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Volume 65, Issue 3
  • ISSN: 0043-5414
  • E-ISSN: 1875-709X

Abstract

Abstract

In this brief essay, we posit the thesis that contrary to what liberalism promised the world, genocide is enabled by liberalism by means of denialism. What we mean by denialism is the ability to minimize, deny, or distance itself from responsibility for its material and discursive harm. We argue the roots of liberal denialism are to be found in Protestant political theology and specifically in three central concepts: individualism, intentionality and privatization. These are key features of liberal ideology, institutionalized in the law, enabling the downplaying of the genocide that Israel and its allies are inflicting on Palestinians. The promise of an end to genocide is post-Shoah liberalism’s ‘non-performative performance’ (S. Ahmed), a cruel illusion which gave false hope to liberal innocence after the Shoah. This phenomenon is first demonstrated by means of the post-Shoah international legal order in relation to the genocide in Gaza. Secondly, in order to understand liberal denialism we analyse its ideological foundations and consider its roots in Protestant political theology that privileges individualism, intentionality and privatization as a form of depoliticization. Finally, by way of conclusion, we return to what has led us to write – the genocide of Palestinians – in order to unmask liberalism’s role and responsibility for it.

© Anya Topolski en Nahed Samour
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/content/journals/10.5117/WP2025.3.003.TOPO
2025-07-01
2025-12-05
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References

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/content/journals/10.5117/WP2025.3.003.TOPO
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Keyword(s): dehumanisation; Europe; racism; religion; Zionism

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