Desire for Truth

Asian Provocation

Speaking about respecting and giving space for Palestinians to speak—and not letting yt voices dominate or recreate the same oppressive structures in activist spaces—is critical. But where do we draw the line between developing an awareness of structural power dynamics and replicating the logic of scarcity? This scarcity mindset is a fictitious function designed to foster competition, jealousy, and a zero-sum attitude: for one to win, another must lose.

This fantasy is part and parcel of the ideological machinery designed to separate us. And yes, many of us are forced into a logic where we compete for funding, attention, and validation—but for who’s benefit? And here’s the kicker, or even relief: it’s not about you. It’s not about your survival or anyone’s survival. It’s about discursive truth.

The reason truth is flooding out of Palestine, or even Congo or Darfur, or even the surpassing of Deepseek and Qwen 2.5, isn’t because of our strategic brilliance, moral superiority, or tactical choices. It’s happening because the truth is not beholden by the efforts of repression. That’s why people like Candace Owens or even Tucker Carlson can suddenly speak to reality. It’s why they can say I was a Zionist. I was indoctrinated. And this is wrong.

When their voices are amplified, it’s petty—and futile—to react with resentment, as if truth operates on some limited pie model, where only certain people deserve to speak. That’s the trap of identity politics: believing the messenger matters more than the message, that truth must come wrapped in the right identity to be valid.

I learned this from Professor Norman Finkelstein. Arguments are often more compelling when they come from those speaking against their own interests—whether it’s Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, or white Jewish comrades like Finkelstein himself, who lost tenure and decades of his career because he refused to be silent.

This isn’t to compare that with the lives of the martyred—it’s not about suffering. It’s about solidarity. It’s about recognizing the value of those who risk their positions, reputations, and even their lives to speak the truth. They aren’t doing it because it benefits them—they’re doing it despite the cost.

We must not lose ourselves in the logic of the competition—a game designed to keep us narcissistically entangled in our identities as if that’s where power lies. It doesn’t. We are nothing in the tracks of this vast machinery. And that’s precisely where the power is. We don’t know the names of those who stood in front of tanks—and it doesn’t matter.

If people like Dan Bilzerian or Andrew Tate decide to speak against their own interests—so be it. Let them. Hold them accountable, yes. Critique them, absolutely. But don’t get lost in the resentment trap. Let the truth prevail.

I hope more people can listen to and follow the reality presented by people like Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, Hind Khoudary, Yousef Al-Helou, Ahmed Hijazi, Maha Hussani, Issam Adwan, Bisan Owda, Samar Abu Elouf, Motaz Azaiza, Wael Al Dahdouh, and all the people documenting on the ground. Or the works of International diasporic voices, like Mohammed El-Kurd, Muna El-Kurd, Noura Erakat or Rashid Khalidi.

But so many people, because of indoctrination, of prejudice, or simply the stress of life, are not able to see beyond the limits of their ideology; perhaps they may listen to people that they may feel an affinity with—white faces, ranging from the Australian Caitlin Johnstone, American Medea Benjamin, Irish Clare Daly, and Italian Francesca Albanese.

But suppose even Israeli or white Jewish people, and those who have family who survived the holocaust, are trying to speak on the same issues, and it still lands on deaf ears? In that case, we are revealing the intensity of the prejudice defending g******.

Of course, accountability matters. We can—and must—remain critical of people’s contradictions, hypocrisies, and harmful positions, even when they speak truths in certain moments. But that requires critical thinking, the ability to hold multiple viewpoints simultaneously, the opposite of binary thinking, not just reactionary dismissal. We must resist the lure of identity politics in all its forms—neither philia nor phobia, neither idolization nor demonization.

It’s not about who speaks. It’s about what is being spoken.

Check out this lecture series, especially “How Islam Saved Western Civilization” by Dr. Roy Casagranda. Almost everything we have been taught, no, indoctrinated, is false. Don’t just take this white professor’s word for it; go look at the number of young white people waking up from their slumber on Red Note if you don’t believe me.

How do your obsessive dismissals serve violence?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ayoto.substack.com/subscribe