2005-2023 – Siege and blockade of Gaza
Well before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack it became evident that Israeli leaders consider the Gaza siege and blockage scheme obsolete, and consider instead a genocide/forced displacement/ethnic cleansing scheme.
Under the siege and blockage scheme, conceived by Prof. Arnon Soffer, Israel had been holding over 2 million Palestinians since 2005 in the "world’s largest open air prison," with rounds of indiscriminate air bombing and killing.
Under the siege and blockage scheme, Israel practically had total control over the Gaza Strip, albeit, with no “boots on the ground.” Therefore, Israel’s position was that the Gaza Strip was no longer an occupied Palestinian territory pursuant to international law. Many legal scholars disagreed.
Under the siege and blockage scheme, Israel restricted the passage of goods and people in various ways. For example, according to IMEU (Institute for ME Understanding) and Israeli sources:
In early 2006, Dov Weisglass, then a senior advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, explained that Israeli policy was designed “to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” In 2012 it was revealed that in early 2008 Israeli authorities drew up a document calculating the minimum caloric intake necessary for Palestinians to avoid malnutrition so Israel could limit the amount of foodstuffs allowed into Gaza without causing outright starvation.”
According to Soffer’s scheme, it was expected from the outset that Israel would have to periodically slaughter the inmates, who were expected to resist the reality of life imprisonment. Prof Soffer concerns pertained neither to the loss of Palestinian lives, nor to the serious deprivation of their human rights. His concern lied instead with the mental toll on the Israeli soldiers that would perpetrate the periodic slaughtering of the Palestinians in Gaza.
For example, in July-August 2014 alone, Israel carried out ~6,000 airstrikes, killed over 2,250 people, including 551 children, injured ~11,000 and displaced over 300,000 Palestinians.
The siege and blockade scheme, in itself, should be considered a Crime against Humanity pursuant to Article 7 to the Rome Statute: “Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law"... "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”
And yet, the siege and blockade as well as the rounds of Israeli air strikes passed with minimal resistance by the international community, which failed to perform its duty to protect.
The radicalization of Judaism in Israel as the driving force for the alleged apartheid and genocide
The Jewish Israeli public has been radicalized in recent decades. As noted in a recent opinion piece by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, genocide/forced displacement/ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians both in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank have become part of Israeli public discourse some years ago. And under the current government genocide/forced displacement/ethnic cleansing are on the agenda.
For example, in March-May 2023, months before the Hamas October 7 attack, Yehudist cabinet ministers in Netanyahu’s government, e.g., Orit Strock, repeatedly called for "liberating" the Gaza Strip, ethnically cleansing it, and building in it Jewish settlements. Strock’s primary justification for such plans was not the typical "security concerns", but a simpler claim: The Gaza Strip was part of the Promised Land, and Jews were not at liberty to relinquish land, which was part of the godly promise...
In 2017 Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party and today Israel’s Finance Minister, published his "Vanquishing Plan" in HaShiloach – "an Israeli thought and policy periodical."
The "Vanquishing Plan" is a thinly disguised call for genocide/forced displacement/ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank as well as the Palestinian citizen of Israel within the 1949 armistice borders: "not an innocent solution"... "cheaper and much more correct economically..." In a law-abiding nation both the editors of the periodical and the author of the "Vanquishing Plan" would have been prosecuted. In Israel, Smotrich’s "Vanquishing Plan" has been practically accepted by a large segment of the Israeli public as a relevant, legitimate part of public discourse.
The drive to conceive, propose specific course of action and perpetrate such crimes is provided by what Rabbi Shaul Magid, a Dartmouth and Harvard academic theologian, has recently referred to in an interview with Chris Hedges as “subversion of Judaism by Zionism” and the rise of a “chauvinistic and fanatic religious Zionism."
The Jewish settler’s brand of Judaism - “Yehudism”- originated in Orthodox Judaism. It is a racist, predatory, violent and murderous ideology, which has provided the foundation for the alleged apartheid in the occupied West Bank and the alleged genocide in Gaza.
This radical brand of Judaism has penetrated Israeli culture in particular, and Judaism in general, much further than most Jews and Israel’s Western allies wish to acknowledge.
In 2019, Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, a leading religious authority of the Chabad-Lubavich sect, won the Israeli Creative Jewish Scholarship prize, sponsored by the Israeli government. Review of Ginsburgh’s Jewish scholarship leaves no room for doubt. Ginsburgh is deeply involved in propagating the Yehudist, racist, violent and murderous ideology.
