If the prevailing attitude in the culture war over Gaza is essentially adolescent — war is bad, so please stop — it explains why the cause is so appealing to children. Israeli and in particular Palestinian children have been subjected to the horrors of an actual war and just like those in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria or Sudan, they do not have the luxury of taking sides in a conflict happening thousands of miles away. In the West, and acutely in London, children are being exposed to the moral and political hypocrisy of their parents, while the Invasion of the Body Snatchers-effect of TikTok misinformation has doubled down on prejudice and historical conspiracies.
When it comes to schoolchildren supporting Palestine, the attack by Hamas on October 7 (let alone the complex and contested history of the region) is an inconvenience best avoided, lest it obstruct moral certainty about the oppressors and the oppressed. Allyship with terrorists and theocrats is quickly glossed over. Embattled Jewish children too are being conditioned to harden their hearts to the suffering of others. There is a distinction between the emerging political awareness of a child and their politicisation, and what we are witnessing is the latter. The problem isn’t supporting Palestine or Israel, it is doing so without question or thought.
