Israel, when criticised in any capacity, has many defences. The European guilt of the Holocaust committed by Nazi Germany contributes to it, and Israel knows this to the point where they are able to deflect almost anything with claims of anti-Semitism; this has worked for many years. In fact, people are quick to forget that Germany has not been the only one that held enormous mistrust against Jews, and the mistrust of Jews predates World War II by a long way. In England, Jews were banned from performing physical work such as blacksmithing, tailoring, milling, et cetera, and were limited to work only with lending money, perceived to be their best and only skill. France had similar limitations as to what Jews were able to do or own, such as property. Historically, this has been because of the Christian belief in the blood curse, referring to the Jews accepting liability for Jesus’ crucifixion, where Matthew 27:24–25 reads:
Τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν (His blood be on us and on our children!)
This verse, throughout Christendom, has often been the historical excuse for anti-Semitism and persecution — spare for the Nazi regime. The motive behind the Nazi persecutions lay more behind the conspiracy that Austrian media, controlled by Jews, encouraged the mixing of the Germanic race with other races while Jews did not do the same, and thus the perceived need for a competitor Germanic race. Dating at least back to the Roman Era with the famous story of the three lost Legions under Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (known as the Varian Disaster), Germans had always expressed a pride in their people and territory. It was this provocative Austrian media, on top of the crippling position under which Germany had been forced under the Treaty of Versailles, that Nazi Germany was born.
However, at the risk of sounding heartless, Israel needs to stop mentioning the Holocaust in order to move forward with the rest of the world. Yes, it was an inhumane tragedy. Germany, out of guilt, has long banned Mein Kampf for fear of a resurgence of Nazism (though restricting books has never worked and will never work — a curious enough individual can easily source this book without trace). Any criticism levelled against Israel always, to Israelites, seems to be a reflection of anti-Semitism and some sort of criticism of the entire Jewish race rather than the state itself. The irony is that many Jews disapprove of the State of Israel.
Another irony about Israel is its existence in the first place, theologically speaking. While Jews believe that they are returning to the Promised Land for God’s Chosen People, this is in direct contradiction with prophesies that they would not see their Promised Land until the arrival of the Messiah.
The uncomfortable truth that everyone is willing to face is that Israel, with the lack of theological justification for owning the land, affords increased rights for immigrant Jews across the world coming to Israel where such rights are not offered to non-Jews. Can you imagine what NATO, or the UN, or any other international organisation would say if Germany tried to do this? Perhaps that alone says it all. Germany did try to do this with the Aryan race, affording Aryans greater privileges than everyone else in Germany, but what seems to be erased from history is that Hitler did not do this for fun; it was to mimic what the Jews themselves have been doing for millennia and to set up a competitor race. This was seen as racist, and rightfully so.
Israel is taking revenge for the way that the world has treated Jews for thousands of years, from Pharaoh (see Exodus) to Nebuchadnezzar II (see the Book of Daniel) right through to Hitler. It inflicts upon its neighbours and co-habitants what their neighbours and co-habitants once inflicted on them. However, unjustly, the Arabs have never committed atrocities against the Jews and have always lived among them as fellow People of the Book, worshipping the same God and following similar modes of devotion.
Now, the reason Israel is able to exist is because the USA is, in short, a puppet to Israel. Whatever Israel wants, whether it be munitions or money or infrastructure, the USA will go to great lengths to ensure this. The USA frequently vetoes any movement to sanction Israel over their disproportionate use of force, their consistent militarism against a piece of land with much worse infrastructure than itself. Just pay a visit to Israel’s official Twitter page to see their immoral, dehumanising stance towards Gaza, where you may read tweets filled with rocket emoji, followed shortly by:
“Just to give you all some perspective, these are the total amount of rockets shot at Israeli civilians [by Hamas]. Each one of these rockets is meant to kill.” (17th May 2021)
This wilfully ignores that Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank are under siege and face daily shake-downs of their homes in the middle of the night, where innocent families live, “making their presence known”. Again, imagine this happening somewhere in Europe. They would not be able to get away with it, though the argument of anti-Semitism is apparently so strong that it justifies disturbance and atrocities against Arabs, which (people forget) are often Christians too. Gaza is a territory where they are given only 4 hours of electricity every day, most of their water is not potable. These resources are controlled by Israel and the deprivation of these resources are known. Israel recently also bombed a Doctors Without Borders clinic; most people are able to identify the destruction of hospitals and medical camps as war crimes.
Frankly, if I were a native of Gaza and had seen my family die due to indiscriminate missile launches (which Gaza is very unequipped to counter), I would want to see justice in my own land. What kind of individual in that situation is able to stand by and see their nation and families destroyed by a technologically superior entity? Where would their dignity be, especially considering that, for many of them, this is the land of their ancestors too? Israel does not have unique claim over this land. What’s more is that, politically, this non-unique claim is in writing, yet Israelis violate Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (among others — have a read through and see if you can identify them) by denying those in the West Bank the basic dignity of walking through certain streets which are supposedly restricted to Jews only. Often, this goes to extremes where residents are expected to exit their homes through windows or over fences to get to streets which are not restricted as such. The humiliation is plain to see.
It is clear that activism and awareness will not do anything in the way of justice. For years, Muslims have been very careful to avoid purchasing any goods or services from Israel, most famously dates. But we all must take this a step further if we are to notice any change in the behaviour of Israel. As I mentioned earlier, Israel could not exist without the $3bn of annual support from the USA. Thus, as best as we can, we must avoid purchasing both American and Israeli goods to put pressure on both states. We should use other banks, not American or Israeli banks, and withdraw all of our capital from these in as short a span of time as possible — perform a run on the banks, as they say. We must take the power away from Israel and the hand that feeds it until they notice.
This is not anti-Semitism. While anti-fascism is a term attributed to the group Antifa (who, honestly, target non-fascist nations), Israel is a fascist state which, consistently, grants increased rights to and special treatment for Jews. What’s worse is that Benjamin Netanyahu has answers for all this fascistic behaviour, defending the siege, persecution of the residents of Gaza, and gross militarism behind a veil of self-righteous propaganda. Fascism is a term often thrown around quite loosely, particularly in this era, although I do not use it lightly.
Sadly, I do not believe that Netanyahu will be taken to The Hague and tried as a war criminal for his actions, blatant militarism, and shameless propaganda, although perhaps he will be posthumously acknowledged as such. If he were the leader of a European nation, he would never have come this far. For those of you who say that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, maybe so. But think for a moment — wouldn’t you be angry that your innocent family is being killed every day and every day could well be your last? Would you not want to act against a people who shamelessly and illegally violate treaties, trespass on your land, enter your homes without permission, demolish your housing, and build new developments over land which is rightfully yours? If Hamas is the only body which represents the dissatisfaction of the people about their situation, their existence and perseverance should not come as a surprise.
