Pankaj Mishra was born in India in 1969, resides in London and since 2014 he has been a member of the Royal Society of British Literature. He is essayist and novelist and has become a reference voice over the region from which he proceeds. Therefore, his book The world after Gaza (Gutenberg Galaxy, 2025) seeks to offer a different vision of both the genocide that Israel is carrying out in the strip since 2023 and the historical conflict in Palestine.
The author has spoken with eldiaria.es in Madrid, where he has participated in The Ideas Festivaland has defended the need to go beyond the historical paradigms of the West and the Middle East. “We are living a global story” in which also the perspectives of India or China can contribute something. Because what is at stake, in his opinion, is the future of all societies in the world.
We have never seen so many countries that claim to be defenders of democracy and human rights voluntarily participating with enthusiasm in an act of mass extermination
He affirms in his book that Gaza is not comparable to any of the disasters of recent years, including pandemic. Because?
This is the first time we are witnessing a genocide. Much of the population of the world, with only one smartphone, can access the most horrible images that human beings have ever seen. You can witness daily the destruction of an entire people. You can witness scenes, heartbreaking images, which destroy the soul and that have never been so accessible and visible before.
The other big difference is that we have never seen so many countries that claim to be defenders of democracy and human rights and dignity participating voluntarily and with enthusiasm in an act of mass extermination. Either Germany, the United States or the United Kingdom, all provide military and diplomatic support to Israel, much after it became evident that Israel is committing genocide.
There are other aspects, such as the complicity of the media in Europe and America, which hide evidence and justify Israeli crimes. Again, we had never seen a case of collective corruption like this. Gaza represents a deep break in the history of the modern world. Many expected the world to have reached a certain level of stability and political decency after all crimes of the first half of the twentieth century. We have returned to a state of barbarism.
Gaza represents a deep break in the history of the modern world
What do you think that unconditional support by Western democracies is based?
It is a combination of many different elements that are at stake and that give rise to this solid support for Israel. There is military investment in Israel as an advanced position of Western interests in the region and as a strength of Western power in the region. There is a business investment in Israel, for example of Sicon Valley, which is increasingly involved. Technological billionaires are deeply committed to Israel and are also crushing those who oppose Israeli genocide. And then there is emotional investment in Israel by many powerful American Jews who now define their identity through their affiliation to Israel.
Do you think racism is also a component behind the support of the United States and Europe to Israel against the Palestinians?
I think it is evident that the Palestinians are not seen as human beings deserving of freedom and dignity by the people of Western Europe and the United States that supports Israel, because this is not something new, it is so for a long time. Denying to the Palestinians their human rights is part of a very old policy. What I say is evident: Palestinians have never been seen as equal human beings.
There is always certain type of racial hierarchy when it is thought that the United States has a great mission towards humanity, which has much to teach the people of Asia and Africa; When it is assumed that the American Blanco has reached a certain degree of civilization and that others should feel forced to imitate it.
The Palestinians are not seen as human beings deserving of freedom and dignity by the people of Western Europe and the USA
We began to see some changes, although lower, in the position of western countries and, specifically, The European Union. What are you due to?
I think it is because public opinion has become strongly against Israel. In many cases, even in the United States, Israel has gone from sympathy to sympathy for the Palestinians. This is a drastic change. I think that even the most corrupt politicians, even the most aligned with Israel, such as (US president) Donald Trump or (British prime minister) Keir Starmer, have to respond to public opinion, which is now overwhelmingly against Israel.
These political leaders are so linked to powerful Zionist pressure groups and corporate groups – which are also deeply linked to Israel – that they cannot afford to express what public opinion thinks about Gaza. They would destroy their own races if they did.
I think the important thing is that countries adopt an individual position, such as Spain. Regardless of what they say or do from Brussels, the Spanish government will continue with its own embargo policies, sanctions or boycott; I think it is a great step that presses other governments to react. I celebrate the most forceful position that the Spanish government has adopted because it is not only doing the democratic by reflecting what people think, but they are also helping people from other countries to press their governments more since they feel obliged to reflect (the feeling of) their public opinion.
So, do you think citizens can make governments change posture and act?
That is the only way for these corrupt people to accounts and respond to those who are supposed to represent.
We must take into account the affinity with Israel, especially of the extreme right that now dominates these societies (Western). Spain is a country where the government is adopting a firm position against the extreme right, but it is not the case in other countries where center -left or center -right governments try to seem more extremist and that makes them more Proisraelíes. They begin to act more as the extreme right and adopt a policy of support for Israeli genocide, instead of saying that this is the great moral problem of our times.
Those who support it are evil, they are deeply immoral people who should not be entrusted with any political position, because what is happening today in Gaza could try to repeat it at home.
There are governments that act more as the extreme right and adopt a policy of support for Israeli genocide, instead of saying that this is the great moral problem of our times
You point out in your book the existence of an alliance between the extreme right and Israel, although that extreme right has an anti -Jewish history …
I believe that the extreme right finds more and more in Israel an example of a powerful hyper masculine state that, without regrets or empathy, completely crushes its enemies, using all means: violence, lies, propaganda, any falsehood to achieve its purposes.
Everyone feels very inspired by Israel, either (Santiago) Abascal in Spain, (Viktor) orbán in Hungary or Trump in the US. For them, Israel is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when power is pursued and, for this, you can use any means, even a genocide … you can do all that and succeed, so they believe they should learn from Israel. There is a deep ideological affinity with that country. Not to mention that Israel represents an ethnic-racial supremacy that defends the extreme right: it is the idea of 'we against them' and they are the ones who need to be expelled, to be eradicated. And also, perhaps, Israel is the last hope of white supremacism.
Israel is the last colonial state after decolonization of the last century …
After that decolonization, Israel is expanding in the West Bank and Gaza, is stealing Syrian and Lebanese territory. That is why Donald Trump also feels encouraged to say: 'Are we going to seize Canada? Are we going to take over Greenland? ' Then, Israel is essentially a source of inspiration for ethnic and religious fans, racists and white supremacists worldwide.
Israel is a source of inspiration for ethnic and religious fans, racists and white supremacists worldwide
What can the global south contribute to the analysis of what happens in Gaza and a possible solution?
I believe that the experience or position of the Global South should show the people of Europe and the US that the days when the white man could master the rest of the world and kill tens of thousands without any challenge have ended; The days of racial humiliation have ended and people will no longer tolerate it.
In this way, supporting a racist genocidal state in the Middle East, encouraging him to commit genocide, it is something simply intolerable for the vast majority of the population. I know that there are people who oppose in Europe, but a much greater number of people outside of Europe, outside the US, outside the West, opposes.
His book is called The world after Gaza. What will that world be like?
I think we are seeing it right now and it is a world where there are no standards. Israel bases its future on world chaos and can only go out with it if the chaos regime in which it operates becomes a universal regime, and that is what is happening with Donald Trump in power. Chaos is spreading to Europe, within Europe.
A country like Israel, who is committing genocide, has opted its future to illegality. It is impunity, not only for the Israelis, but for all who support them.
Everything that supports our societies is being destroyed before our eyes, so Gaza is important
It is a world where there will never be a trial against Israel leaders. If all international organizations, whether the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, United Nations, Human Rights Watch, International Amnesty, etc. They are reduced to nothing, they become completely dysfunctional and, perhaps, even collapse. That is what is at stake, because if these institutions are still alive, there will be accountability.
Everything that supports our societies is being destroyed before our eyes, so Gaza is important. That's why I wrote this book. It reminds us of what is at stake here: the whole future of all our societies is at stake. The society we build after World War II is over. Now we have to start over.