If it looks like genocide, and it sounds like genocide, then we don’t listen to the Israeli government rebuff claims that it is not actively conducting genocide. We also don’t accept the intellectual dishonesty in Israel’s attempt to label any criticism of its government and/or its actions in Gaza as a criticism of all Jews, generally. The Israeli government, and Zionist apologists, have essentially taken a page from cancel culture and seemingly think that labeling something “antisemitic” will resolutely end all discussion, and do so in their favor.
My previous post discussed Bibi’s miscalculation over how the actions of the Israeli government, through its military, would be received by world governments. What first might have been excused as “Israel’s right to defend itself” quickly devolved into questions of proportionality, followed by condemnation and a legal complaint alleging genocide. Here is the charge:
“Specifically, Israel has committed three acts of genocide with the requisite intent: causing seriously serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent birth within the group[.]” –Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory.
As an objective matter, even if you’ve only been following the Israel-Hamas war through Western media outlets, one cannot reasonably deny the above charges. Western media, as we know, has done the outmost to remind viewers and readers that Hamas attacked first, and has auto-completed the rest of its story with Israeli propaganda: (1) Israel is only targeting Hamas fighters—30,000+ civilian deaths beg to differ; (2) Israel notifies civilian population centers when to evacuate, and when it is going to strike—disruptions in power and internet access mean that such notifications are done through the dropping of leaflets; (3) Israel will not bomb safe, or quarantine, zones—again, objectively false; and (4) Israel is doing everything possible for international aid to enter Palestine—in reality, Israel actively makes the entrance of sufficient international aid impossible, and whatever gets in is hazardous to get to.
On this last point, it’s no secret that Israel wants complete control of Palestinian land. Israel acts like it owns the place. Like every genocidal government before, it’s simply not going to let outside powers tell it how to run its country, or how to treat its people—especially its undesirables. For Bibi Netanyahu, the two-state solution is no longer a goal. It arguably never really was, but he’s finally let go of that façade for all to know where he stands. International aid will not enter without Israel’s say so, despite its obvious need. If aid enters, Israel’s “inadvertent” shooting of Palestinians trying to secure rice, or bombing of aid convoys makes clear that outside presences are clearly unwelcomed.
Governments with genocidal intent have the good sense to not tip the world off to their ongoing depravity. This is why they deny reports of inhumane treatment, such as abuse, starvation, and deliberate destruction of a population. They also had the good sense to deny access to their territories, should some no-good reporter or whistleblower wander in and leave with a moral obligation to raise alarms around the world of what they have seen. More Jews might have been saved from concentration camps had reports of such camps been believed earlier than they were.
The trouble for the Israeli government, which Bibi appears not to care about at all, is that Palestinians have smartphones with, however limited, access to the internet. The world can see in real time the conditions Palestinians find themselves in. You don’t need reporters or whistleblowers when first-hand accounts are readily available. It’s probably because of this that Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been on public relations tours essentially repeating the above four points of propaganda, in the face of ample evidence to the contrary.
What’s particularly telling to me is Israel’s attempt to rid itself of UN influence and presence. For example, Israel asserted that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) actively colluded with Hamas to bring about the October 7, 2023, attack—a serious charge that many nations simply accepted without evidence to justify their cessation of aid to the agency. Now, following preliminary reports that no such collusion took place, Israeli diplomats have come out to vow that the UNRWA won’t be allowed back into Gaza regardless of the findings of investigators into this charge. The cat has long been out of the bag and the Israeli government loses no opportunity to remind us that Palestinians will have Palestine when either they or the world takes it from Bibi’s cold, dead hands.
Bibi Netanyahu clearly has no intention of letting this happen.
