By Ben Shenton
ON a recent journey, I met someone who believed that everyone in the UK was a committed supporter of the government and the “socialism” of Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner. The assumption was that Labour had universal backing as it was the elected UK government. It’s a curious notion, especially considering Labour secured just 33.7% of the popular vote in the last general election.
I’ll return to this misconception later, but it speaks to a broader issue: how easily narratives are shaped, simplified and accepted.
Governments have long understood the power of language. One of the most potent tools in their arsenal is the label “terrorist”. It’s a word that shuts down debate, justifies violence and delegitimises opposition. Once someone is branded a terrorist, their humanity is erased, and any action taken against them becomes not only permissible, but righteous.
I recently listened to a play about Kenya in the 1950s, a time when the local population resisted British colonial rule and demanded their land back. The Mau Mau movement, which sought independence, was quickly labelled a terrorist organisation. This gave the British government the moral and legal cover to suppress it with brutal force. While the Mau Mau killed 32 white British settlers, the British response was staggering: up to 20,000 Kenyans were killed, including 1,090 executions by hanging, and around 1,800 civilians were murdered. Some 48,000 Kenyans were detained in camps where many died from hunger and disease.
This wasn’t a fringe policy – it was broadly supported by the British public. The narrative was simple: the Mau Mau were terrorists, and Britain was defending civilization.
In 2013, the UK government issued a formal apology and compensation to some victims. But the damage was done, and the story had already been written in the language of empire.
My early life was shadowed by the Vietnam War, another conflict framed in moral absolutes. The haunting image of children burned by napalm is etched into memory. Napalm clings to the skin, burning deep into tissue, causing excruciating, often fatal injuries. The US dropped over 5 million tons of bombs on Vietnam, making it the most heavily bombed country in history. Napalm was used, not just against combatants but against villages, forests and innocent civilians.
On 16 March 1968, US soldiers entered the village of My Lai in South Vietnam. Believing it harboured Viet Cong fighters, they launched a brutal assault on unarmed civilians. Hundreds were killed – women, children, the elderly. Victims were shot at close range, tortured, sexually assaulted and mutilated. Homes were burned, livestock slaughtered.
The massacre was covered up until whistleblowers and journalists exposed it in 1969. Governments are good at cover-ups, they always have been. Still, we are the West, we are Christian, we are democratic, and we have God on our side.
Fast forward to July 2024: the Israeli Knesset passed a resolution rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state. The vote – 68 to 9 – was supported by right-wing, far-right and centrist parties. The rationale? A Palestinian state would pose an existential threat, potentially serving as a base for terrorism. This came just after the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of the West Bank unlawful.
It is worth noting that when elected as majority party, Hamas won 44.45% of the popular vote in Gaza elections – similar to Labour’s share in the UK.
I made up the meeting with a person who thought everyone in the UK supported the Labour government simply to make a point, and on reflection, you probably thought it a preposterous notion anyway. Yet, many assume all Gazans support their government, Hamas, because the narrative wants us all to think this way. It’s easier to justify killing a terrorist than an innocent man, woman or child.
Hamas, like the Mau Mau, is labelled a terrorist organisation by many western governments, yet this label simplifies a complex reality. It ignores the conditions of occupation, the lack of sovereignty and the absence of meaningful political alternatives.
It also allows Israel to justify military actions that have killed thousands of civilians, displaced families, and destroyed infrastructure.
Hamas does not recognise an Israeli State and are terrorists. Israel does not recognise the creation of a Palestinian State but are not terrorists. By law, I cannot support terrorist organisations, so I simply have to accept that those who support the Palestine Action Group, for example, are terrorists – and their labelling as terrorists is not politically motivated and has nothing to do with closing down free speech in a democracy.
However, it is far easier for me to understand the justification for Hamas to be branded terrorists than it is to accept the Palestine Action Group is, for surely this action is conflating protest with terrorism.
I was born on 30 August 1960. That month, tensions between Israel and its neighbours simmered. The United Arab Republic – a union of Egypt and Syria – accused Israel of aggression; Israel countered with complaints of harassment. As you can see, the conflict has loomed over my entire life – and may well persist indefinitely. There are no winners.
Governments continue to label dissenters as “terrorists”, manipulate the judiciary, and suppress free speech– even when it stems from empathy and concern for humanity. The harder they push, the more the ethical minority resists. I’ve watched the innocent suffer for decades, with no accountability, and I hold little hope for change.
The term “terrorist” is not a neutral descriptor, it is a political weapon. It has been used to describe Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, and countless others who dared to challenge the status quo. It is used to silence, to criminalise, and to justify violence – and it is almost always applied selectively.
We rarely hear the term used to describe state violence – the bombing of civilians, the torture of prisoners, the suppression of dissent. When the West does it, it’s called defence, when others do it, it’s terrorism. It is amazing how easily people both accept dominant narratives without question and how the perception of moral superiority persists in Western foreign policy.
We are told we are “the good guys”, that our wars are just, that our enemies are evil. But history tells a different story. From Kenya to Vietnam to Gaza, the West has acted with brutality, often under the banner of righteousness.
I’ve lived through decades of conflict. I’ve seen governments lie, suppress and kill. I’ve seen the innocent suffer while the powerful remain untouched. And I’ve seen how language – especially the language of terrorism – is used to maintain control.
There are no winners in these conflicts. Only victims. And until we confront the narratives that justify violence, the cycle will continue.
Ben Shenton is a senior investment director. He is a former politician, Senator, who held positions such as minister, chair of Public Accounts Committee, and chair of Scrutiny. He also assists a number of local charities on an honorary basis.
