeli aggression and the sentiments of freedom for Palestine in the youth of the world are worrying for the Israeli army and the Zionist state. They believe that social media has misled the new generation. And they are not entirely wrong. If there was no social media, how would the news of Israeli atrocities reach the world? Western youth, by watching the images and videos of innocent children, young boys and girls, elderly women, and men in that region, are understanding that Palestinians are humans just like them. They are getting information that Israel is a usurper state that did not exist 76 years ago. They are aware that the Israeli army is the real oppressor, and the Palestinians are fighting for their freedom who have been deprived of their homeland and they are the one who are real victims. Before this, the Western world thought that Israel was an oppressed state, surrounded by Arab enemies.
The provision of information through social media has created a revolution and the perceptions and theories about Israel among the new generation of the Western world are changing. So, considering the new generation as misled by the Israeli army, the Zionist state, and its Western sponsor lobbies, is not entirely wrong! They say that this generation is more unwise with broader national interests and there are only a few thousand young people who have made universities battlegrounds. They also consider this just a social media bubble and perceive that there is no solid reality to it.
But can this perception change reality? No, because the truth is now revealed. Continuing unconditional support for Israel will not be possible for Western states for too long. The path to a free Palestinian state will be smoother with the same “misguidance” created by social media in the West. This is writing on the wall.
The situation is Pakistan is also no different where power full elite believes that the youth is being misled by social media. However, I believe that this “misguidance” spread through social media is creating a new system in Pakistan and around the world. This misguidance will be termed as enlightenment in future as past history shows that whenever there was a beginning of enlightenment or awareness in any society, the powerful elite of that society first deemed it misguidance.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