"The Arab has no right to exist in the Land of Israel." Much of the rest is derived from this concept.
In fact, this concept applies not only to Arabs, but to all non-Jews. Therefore, it is not surprising that in 2021 the Archbishop of Canterbury joined an unprecedented statement by the Patriarchs and Heads of local churches in Jerusalem, condemning the “systematic attempt to drive Christians out of the Holy Land.”
The same concept also implies the demolition and elimination of any non-Jewish houses of worship in the Land of Israel, first and foremost – the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
Ginsburgh’s students wrote the “King’s Torah”, and Ginsburgh provided the book with its rabbinical accreditation. The book, first published in 2009, expounds the Yehudist law of war, as well as the Yehudist law pertaining to the killing of non-Jews by Jews during war time and peace time. The norms and rules, which are presented in the book, are far removed from the norms of international law or common morals.
The Yehudist norms make the killing of non-Jews by Jews easily permissible under various circumstances. During war – it is permitted to harm and kill uninvolved, innocent enemy people. It is permitted to kill the children of the enemy, so that they won’t grow up to become fighters. Likewise, the book provides rules for taking revenge of non-Jews for actions of others - collective punishment.
To the degree that non-Jews remain in the Jewish State, they must acknowledge Jewish supremacy, and they must be delegated to the status of “Ger Toshav” – residents with neither political rights nor full human and civil rights.
Opponents of “King’s Torah” claim that the book in fact guides the violent Jewish settlers, who in recent years routinely perpetrate pogroms against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. However, the book and its conceptual framework are influential far beyond the West Bank settlers.
These Yehudist concepts are instrumental in any attempt to understand the the Israeli military’s conduct on October 7 (e.g., the Hannibal Directive) and its conduct in the current operation in Gaza, which is clearly different from any previous operation. In particular – the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians and “rules of engagement” that are in fact cold blooded murder of unarmed, innocent civilians. For example, on December 15 the Israeli military shot to death 3 Israeli hostages, who managed to escape from their captivity. They first hid in a local building and marked on it a large “Save Us” graffiti. Later they came out, shirtless, holding a white cloth. They were shot from close range. Two were killed immediately. The third escaped back to the building. When he noticed the approaching soldiers, he yelled in Hebrew: “Help”. The Battalion Commander ordered to cease fire. Regardless, when the hostage came out, he was shot to death at close range.
The Yehudist concepts also explain the purposeless destruction of all civilian infrastructure (“leveling”). According to Israeli media it is at time the outcome of local commander initiative with no higher command authorization.
Another clear distinction of the current operation is the massive looting of Palestinian homes by Israeli soldiers.
Prof Yagil Levy, a sociologist who studies the Israeli military, published prior to October 7 a book, titled “The New Israeli Militarism in the 2000s.” The book describes the current Israeli culture as the merger of militarism and Yehudism. Regarding conduct of the Israeli military in the current operation in Gaza, Yagil Levy commented in an opinion piece that although the massive looting by Israeli soldiers in Gaza is not the worst crime being perpetrated, it is the one that most clearly shows the disintegration of the norms of conduct of a regular army and adoption of the conduct of armed militias.
The Yehudist concepts that are expounded in the “King’s Torah” are also instrumental even in understanding the post October 7 Hamas attack genocidal incitement in Israel.
October 7, 2023 – Hamas attack and Israeli response
Conduct of the Israeli security forces on October 7, which allowed Hamas to breach the Israeli defenses, and response to the Hamas invasion requires thorough investigation. It is clear that Hamas attacked civilians and engaged in other war crimes.
However, it remains unclear how many of the Israeli civilian victims on October 7 were killed by Israeli fire under the notorious Hannibal Directive.
The Hannibal Directive was officially revoked in 2016. However, the Hannibal Directive was adopted by the Yehudist rabbis as a religious commandment, and it was widely implemented on October 7.
Furthermore, the Israeli claims regarding October 7 Hamas horrors are marred by various fakes, some of them are outlandish fakes by senior Israeli officials. For example, the notorious fake by senior Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy.
According to Levy’s fake, the children of Kibbutz Be’eri were tortured, dismembered and then burned to death… "Archaeologists are sifting through the rubble to find their teeth." To wit, he published a fake photograph of children’s teeth. This fake reached a readership of over 30 millions, and has neither been retracted nor removed from Levy’s official X page.
