Israeli victory inverted the victim-oppressor moral frame in Western opinion

Evidence

As the magnitude of the Israeli military victory became known, opinion began to change. By demonstrating their proficiency in arms, the Israelis gained new friends in unexpected places. They also lost others. The Jew had defaulted on his stereotype as the frightened victim, to be despised and destroyed or pitied and succoured, according to the inclination of his superiors. Some found this profoundly disturbing. Many more were moved by the real change in the situ­ ation. Natural human sympathy for the underdog was transferred from the Jews to the Arabs, and was increased by reports of Arab suffering and humiliation. The Jews needed no compassion, and could be accused of making war to avert a danger which suddenly seemed absurd. As previously the threat of extermi­ nation, so now the plight of the refugees evoked pity and anger. The customary supporters of the Arab cause, freed from the taint of condoning genocide, recov­ ered their strength and their voices, and were joined by many others. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1220

Categorization

• XREF: Directly qualifies Orientalist claims about fixed victim/perpetrator scripts; ties to how Western sympathy is allocated by strength and narrative, echoing Said’s analysis of how the region is framed for Western consumption.
• SEED: Essay angle: the ‘underdog principle’ in Western moral sympathy — how military success instantly forfeits moral capital regardless of the underlying justice of the cause.