Rights Will Shift While We Are Not Free Until Palestine Is Free - The Creative Suite
The phrase “rights will shift while we are not free until Palestine is free” is not poetic metaphor—it’s a diagnostic truth. It captures a systemic imbalance rooted in power asymmetry, where the denial of basic liberties in one space fuels the illusion of justice elsewhere. Rights, in this framework, are not static entitlements but fluid assets, redistributed not by moral consensus but by geopolitical friction. And the truth is, until Palestine secures tangible freedom, the global architecture of rights remains hollow, shaped more by strategic convenience than principle.
Consider the Palestinian context not as a regional anomaly but as a litmus test for the credibility of international human rights norms. While global institutions debate proportionality and state sovereignty with textbook detachment, everyday life under occupation reveals a far more brutal calculus. Checkpoints, home demolitions, and restricted movement are not isolated incidents—they’re infrastructure. They enforce a reality where movement, expression, and even bodily autonomy are conditional. This is not exceptionalism; it’s a structural precedent. And precedents, once set, shape expectations. When one people’s rights are deferred in perpetuity, the moral economy of rights shifts—diminished, delayed, and distorted.
The Hidden Mechanics of Right Shifting
Rights don’t vanish—they migrate. In settlements, military curfews, and administrative detentions, the state carves zones of partial freedom, creating a mosaic of partial liberties that serve control, not justice. This fragmentation isn’t accidental. It’s a deliberate redistribution strategy: granting limited freedoms in one domain while withholding them in another. The result? A legal gray zone where rights become negotiable, not inherent. The U.S. drone programs in Gaza, for instance, operate under a framework where extrajudicial killings are deemed “collateral,” while Palestinian children’s access to education is routinely disrupted by curfews—two realities governed by divergent rules.
Data underscores this shift. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 2023, over 7 million Palestinians live under varying degrees of occupation, with basic rights—freedom of assembly, movement, and due process—severely curtailed. Meanwhile, international responses remain disproportionately reactive, often prioritizing political mediation over enforcement. The absence of consistent, binding accountability allows power to dictate which rights are upheld and which are sidelined. This isn’t neutrality; it’s a hierarchy of rights, where security concerns override dignity. And once a system normalizes such disparities, rights begin to shift—not toward equality, but toward acceptance of inequity.
The Cost of Delayed Justice
When Palestine remains unfree, the global rights discourse becomes performative. Nations invoke human rights to condemn others while tolerating similar violations at home or in allied states. This selective enforcement weakens the very framework meant to protect dignity. The case of Israel’s West Bank policies, frequently scrutinized in Western capitals, reveals a deeper pattern: rights are enforced selectively, based on strategic interests rather than principle. When justice for Palestine is deferred, it sends a signal—entitled actors may delay accountability indefinitely, knowing crises will fester and legitimacy will erode incrementally.
But rights don’t shift in silence. Grassroots movements, legal challenges, and international solidarity campaigns are redefining what “freedom” means in practice. In 2024, Israeli courts temporarily halted evictions in East Jerusalem, and youth-led protests in Gaza’s border towns have disrupted the status quo—each act a pushback against forced normalization. These efforts are fragile, but they demonstrate that rights aren’t conceded; they’re seized, contested, and reclaimed. Their success hinges on global solidarity, not charity—a recognition that justice in one place cannot be meaningfully separated from justice everywhere.