By Sherzad MamSani
(EastMed SSI contributor) Head of the Israel-Kurdistan Alliance Network
(Some members of Congress (especially Republicans) have said publicly: Why do we support Palestinians led by terrorists while failing the Kurds who are fighting terrorism with us?)
(The Kurds have achieved, on the ground, a degree of autonomy and stability better than some recognized states.) Eli Lake
The Kurdish question should never be reduced to shallow comparisons with other national causes, for every nation has its own unique history and political trajectory. The Kurdish people, among the oldest in the Middle East, have carried their struggle for survival and freedom without practicing occupation, without imposing domination over the lands of others, and without making terrorism a tool to build their identity or state. Their project has never been based on destruction or the false celebration of defeats as victories, but on coexistence, the protection of minorities, and a deep commitment to universal human values.
From this perspective, the mention of the Palestinian issue in this study is not intended to compare it with the Kurdish cause or to minimize the tragedy of the Kurdish people. It is instead invoked to expose the blatant contradictions of Islamic states, communist regimes, and certain European governments and leftist movements that for more than seventy years have raised the Palestinian flag in the streets of Europe as a supposed symbol of liberation. In reality, it has been the banner of an Arab nationalist project linked to terrorism. Such support has not only been motivated by hostility toward Israel but also by a hidden animosity toward the Jewish people, disguised in false humanitarian and rights-based rhetoric.
In this sense, the Palestinian issue appears here only as a mirror reflecting the hypocrisy of the international system. The Kurdish cause remains a cause in its own right: the cause of a peaceful and oppressed people, deprived of their state despite being more deserving of independence than any other nation in the Middle East.
The United Nations and many European governments have long proclaimed their commitment to justice and the universal right of peoples to self-determination. Yet in practice, these principles are applied selectively. The so-called Palestinian cause enjoys broad international endorsement, while the Kurdish people—who meet every conceivable international standard for statehood—remain denied their most basic right. This is not merely hypocrisy; it is a historical and moral scandal.
I. Palestine – A Political Construct, Not a Historical Nation
• The idea of a Palestinian nation is largely a twentieth-century political invention. There has never been a sovereign Palestinian state in history.
• The land historically belonged to the Jewish people, the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judea, before the Arab conquests of the seventh century imposed foreign rule under the banner of Islam.
• Palestinian factions have consistently failed to build democratic institutions. Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007; the Palestinian Authority has postponed elections since 2006.
• Basic freedoms are absent: women’s rights are suppressed, minorities are marginalized, homosexuality is criminalized.
• Many Palestinian organizations are linked to terrorist groups. Leaders such as Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo have designated Hamas and Islamic Jihad as global terrorist entities. French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy has argued that the Palestinian issue is less a liberation struggle than a political weapon in the hands of authoritarian Arab regimes.
II. Kurdistan – An Ancient Nation, a Modern Ally
• The Kurds are one of the oldest peoples of the Middle East, with a continuous presence in their homeland—Kurdistan—for millennia. Their Indo-European language family roots distinguish them from the surrounding Arab world.
• Unlike the Palestinians, the Kurds constitute the world’s largest stateless nation—over 40 million people.
• Kurdistan is religiously diverse: about 60% Muslim, alongside Jewish, Christian, Yezidi, Zoroastrian, Yarsani, and Baha’i communities. This diversity has fostered a culture of coexistence unique in the region.
• Kurdish forces, especially the Peshmerga, not only defended their own people but also rescued Yezidis, Christians, and other minorities from the genocidal threat of ISIS.
• Since 1991, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has maintained relative pluralism and held elections—an experiment in democracy under constant geopolitical threat.
• Global figures have endorsed Kurdish independence:
• Joseph Biden (2006) proposed a federal plan granting de facto Kurdish independence.
• John McCain and Lindsey Graham praised the Kurds as America’s most reliable allies.
• Bernard-Henri Lévy called the Kurds the Kosovo of the Middle East.
• Israeli leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres, openly supported Kurdish statehood.
III. International Comparisons that Expose the Hypocrisy
1. Kosovo
• Seceded from Serbia with strong European backing, despite Serbian and Russian opposition.
• The justification: protecting minorities and preventing genocide.
• These arguments apply even more strongly to Kurdistan, after the Anfal campaign and the Halabja chemical massacre, yet Kurds remain denied recognition.
2. East Timor
• Gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 under UN supervision (UNTAET).
• Far smaller in population than Kurdistan, yet granted full statehood.
3. South Sudan
• Seceded in 2011 after decades of war, with broad UN and U.S. support.
• Despite chronic corruption and civil war, recognition remains intact.
• Kurds, by contrast, have demonstrated far greater stability without international recognition.
4. Western Sahara
• The UN classifies it as a non-self-governing territory and maintains a special committee for its status.
• Its population is less than one million. The Kurds, over 40 million strong, lack even a UN committee dedicated to their cause.
5. Palestine vs. Kurdistan
• Palestinians are divided (Gaza vs. West Bank), plagued by terrorism, and hostile to democratic norms—yet enjoy massive global support.
• Kurds are united ethnically, pro-democratic, and the most effective anti-terror fighters in the region—yet systematically ignored.
• Arabs already control 22 sovereign states. Kurds control none.
IV. The Islamic and Dictatorial Double Standard
• Nearly all Islamic states champion Palestinian independence, not for humanitarian reasons but because they view it as an Islamic cause.
• When it comes to Kurds—despite most Kurds being Muslim—these same states oppose independence, fearing it would weaken their authoritarian regimes (Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq).
• This is the height of hypocrisy: supporting Arab self-determination while denying Kurdish self-determination.
• Similarly, communist and leftist regimes (Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea) supported Palestine as a symbol against the West, while opposing the Kurds precisely because they are aligned with Western values.
V. Britain and France – Colonial Contradictions
• Britain and France were the architects of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, which partitioned Kurdistan among four states.
• Today, they support Palestinian independence while continuing to oppose Kurdish statehood.
• This is colonial hypocrisy at its finest: the powers that divided Kurdistan now deny its reunification.
VI. The United Nations – A Platform for Authoritarian Agendas
• The UN has passed countless resolutions supporting Palestinian self-determination (e.g., Resolution 3236 of 1974).
• Not a single comparable resolution has been issued for the Kurds.
• The Arab-Islamic bloc dominates the General Assembly, turning the UN into a political instrument rather than a guardian of justice.
• As Thomas Friedman noted, the UN has become a stage for authoritarian regimes more than a court of fairness.
By every objective measure—history, geography, democracy, coexistence, defense of minorities—the Kurds are more deserving of independence than the Palestinians. Yet the UN and European governments reward Palestinian terrorism and division while punishing Kurdish democracy and sacrifice.
It is the ultimate double standard: rewarding the Arab occupier and punishing the Kurdish victim.
And so, with bitter irony, let me close:
Perhaps it is time for Europeans to establish an Independent Islamic Palestinian Republic between Spain and France—only then will they understand the wolf in sheep’s clothing they have been nurturing for decades.
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