Are we living in an episode of Dr Who?
The world is so strange at the moment that it seems like we might be living in an episode of Dr Who.
After the 7th October assault by Hamas, Israel did not just respond but instituted a medieval siege on Gaza. They cut off water, electricity, food and medical aid. They bombed hospitals, schools and residential buildings. They forced the population of Gaza to constantly move around, relying on text messages and maps showing alleged safe zones, to keep safe. There was no maternity care; mothers were forced to give birth with only the basic medical assistance. Some mothers had to give birth by c-section without anaesthetic. All the universities have been bombed. School has all but stopped. There has been an outbreak of polio. The Israelis bombed the vaccination event. Whole families have been wiped out and children have been left orphaned and disabled. Malnutrition is now rife. International journalists cannot enter Gaza to report on the true situation and the Palestinian journalists, who still manage to file reports, are targeted by the Israelis. At the time of writing, respected aid agencies are saying that 400,000 people in the north of Gaza are at risk of imminent death.
Respected doctors who volunteer in the hospitals have stated that the situation is catastrophic and should be regarded as a genocide. We can see this every day on our phones and television.
Our leaders, regardless of political party, on the whole don’t seem to understand that this is a problem. They go on about “Israel’s right to defend itself” as if international law and the Geneva Convention is no longer on the agenda. They argue about the precise definition of genocide, as if there is some sort of technicality that they can get away with. They think that we are too stupid, uneducated and emotional to understand the nuances of the situation. They continue to sell the perpetrators of this crime the weapons to carry them out.
The spiritual leader of our country, the Archbishop of Canterbury (neither the recently resigned nor the acting one), who does have the ability to change the narrative, doesn’t seem to have anything to say. The man who is the head of a religious church, who’s patron saint, St George, was a Palestinian, martyred in his homeland by the occupying power, does not speak out.
It feels like some sort of dreadful aliens have taken over our leaders and representatives. They look like they have taken on their bodies as body suits and are waiting for their moment to reveal themselves as our new intergalactic overlords. They are devoid of humanity, empathy and decency. They seem to be under the control of a higher, malign power.
Unfortunately, there is no blue spaceship in the shape of a police box on its way. The handsome alien Dr with his sonic screwdriver will not defeat the aliens in our government and resolve the situation. These people are for real. Starmer, Badenoch, Sunak, Lammy and their colleagues are all real humans. We elected them.
So how do we resolve this episode? Without alien help from the stars, how do we stop the madness?
What happens in an episode of Dr Who if the Dr doesn’t turn up? I suppose, as Dr Who never actually turns up in real life, we know what will happen next. Our leaders will not respond until it is too late and the damage is permanent. There doesn’t seem to be any way to change the inevitable disaster.
So how, in a democracy, can the majority change the behaviour of the elite when faced with a compliant media, law enforcement that sees objection as terrorist sympathy and a large parliamentary majority that does not expect an election until 2029?
How can there be consequences for the defiant establishment in the face of the horror of the populace?
Can we make the support of the Israeli government’s actions a socially unacceptable position to hold. This is difficult when faced with an intransigent establishment and a compliant media. Sure, we’ve all written to our MPs and probably all received the same reply. We can boycott companies that are showing support for the Israeli government and try to persuade companies not to do business with them. There are marches and protests that are ignored. It feels hopeless.
The question then becomes: why, in a representative democracy, should citizens feel hopeless in their inability to make their own government stop supporting a genocide?
If we feel we are shouting into a void, we should maybe remember that words do matter. There was an episode of Dr Who, where our hero destroyed a Prime Minister with six words: “Don’t you think she looks tired?” What six words will work this time? Some suggestions to try:
“You’re in favour of killing kids?” “Don’t you think they look heartless?” “Does this really represent your values?” “What kind of monster are you?” “You can’t say you didn’t know.”