The months of bloody clashes in the Gaza Strip that followed the terrorist attack on Kibbutz Reim on October 7, 2023, were the occasion for unprecedented mass mobilizations in the West, with the central slogan being “Free Palestine”.
Ordinary people crowded in protest in squares and public spaces every day. University institutions were occupied by student organizations that interrupted classes as a sign of outcry against the alleged brutalities of Israeli troops. Social networks were overwhelmed by a flood of anti-Semitic posts, while even entertainment events such as theater performances and concerts were turned into a field of confrontation, with spectators and attendees raising the Palestinian flag and criticizing the supposed expansionist policy of the State of Israel.
Images, emotion and the erosion of reason
Undoubtedly, throughout the course of the clashes in Gaza, there were cases in which the intensity and ferocity of the conflicts were such that the moral advantage of self-defense of an entire nation was at stake. For that nation, dark memories suddenly awakened, comparable to those of World War II—not in terms of the magnitude of human losses, but in the memory of what it is like to be targeted simply because of Jewish origin.
The images arriving from Gaza, some real and others the product of montage, with flattened building blocks and destroyed schools, were enough to shock the global community, since every lost civilian life constitutes an irreparable blow to the “soft underbelly” of the code of values of Western civilization. The power of the image, moreover, is such that it appeals to the emotional state of the public in order to activate spontaneous reactions and achieve the necessary deindividuation, at the expense of any logical thought and critical processing.
No matter what the information is—that the Hamas terrorist network was using the Palestinian people themselves as a human shield for its well-hidden arsenal inside hospitals; no matter what the information is—that the cadres of the terrorist organization that has been ravaging Gaza for decades seem to lead a luxurious life with thick bank accounts, at the expense of the people they are supposed to represent—the image of a single starving child is enough for the global community to instantly condemn an entire people, once again placing the Star of David on them in a prominent position. This time, not on armbands and locked doors, but in public discourse, reviving mechanisms of stigmatization that modern civilization should have condemned definitively and irrevocably.
And of course, amidst all this insatiable cannibalism, the well-known “professional humanitarians” presented themselves once again as the genuine, uncontaminated and authentic (not a race, but) voice of the persecuted and the victims of Gaza.
The silence on Iran
They are the same ones who have recently been deafeningly silent in the face of the bloody repression that ordinary Iranian citizens are undergoing at the hands of the theocratic regime. A dictatorship-regime which, since 1979 and onwards, has systematically violated human rights by imprisoning, torturing and executing dissidents, oppressing female nature and generally suppressing any form of free and voluntary choice.
It is the same regime that for decades, by draining the country’s abundant wealth-producing resources, has become the main financier and supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah—organizations with clearly terrorist activities—which the Revolutionary Guards consider a key “proxy” in the “Axis of Resistance” against Israel and the U.S.
So, at the moment when Iranian citizens once again—perhaps more decisively than ever—rise up and risk their lives by taking to the streets to win their lost freedom and dignity, Western activism and “professional humanitarians” are immersed in embarrassment and conscious inaction. No mass demonstrations, no prominent convoys, no “Free Iran” slogans.
The hierarchy of victims
But what is the reason for this lack of moral outrage, even though the stakes are similar? Why should the Iranian, who for half a century has lost basic freedoms due to religious and generally authoritarian oppression, be considered inferior and less worthy of support than the Palestinian or, in the past, the Syrian and Iraqi?
Why are Iranian women who are persecuted for not wearing the headscarf “correctly” considered less women and less deserving of solidarity from the rest of this planet?
The answer lies in selective empathy, hypocritical sensitivity, dogmatism and ideological blinders. For a large part of this space, the world is simplistically—but also deeply and toxically—divided into “bad” and “good.” The West and its allies are the ones who always carry, and will continue to carry, the contaminating label of imperialist, oppressor, racist and xenophobic, while anyone who opposes them, regardless of the means they use and the ideas they espouse, automatically represents the brave “resistance.”
Thus, a theocratic regime that has filled its prisons with political dissidents, has deported hundreds of thousands of refugees and publicly killed 600 people in just 72 hours enjoys a symbolic baptism in the “pool of Siloam,” treated with tolerance simply because it is said to stand up to Israel.
When ideology dehumanizes
However, this attitude is not simply hypocritical. It is deeply demeaning to the very victims of the Revolutionary Guards who remain anonymous and forgotten—a direct insult to the human condition—because their perpetrator is not “Western.”
We have therefore reached the point where human dignity is filtered through geopolitical expediencies, a fact that undermines its very invocation when and whenever it is made by these specific centers.
If, indeed, some sincerely wish to stand on the side of the weak everywhere, they must do so horizontally, with consistency, impartiality and quixoticism. Otherwise, the message loses its momentum and symbolism.
Yes to denouncing any violations by Israel, but also a parallel outcry against the heinous crimes of Hamas. Support for the Palestinians, but without at the same time “turning a blind eye” to the terrorist organizations that “represent” them and exploit them.
And, above all, they should raise their voice in support of the Iranians and all peoples who are persecuted by obscurantist regimes, whether it is Iran’s, or the military dictatorships of Eritrea or North Korea, etc.
Silence is a position
To make a long story short, it is well known that silence in such critical moments does not constitute neutrality, but a clear position that declares active consent or passive acceptance.
And in the case of Iran, the silence of the “professional activists” highlights a structural inconsistency and a subtle contradiction between the big, beautiful words and the actions. As is usually the case, every time the honorary plaque of the “humanist” and the “rights activist,” which they made and received themselves, gives way to the creeping dogmatism of their fascist origins.
Disclaimer
This article expresses exclusively the personal views of the author and in no way reflects or expresses the official policy and administrative practices of the Greek State, the Greek Authorities or the European Asylum Service (EUAA).
English reprint of an article first published on the website www.protothema.gr on January 14, 2026.
* Marios Kaleas is General Director of the Greek Asylum Service and Vice-President of the Management Board of the European Agency for Asylum (EUAA).