Performative Activism's Cost

Stop Pretending You Care

It says incredibly bad things about me how much I hate Lando Norris.

That’s not to say that I don’t have reason to hate him – on an F1 track he’s overrated and has an insufferable fan base, the King of Hypothetical success as I called him for TheLines earlier this year, and off the track he’s decidedly problematic (as much as I hate the term). He argued against fans found to be harassing women and girls – the whole fanbase for his aw shucks personality – being banned permanently after widespread issues two years ago. Hell, my favourite ever F1 race is when he had the lead and blew it. He’s not great. He’s also currently being caved in for posting a drink from Starbucks on Instagram, because of course we have to make this as stupid as possible.

As a social media meltdown it’s mostly uninteresting. On the eve of the Parliamentary vote on an NDP motion calling for the release of all hostages that would also recognize Palestine as a separate entity from Israel, it’s sitting with me funny. As a reminder that for some reason Starbucks – which isn’t even an official BDS target and has no actual history of supporting Israel as a corporate entity – is being boycotted it’s a reminder that so much of what passes for activism is pure insanity.

And it’s not helping anyone.

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Joe Biden has noticeably shifted his rhetoric (and, if you believe the leaks, his actions) on Israel and Palestine in recent weeks. He did so because of activists engaged in real, concrete work of showing that their votes won’t be taken advantage of. Whatever you think of the Uncommitted movement down south, they had a tangible theory of change – vote Uncommitted, scare the living shit out of Joe Biden, move him towards a more pro-Palestinian position. It seems to have worked! (If I were an American citizen, I’d have absolutely ratfucked a Haley vote in the GOP primary but if I were to have voted in a Democratic Primary I’d have absolutely voted Uncommitted.)

My issue with most of the rest of what passes for activism around Palestine is mostly just attempts at sanctimony. It’s frustrating as someone who believes what is at its core a pro-Palestinian message to see this fight become about your favourite brand of coffee or what F1 driver is or isn’t in compliance or how x or y celebrity is a hypocrite for wearing a ceasefire pin but also still watching certain streamers. The people of Gaza have been put through an unspeakable hell. Whether your blame for that fact lays solely at the feet of terrorists who claim to represent them but don’t, Bibi Netanyahu’s dangerous disproportionate response or (in my view, correctly) both to varying degrees, the civilians of Gaza are in hell. And they are owed a hell of a lot more than pious outrage about Lando Norris that you’ll ignore and forget the moment he puts it on the podium next.

The NDP’s Palestine motion isn’t much better – it’s performative politics pretending to masquerade as caring for the people of Gaza. They’re attempting to wedge the Liberals not out of principle but because they can. They know that this vote will lead to a week of Liberals in Disarray headlines as Anthony Housefather and Marco Mendicino articulate why this motion was unacceptable and plenty of others defend it as a necessary call for peace. I’d vote for the motion, because I think a Palestinian state is necessary but more importantly because we do have to acknowledge that the Israeli status quo pre-October 7^th wasn’t acceptable. It’s also worth pointing out that the talking point about “rewarding” Hamas with a Palestinian state is nonsense, unless you’d like to argue that the partition of Ireland “rewarded” those responsible for the Easter Rising.

The reason I have mostly avoided this topic on these pages is because there isn’t an easy answer, and this conflict is addictive to the kinds of people who love sweeping conclusions. There’s no easy answer to how many civilians is an acceptable collateral damage. There’s no clear answer to how many people killed have been Hamas fighters as opposed to random electricians or plumbers. Those who seek the cheap stunt of certainty in a land beset by a war as complex as this are either lying to you or lying to themselves. These lines aren’t hard and fast, drawn in some form of concrete position. They’re in shifting sand, moving at all times. But I don’t have to accept nonsense that plays politics with the lives of the vulnerable.

I’d vote for the NDP motion on Monday if I were an MP; it’s a disgrace that the NDP is wasting an Opposition Day on this political gamesmanship instead of using it to lay down any motion that might actually help anyone. If the NDP sources who are claiming that they have the votes to pass it are right – and I have no idea if they are or aren’t – then they will have achieved absolutely nothing that helps a single Gazan. What they will achieve is making Pierre Poilievre more likely to be PM by showing up their partners in the Liberal Party. I don’t have to respect game playing any more than I have to respect those showing their virtue by getting mad about Lando’s fucking coffee.

I don’t know if I have an old fashioned view of the term, but isn’t activism about achieving things? Isn’t a crucial part of activism trying to achieve better outcomes for the people you claim to care about? Because at this point it doesn’t feel like you actually care about Palestinian children if you’re playing politics with the issue. It doesn’t feel like you actually care if you’re more interested in a boycott that nobody actually involved with Palestinian solidarity or those attempting to unionize Starbucks called for. It doesn’t feel like that because you don’t. And no one has to respect that.

I’ve said this in relation to trans kids in recent times, but there’s a weird strand of absolutist behaviour that holds that they care more about this issue than those willing to compromise, but it’s bullshit. I care about trans kids so much that I’m willing to accept an imperfect government to see them protected. In the same way, I want to see imperfect political parties stay in office that can be pushed left through effective organizing and activism, instead of attempting to wound the only progressive option of government through non-binding stunts.

Palestinian children deserve more than performative activism. If you’re more focused on attacking Lando’s coffee choice or playing domestic politics, don’t claim to care about dead kids. Because you don’t. And we don’t have to pretend you do.