The diversity and equity sector’s selective silence on Palestine betrays everything it claims to stand for

As someone who has spent my career working in the social impact sector, where my peers regularly voice their commitment to advancing diversity and inclusivity, I’ve spent the past 12 months feeling perplexed.

Years of diversity and equity trainings, workshops, conferences and webinars seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Even as Palestinians face mass extermination and displacement, and Gaza has become a “graveyard for thousands of children,” according to one UNICEF representative, many of my peers have chosen neutrality.

A new analysis by Brown University’s Costs of War project estimates that well over 100,000 Palestinians have been killed directly or indirectly. At least 902 families have been completely wiped out in Gaza, a brutal illustration of the systemic violence inflicted upon Palestinians. Thousands others have been forcibly detained, and many of them have been tortured and raped in prison. Only 20% of Gaza’s infrastructure remains — for now. 

The atrocities committed against Palestinians over the past year are undeniable. If even a fraction of these crimes were committed against a Western country, the international community would immediately call for action. Yet a year later, the global response remains rooted in censorship, racism, dehumanization, and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry.

Disturbingly, that attitude is also pervasive among self-proclaimed champions of diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. Those who advocate for this work — known by acronyms such as DEIJ, DEI and similar variations — have largely remained silent in the face of this violence. Many who claim to protect marginalized communities have instead opted for neutrality. 

Worse still, much of the DEIJ sector has selectively mourned Israeli lives and supported Jewish community members, while throwing Arab and Muslim students, employees and communities under the bus.

Many who claim to protect marginalized communities have instead opted for neutrality. 

This is a profound betrayal of the values they claim to uphold. Their refusal to denounce the atrocities against Palestinians is a glaring contradiction, revealing that their commitment to justice is selective.

Perhaps even more disheartening is the continued support enjoyed by so-called progressive political leaders — from American Vice President and White House heir apparent Kamala Harris to the U.K.’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer — despite their clear complicity in these crimes. 

False progressivism 

The Biden-Harris administration’s policies and 2024 election campaign are hailed as a superior alternative to a return to the Trump era, primarily because Harris represents a combination of liberal values, diverse representation and feminist success. But when you prioritize these values over confronting imperial policies that funnel billions into funding genocidal wars against people of color, you betray the very communities you claim to support through your DEIJ initiatives.

The Biden-Harris administration has refused to give voice to Palestinian American concerns and has promoted the suppression of pro-Palestinian protests and student movements. Worse, it has sent $23 billion in aid and military support to Israel since October 2023 and shows no sign of abating. Even as Harris is being celebrated as a feminist icon and positive representation of South Asian and Black success, the administration consistently continues to veto resolutions calling for ceasefires and threatens the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice for investigating Israeli war crimes.

The U.K. government, too, has reaffirmed its support for Israel, refusing to ban arms sales to the country even in the face of clear and mounting evidence of war crimes. The U.K.’s complicity is undeniable, yet the diversity, equity and social enterprise sector continues to celebrate a new government that upholds the same imperialist and capitalist values as its predecessor, often engaging with it rather than using their platforms to hold it accountable.

Power dynamics matter

There can be no true equity, inclusion or justice if it is only reserved for agendas that serve only Western interests. Human rights and international law are meaningless if they are only applied to certain groups, while others are subjected to systemic violence and oppression. Those who remain silent today must reevaluate their understanding of morality and justice. The continued betrayal of marginalized communities must not go unnoticed or unchallenged.

As Seattle-based nonprofit leader Vu Le reminds us, the principles of DEIJ demand the following:

1. We must have an analysis of the power dynamic.
2. We must use the active voice when calling out injustice.
3. We must not “both-sides” inequity and injustice.
4. We must use precise terms and concepts and not euphemisms.
5. We must call for justice, not simply a “negative peace.”
6. We must not water down terms and concepts.
7. We don’t pit one form of violence and oppression against another.
8. We must not impose conditions when calling for justice.
9. We do not condemn entire communities based on the actions of individuals or groups of individuals.
10. We must center justice over civility.

While the Palestinian struggle is often framed as a complex issue rooted in competing narratives, the reality of the situation before Oct. 7, 2023, paints a different picture. The origins of today’s violence can be traced back to 1917 when Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This event is seen by many as the beginning of the Nakba, or the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948.

For over 100 years, Palestinians have faced displacement, ethnic cleansing, occupation and injustice. Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté once said, “In order to make this dream [Israel] a reality, we had to visit a nightmare on the local population.” What we are witnessing today is merely the continuation of this century-old catastrophe.

The continued oppression of Palestinians is a stark reminder that for many, the values of equity, inclusion and justice only apply when they align with personal or political agendas.

Colonial governments and policies around the world are annihilating the global majority — killing Arabs and Africans around the world in the tens of thousands, surpassing the numbers killed during events like Oct. 7, 2023 and Sept. 11, 2001. Their goalposts change every day. Israel has expanded its war beyond Gaza and is now bombing the West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, massacring innocent civilians. Yet somehow, these two events are the only ones considered worthy of recognition by the diversity and equity sector — the only ones named as acts of terror — while the atrocities affecting Arab and Muslim people barely receive a mention in Western media, let alone condemnation or appropriate representation. Even Israeli news outlets and media commentators have been more willing to call out the brutality, the disturbing illogic, the clear double standards at play.

“There is an element of torture and dehumanization it in for all of us,” Arab Israeli writer Alon Mizrahi has noted. “All of us who are not sociopaths, that is.”

Colonialism is alive and well, embedded in the policies and practices of global powers. The continued oppression of Palestinians is a stark reminder that for many, the values of equity, inclusion and justice only apply when they align with personal or political agendas.

Jewish history is replete with inspiring examples of resistance against oppression. Yet the Israeli government, its allies and the diversity and inclusion sector have failed to extend this recognition to other groups fighting for survival and justice. The collective punishment inflicted on Palestinians and other marginalized populations that recognize and call out this injustice highlights the profound hypocrisy of a world that claims to champion diversity and equity.