Let’s peel back the propaganda and get to the bones of the matter.
"Canada backing statehood for Palestine makes it ‘very hard’ to negotiate U.S. trade deal."
Now stop right there. Lock in.
We’re being told, conditioned really, that our economic future depends not on productivity, not on justice, not on fairness, but on our loyalty to empire. That to even recognize the sovereignty and suffering of an oppressed people is to jeopardize our trade relations with the United States. That’s not diplomacy. That’s extortion.
And we’re supposed to swallow that without blinking.
We're told we live in the land of liberty. Free speech. Free enterprise. Free choice. But in this context, freedom means obedience. It means bending to the interests of those who control capital flows and military power. It means calibrating our moral compass to suit Washington’s foreign policy. And it sure as hell doesn’t mean standing with the dispossessed, because that would make Wall Street nervous.
Freedom? Let me ask you: What kind of freedom demands you look away from apartheid? What kind of democracy tells you that your economic well-being hinges on the continued suffering of another people?
We are bathed in what I call the rituals of democracy, the voting, the debates, the flag-waving pageantry, but beneath the spectacle is the iron logic of imperialism. And it doesn't just crush Palestinians. It trains us to internalize that cruelty. To rationalize it. To defend it, even. We become not just complicit, but invested in domination, because we’re told that our comforts depend on it.
But let’s be clear: the problem isn’t recognizing Palestine. The problem is a system that makes that recognition an economic threat. That’s not a bug. That’s the blueprint.
So when you hear that a Palestinian flag in a Canadian diplomat’s hand might cost us a few basis points on a trade agreement, know what you’re really hearing: that our economy is wired to empire, and our morality is held hostage by markets.
And still they have the nerve to call that freedom.
Andrew Zajac is a healthcare professional, diatonic harmonica customizer, committed opponent of privilege, and hopelessly foulmouthed advocate for meaningful change.