TEHRAN - The ongoing devastating events in the Gaza conflict have prompted numerous dedicated supporters of the Palestinian cause to reemerge, gaining renewed acknowledgment after years of advocating for truth and justice. 

Among these individuals is Michel Collon, a Belgian journalist and writer renowned for championing not just Palestinian rights but also promoting peace and dignity on a global scale.

In an exclusive interview with Collon during the 24th Iran Media Exhibition in Tehran, I inquired about the driving force behind his passionate advocacy for human rights, especially concerning the Palestinian cause.

“I was raised in a racist and pro-Israel family in Brussels. I also was pro-Israel when I was young due to my education and upbringing. But I realized at one point in time that what I was taught was right was in fact full of flaws. I realized that people in other parts of the world were not lesser than us and that we had no right to colonize other nations. That we were not giving them civilization and technology. We were rather ‘bestowing’ them with excruciating pain the vestiges of which still exist today,” Collon recalled. 

Collon directs his own website called Investig’Action which stays active thanks to donations from tens of thousands of readers around the world. He has also published several books on destructive Western policies in different countries: from Yugoslavia to Kosovo, Ukraine, and Palestine. The dedicated author has tried to expose the lies that have cost the lives of countless people. Despite all his efforts, Collon has been barred from reaching an even wider audience by Western leaders. 

“There is a big government censorship in the West. We like to pretend that we support freedom of speech but anyone who decides to offer a different narrative than what’s being fed to people gets censored. I am on the blacklist of the European TV stations, my website gets attacked now and then, and I and my colleagues get targeted by smear campaigns routinely.”

I expressed to Collon my difficulty in envisioning the immense pressure he has to face, stating that I would probably opt for a different profession to spare myself from the inevitable scrutiny and pressure. In response, the Belgian writer emphasized the hidden resilience within each individual, drawing parallels to the enduring resistance seen in Gaza against Israeli aggression. “Look at what’s happening in Gaza. People are withstanding Israeli violence and oppression with everything they have got. When it comes to defending our freedom and dignity, we sometimes go through things we never knew we could tolerate.”