Beyond the Israeli fakes regarding Hamas abuse and torture of Israeli babies and children, Israel was hard at work trying to establish that Hamas engaged in “systematic rape.” Here too, initial claims by Israeli representatives turned out to be fake. Later, on December 28, the New York Times published an “investigation” by Gettleman, Schwartz and Sella, which purported to establish weaponized sexual violence by Hamas on October 7. However, that report was largely discredited under further review by the Intercept, Daily Beast and the Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal. In mid January 2024, Israeli media reported that the Israeli Ministry of Health instructed Israelis not to cooperate with a UN investigation committee on the subject of Hamas sexual violence, claiming that members of the committee were “antisemitic.”
The Israeli fakes were also part of an effort to generate the pretense of international legitimacy for the planned genocide/forced displacement/ethnic cleansing operation. This effect was particularly evident when unconfirmed Israeli fakes such as “40 beheaded babies” were propagated by US and UK mainstream media and also by US President Biden in the White House at a time that the US and UK were actively purporting to provide the Israeli operation with the pretense of legitimacy.
Post October 7 genocidal incitement and the October 13, 2023 President Isaac Herzog’s genocidal declaration
Immediately after October 7, Israeli leaders explicitly declared the intent to perpetrate a genocide/force displacement/ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israeli media, and even Israeli popular culture started a never before seen wave of genocidal incitement.
One of the most remarkable instances of genocidal incitement, which was provided as evidence by South Africa in the International Court of Justice was the October 13 genocidal declaration by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Herzog’s declaration was of particular significance since he is the Head of State and also an attorney. Therefore he had to be aware of the legal and international implication of his declarations.
Moreover, on the Israeli political map President Herzog, former chair of the Israeli Labor party, may be considered “center-left.” Surely he is not one of the Israeli radical-right Yehudist figures. Therefore, Herzog’s genocidal declaration demonstrates the degree to which mainstream Israeli society has been radicalized and adopted the Yehudist concepts.
In addition, as President, Herzog has on his staff a high ranking officer (Brigadier General) as Military Secretary. Herzog is routinely briefed relative to military plans and operations. Therefore, Herzog’s genocidal declaration, which was made prior to the onset of the ground operation in Gaza, was most likely part of the wider efforts to generate pretense of legitimacy for the genocidal/forced displacement/ethnic cleansing operation, even before it started.
Herzog’s genocidal declaration is comprised of two parts: a) All Palestinians are responsible, and b) There is no distinction between combatants and uninvolved civilians. Combined, these two statements turn the core concepts of international humanitarian law upside down.
Herzog’s phrasing was not original. It has been repeated as a mantra in Israel, at least since the 2014 indiscriminate air bombing and ground operation in Gaza. During the current Israeli operation in Gaza, soldiers were recorded singing “there are no uninvolved people in Gaza” to a popular tune. Israeli forces in Gaza act accordingly, shooting to kill unarmed, uninvolved civilians, posing no threat.
Genocidal incitement on Israeli media is manifested, for example, by “Arab affairs experts” debating the question, whether the Israeli army should have killed 50,000 or 100,000 Palestinians in the initial air strikes on Gaza for optimal effect. Likewise, TV news pundit discuss the question from what age Palestinian children should be killed – 4 or 0. Obviously, such public discourse reflects the widespread diffusion of Yehudist culture in Israel.
A decade ago, such conduct was limited to Yehudists, was prosecuted and punished. For example, in the 2015 arson murder of the Dawabsha family in Kafr Duma by Yehudist settlers, one of the victims was 18 months old Ali Dawabsha. Later, Jewish settlers repeatedly taunted the family by singing “Ali is on the grill.” In addition, Yehudists had a song and dance celebration of Ali’s murder in what came to be known as the “Hate Wedding.” Some of the participants in the celebration were prosecuted and punished for racist incitement for violence. Yehudist Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security in the current Israeli government, was one of the participants in the 2015 “Hate Wedding” celebration.
October 27, 2023 – “no red lines” declaration by the White House, US and UK complicity in the Israeli acts
Following extensive, indiscriminate air strikes affecting widespread carnage and destruction, and with the onset of the ground offensive, the White House issued on October 27 an inexplicable - "no red lines" declaration regarding the Israeli operation in Gaza. Such declaration was perceived as the US purporting to grant Israel exemption from the rule of international law.
