SebastianBlue
President, International Julian Alvarez Fan Club
- Joined
- 25 Jul 2009
- Messages
- 57,736
Unfortunately, the IDF—especially the growing far-right adherents within it—have been doing this sort of thing for some time. Before the new conflict broke out IDF soldiers (and state-protected settler paramilitary groups) were taking photos with confiscated possessions and even detainees after raids (some legal, some illegal) in the West Bank.
It is important to remember that for some of the soldiers (far more than any of us should be comfortable with) the Palestinians have been othered to the point of being seen as less-than-human. Some believe they should be dealt with like any “pest infestation”. This is baked in to Kahanist and extreme Zionist ideology; Palestinians are viewed as a “hinderance to God’s will of the chosen people thriving” and so must be eliminated.
It is hard to wrap your head round how prominent (and insidious) far-right beliefs have become in Israel if you are not regularly engaging with people that live there. Even people that claim to be progressive have internalised some aspects of far-right religious ideology. They routinely reveal through survey responses and (in)action that they don’t really care about Palestinians or their plight. They only care about their safety and prosperity in Israel… and perhaps the outside world’s perception of Israeli righteousness.
When that is threatened is when they march and protest.
Even now, the current mounting protests have little to do with the genocidal actions of the Israeli government and military. They are almost entirely down to deep distrust of and anger toward Netanyahu specifically, and a fear of the consequences of shifting global perceptions of Israel. Poll after poll show the majority of Israelis support the current military operations in Gaza and the West Bank. A majority of Israelis even support new settlement in the West Bank, Golan Heights, and strengthening Israeli claims on Jerusalem, even though all violate international law and treaties to which Israel is a signatory.
This is the product of many things, but arguably the biggest factor is decades of increasingly loud right and far-right rhetoric “othering” Palestinians (as well as a reaction to Hamas, Fatah, PIJ, other Palestinian entities, as well as Middle Eastern nations “othering” Israelis and Jews more broadly).
Some people will say if extremist Palestinian groups have done it with Israeli and Jewish people, than how can I denounce Israelis for doing it with Palestinians.
And my answer is simple: either you are different or you are not. And if you are not different, then you should be treated the same.
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