“Propaganda [...] serves more to justify ourselves than to convince others; and the more reason we have to feel guilty, the more fervent our propaganda.”

- Eric Hoffer, 'The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements'.

COMMENT | On May 16, why did opposition MPs sign a letter meant to highlight the cause of Palestinians promising a myriad of policy initiatives that were unworkable for various reasons (refer to R Nadeswaran's excellent piece) and did so under the cover of anonymity?

Furthermore, calling for the boycott without having the gumption to carry out such policies (for oftentimes logical reasons) merely makes a mockery of the plight of the Palestinians and provides ammunition for those who claim that supporters of the cause are insincere.

All of this was done under the cover of anonymity and published in a mainstream news platform under the heading 'MP Speaks', which has been a platform for various political operatives across the political divide and serves as a direct conduit between an elected representative and the public he or she serves.

This last part is important because it means that elected representatives would be judged by their actions based on the words they claim define their agenda.

What this means is that those MPs who signed this letter would be judged on their fidelity to the Palestinian cause by how they carried out this agenda in Parliament, but more importantly how they...