In the UK, Kier Starmer stood out in similar statements, going as far as purporting on October 11 that Israel had the right to withhold water and electricity from the entire Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip. In addition, Starmer criticized pro-Palestinian protest and questioned the legality of waving Palestinian flags. Coming from an expert Human Rights attorney and a former senior officer of the UK justice system, Starmer’s statements raise concerns regarding his credibility and integrity.
Indeed the US and the UK were full partners in Israel’s acts in Gaza, providing Israel weapons and munitions, as well as military assistance in the arena itself. The US sent troops to Israel and moved navy vessels to the Mediterranean. The UK provided Israel assistance through its RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus. UK media were largely barred from reporting on the scope of UK involvement in the Israeli operation under the DSMA-notice system, and MP’s were barred from filing questions on the subject.
On February 20th, a ceasefire resolution was considered by the UN Security Council for the 3rd time. 13 out of 15 members voted for the resolution. The The US vetoed the resolution. The UK abstained.
December 29, 2023 – genocide complaint filed in the International Court of Justice
South Africa filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel was perpetrating a genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.
South Africa’s solidarity with the Palestinian cause is self-explanatory, given what South Africans describe as their shared experience of oppression under apartheid regimes. Solidarity with the Palestinians is also considered an integral part of the Nelson Mandela heritage.
And yet, given the US and UK direct partnership in Israel’s acts, the South Africa complaint had the inevitable implication of a Global South, 3rd World nation challenging Western colonial powers to accept the rule of international law and the United Nations adjudication system, of which these powers had been the founders and key proponents.
In the meanwhile, with the Israeli carnage and destruction broadcast live, massive protests, calling for a ceasefire, release of hostages and supporting Palestinian rights have been stages around the globe, including the US and UK. And yet, the US, UK and EU political and media class appeared staunch in its determination to allow Israel to go through with its intent, by then partly acted upon, which appeared as Crimes against Humanity.
The South Africa filing extensively documented the widespread genocidal incitement in Israel, which was part of the evidence of the intent. The genocidal incitement is also a separate offense pursuant to the Genocide Convention.
Following extensive, indiscriminate air strikes affecting widespread carnage and destruction, and with the onset of the ground offensive, the White House issued on October 27 an inexplicable - "no red lines" declaration regarding the Israeli operation in Gaza. Such declaration was perceived as the US purporting to grant Israel exemption from the rule of international law.
In the UK, Kier Starmer stood out in similar statements, going as far as purporting on October 11 that Israel had the right to withhold water and electricity from the entire Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip. In addition, Starmer criticized pro-Palestinian protest and questioned the legality of waving Palestinian flags. Coming from an expert Human Rights attorney and a former senior officer of the UK justice system, Starmer’s statements raise concerns regarding his credibility and integrity.
Indeed the US and the UK were full partners in Israel’s acts in Gaza, providing Israel weapons and munitions, as well as military assistance in the arena itself. The US sent troops to Israel and moved navy vessels to the Mediterranean. The UK provided Israel assistance through its RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus. UK media were largely barred from reporting on the scope of UK involvement in the Israeli operation under the DSMA-notice system, and MP’s were barred from filing questions on the subject.
On February 20th, a ceasefire resolution was considered by the UN Security Council for the 3rd time. 13 out of 15 members voted for the resolution. The The US vetoed the resolution. The UK abstained.
December 29, 2023 – genocide complaint filed in the International Court of Justice
South Africa filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel was perpetrating a genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.
South Africa’s solidarity with the Palestinian cause is self-explanatory, given what South Africans describe as their shared experience of oppression under apartheid regimes. Solidarity with the Palestinians is also considered an integral part of the Nelson Mandela heritage.
And yet, given the US and UK direct partnership in Israel’s acts, the South Africa complaint had the inevitable implication of a Global South, 3rd World nation challenging Western colonial powers to accept the rule of international law and the United Nations adjudication system, of which these powers had been the founders and key proponents.
In the meanwhile, with the Israeli carnage and destruction broadcast live, massive protests, calling for a ceasefire, release of hostages and supporting Palestinian rights have been stages around the globe, including the US and UK. And yet, the US, UK and EU political and media class appeared staunch in its determination to allow Israel to go through with its intent, by then partly acted upon, which appeared as Crimes against Humanity.
