Rainbow Pie

I believe in justice, but I will defend my mother before justice——Albert Camus

Ultimately, before joining Volt and becoming a pan-Europeanist, an Atlanticist, a liberal democrat, an anti-communist, an anti-totalitarian/anti-authoritarian/anti-authoritarian/anti-dictatorialist, a social marketer, a civil rights progressivist, and a political worker, I was a human rights defender and a humanitarian. This means that despite my party membership, I have to insist on making independent value judgments. As a dissident exiled to Europe from communist totalitarian China, I have always been very grateful for the liberal democracies’ attention to human rights in China. I am also fully aware of Guantanamo, Prismgate, the imprisonment of Assange, and other violations of basic human rights values. However, because I live in China, I am well aware of the existence of large-scale torture and imprisonment of political and ideological prisoners and large-scale surveillance of the entire population in China, and these acts of the United States are really nothing compared to what China has done.

However, the liberal democracies’ long history of double standards towards Palestine completely destroys my faith. Liberal democracies have a long history of disproportionate tolerance and acquiescence to Israel’s violations of international law. Since Volt also follows the lead of mainstream politicians like von der Leyen in refusing to explicitly condemn Israel’s violations of international law, and since there is also a very serious toxic atmosphere in party discussions that equates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, and the administrators don’t do anything about such statements, I feel very disappointed in Volt. It reminds me of the Chinese Communist Party’s adeptness at dismissing all criticism of the Chinese government as anti-Chinese. Some people also think that if a citizen isn’t an expert in a certain field they shouldn’t comment. I see this attitude of dissent towards the government as an attack on freedom of speech and citizens’ right to monitor.

However, these days, I see more and more women party members participating in solidarity marches with Palestine on a personal basis, but still insisting on doing campaign work for Volt. I still regret that Volt cannot condemn Israel’s violations of international law in an official capacity. But these personal actions from predominantly female party members inspire me to continue to act. On the one hand, I have drafted an open letter and am collecting signatures in the hope of getting Volt to intervene in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the side of upholding international law and humanitarianism. On the other hand, I will also continue to engage on a personal basis with Palestinian human rights groups, including but not limited to Amnesty International, JVP and even the United Nations, which Israel accuses of being anti-Semitic.

I will not forget my original reason for engaging in politics and my belief in liberal democracy. That is my love for every ordinary person. It doesn’t matter whether that person is Israeli or Palestinian, whether that person is straight or queer, whether that person is a woman who wants an abortion or a partner who wants a child, whether that person is a sex worker or a criminal subject to the death penalty.