When gray-haired white liberals take to America's streets for "No Kings" protests, the only danger they're exposing themselves to is ridicule.
But what happens when progressive protesters head to a foreign war zone?
Last weekend, the "Global March to Gaza" found out.
Thousands came from wealthy European countries like Ireland and Luxembourg, joined by activists from the developing world as well.
They planned to get into Gaza through Egypt, evading Israel's blockade -- but it was the Egyptians who stopped the marchers.
It turns out the locals did not take kindly to strangers involving themselves in the life-or-death politics of the neighborhood.
Egyptian authorities confiscated passports and phones, arrested some of the marchers and gave them all the chilliest of receptions despite the desert heat.
Nor were the police the only ones giving the wealthy white would-be saviors of the Palestinians a hard time -- throngs of ordinary Egyptians shouted abuse and tussled with the clueless do-gooders.
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It's a basic psychological trait of the Western progressive that he (or she, or whatever the pronoun) believes both that the West is the guiltiest, most racist, most imperialistic part of the world, and that Westerners like him (or her, etc.) understand exactly what the rest of the world needs -- and are just the people to deliver it.
Western progressive morality is the most imperialist thing of all, especially when it's posing as anti-imperialist or "anti-colonial."
And when people like the Egyptians, who actually know a thing or two about suffering imperialism -- and at times perpetrating it, too -- tell Europe's or America's wannabe white messiahs they aren't welcome, how do the protesters react?
Instead of singing a merry "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" on the bus taking them away to be deported, they can be heard in a video shared on X chanting, "F--k you, Israel! F--k you, Egypt!"
For the first time in my life I would be proud to join an Egyptian mob beating up Westerners.