The South Africa filing extensively documented the widespread genocidal incitement in Israel, which was part of the evidence of the intent. The genocidal incitement is also a separate offense pursuant to the Genocide Convention.
January 26, 2024 – ICJ provisional measures
On January 26, the International Court of Justice rendered its decision that there was prima facie evidence for a allegation of genocide for Israel to answer on. Based on such determination, the Court issued provisional measures, including ordering Israel to prevent genocidal incitement and punish its propagators.
February 19, 2024 – final forced displacement to Egypt?
As of February 19, Samer Badawi summed up the situation in Gaza:
With Egypt reportedly preparing for an influx of refugees and UNRWA on the brink of collapse, Israel’s second Nakba fantasies could soon become reality.
With most of the Gaza Strip’s Palestinians now trapped inside the enclave’s southern tip, the Israeli onslaught they had attempted to escape has followed them to Rafah. Some 1.4 million people are pinned against a virtually impermeable Egyptian border, while the entry of life-sustaining aid is chronically stalled. At Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), the southeastern crossing directly controlled by Israel, Jewish Israelis have been filmed gleefully blocking food convoys from Egypt, in a fitting correlative to the genocidal rhetoric of their leaders.
Epilogue
No doubt, the unique recent spectacle in the UK Parliament is of minor significance relative to the alleged Israeli crimes. And yet, this episode is worthy of review, since through this prism a unique picture emerges of the world in the 21st century: The complete, deliberate subversion of the fundamentals of international law in general, and the duty to protect the lives of the Palestinians in particular, by the UK and US – the nations that chaperoned this international system in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust. And Israel, the Jewish State created by that international system, largely in response to the Jewish Holocaust, now stands accused of Crimes against Humanity, while Judaism in its mutated Israeli form is perceived as the driving force for such alleged crimes.
In the wake of the 1967 war and the Israeli national euphoria some Israeli intellectuals voiced their opposition. Historian Jacob Talmon predicted that the “Zionist Revolution” will become a “serious fault” in the history of Jews and Judaism. He seems to have missed the transformative effect on Judaism itself. Yeshayahu Leibowitz predicted the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation into a “war of annihilation,” and sub-human degradation of Israel and Israelis.
With Egypt reportedly preparing for an influx of refugees and UNRWA on the brink of collapse, Israel’s second Nakba fantasies could soon become reality.
On January 26, the International Court of Justice rendered its decision that there was prima facie evidence for a allegation of genocide for Israel to answer on. Based on such determination, the Court issued provisional measures, including ordering Israel to prevent genocidal incitement and punish its propagators.
February 19, 2024 – final forced displacement to Egypt?
As of February 19, Samer Badawi summed up the situation in Gaza:
With Egypt reportedly preparing for an influx of refugees and UNRWA on the brink of collapse, Israel’s second Nakba fantasies could soon become reality.
With most of the Gaza Strip’s Palestinians now trapped inside the enclave’s southern tip, the Israeli onslaught they had attempted to escape has followed them to Rafah. Some 1.4 million people are pinned against a virtually impermeable Egyptian border, while the entry of life-sustaining aid is chronically stalled. At Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), the southeastern crossing directly controlled by Israel, Jewish Israelis have been filmed gleefully blocking food convoys from Egypt, in a fitting correlative to the genocidal rhetoric of their leaders.
Epilogue
No doubt, the unique recent spectacle in the UK Parliament is of minor significance relative to the alleged Israeli crimes. And yet, this episode is worthy of review, since through this prism a unique picture emerges of the world in the 21st century: The complete, deliberate subversion of the fundamentals of international law in general, and the duty to protect the lives of the Palestinians in particular, by the UK and US – the nations that chaperoned this international system in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust. And Israel, the Jewish State created by that international system, largely in response to the Jewish Holocaust, now stands accused of Crimes against Humanity, while Judaism in its mutated Israeli form is perceived as the driving force for such alleged crimes.
In the wake of the 1967 war and the Israeli national euphoria some Israeli intellectuals voiced their opposition. Historian Jacob Talmon predicted that the “Zionist Revolution” will become a “serious fault” in the history of Jews and Judaism. He seems to have missed the transformative effect on Judaism itself. Yeshayahu Leibowitz predicted the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation into a “war of annihilation,” and sub-human degradation of Israel and Israelis.
With Egypt reportedly preparing for an influx of refugees and UNRWA on the brink of collapse, Israel’s second Nakba fantasies could soon become reality.
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