What happens in Gaza, won't stay in Gaza

The Palestinian Resistance to Israel’s Genocide is a global event

“First we take Manhattan, then we’ll take Berlin.” That is a line from a famous Leonard Cohen song with an enigmatic message about conformism, self-betrayal, revenge, fashion, and standing in line. Despite his aura of sincerity and rebellion, Cohen failed to side with the Palestinians, as he – an intelligent, sensitive man claiming to stand with the oppressed – ought to have. Perhaps that is why I, for one, have had to think about his line recently, but, as it were, in reverse: First they took Berlin, then they took Manhattan.

I am referring, of course, to two high-profile cases of the violent suppression of attempts to organize and speak in solidarity with the victims of Israel’s ongoing genocide: the rapid shuttering of the Palestine Congress in Berlin just over a week ago (I have written elsewhere about its meaning specifically for Germany) and now the vicious clamp-down by the New York police and Columbia University against the latter’s own students, also protesting against Israel’s crimes.