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On the surface it makes no sense.
Progressives have damaged their vocal cords for the past two years in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. Now, as thousands of Iranian protesters are being massacred by the butchers of Tehran, they've gone silent.
One of the sharpest memes on the Internet is a shot of an empty college campus with an ironic caption about "social justice warriors protesting the massacre of Iranians."
Why the silence?
Are the people of Iran less worthy than Palestinians?
"One would think that those who claimed that elementary human decency justified their opposition to Israel's defensive operations in Gaza after the October 7 massacre would race to voice support for the Iranian people," Noah Rothman writes on National Review Online.
Indeed, the silence makes no sense.
Or does it?
Let's hear from a leftist writer in The New Republic, Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, who has the courage to take on her own.
"Many of those on the American left are doing the Iranian people dirty," Varkiani writes. "They've either greeted the pain and suffering being meted out with total silence, or they've fallen back on familiar hobbyhorses, using Iranian pain to issue threadbare critiques of U.S. imperialism."
If we need an answer for the shameful silence, that's our best lead right there: It all depends on who the players are.
If America bombs anything or commits any violence, it's "all hands on deck" for the left against big bad imperialist America.
If Israel bombs anything or commits any violence, it's time for encampments on campuses and massive protests to "globalize the intifada."
If condemning the theocratic murderers of Tehran means helping the other team– like America or Israel– better keep our mouths shut.
And if we recognize that the killings are terrible and must assign blame, just follow the Mullahs who blame the U.S. and Israel for fomenting the riots.
In other words, forget about victims. In the progressive mindset, victims are just a cover for what really matters: Going after the bad guys of the West, and Israel and America are the ultimate bad guys.
The "pro-Palestinian" protests that continue to haunt Jews everywhere have nothing to do with the Palestinians. Just ask the Palestinians who have been living in misery in Jordan and Lebanon for decades. No one ever says a word on their behalf, because Israel is not involved. Same thing with Palestinians who are routinely executed in Gaza by Hamas. If it's not Israel, not a peep from the social justice warriors.
As the massacre of Iranians continues, these “warriors” have turned into cowardly sheep in hiding, following their herd to the next anti-Israel protest.
Imagine how Iranian protesters who are risking their lives must feel as they see demonstrations around the world about Gaza and not Iran.
Sometimes, things are so clear it's almost embarrassing, especially for anyone who values complexity.
But the truth is the truth, even when it's blindingly simple: The silence on Iran from so-called social justice warriors is a betrayal of everything that is noble about social justice.
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David Suissa is the founder and CEO of Suissa Miller Advertising, a $300 million marketing firm named "Agency of the Year" by USA Today that attracts clients like Heinz, Dole, McDonalds, Princess Cruises, Charles Schwab and Acura. Suissa's writings on advertising have been published in several publications including the Los Angeles Times and Advertising Age. He's also president of Tribe Media/Jewish Journal, where he has been writing a weekly column on the Jewish world since 2006. In 2015, he was awarded first prize for "Editorial Excellence" by the American Jewish Press Association.