Liberal Zionists start to wake up…too little too late?
JVL Introduction
Are liberal Zionists finally beginning to wake up to the reality of what is being done by Israel to the people and places in Gaza in their name? What has prompted this? The author of this opinion piece identifies that Eran Etzion, who was a senior security adviser has now spoken up. He said that IDF soldiers should refuse orders which may be war crimes. He is specifically referring to the Generals’ Plan (or the General’s Plan). The facts have been known for some time but most Israelis have averted their eyes.
While it is good to welcome this change and hope that it might even make a difference since “the most important thing right now is stopping the killing of Gazans. …. Suddenly, when Etzion says “enough,” and when there is a partial arms embargo…the liberals change direction and display concern about war crimes. These are the same people who…earlier supported, openly or silently, snipers shooting children and old people, families burned in their homes, hospitals being bombed, buildings razed with the occupants inside the starving of a besieged population.”
LL
This article was originally published by Ha'aretz on Thu 7 Nov 2024. Read the original here.
Liberal Zionists' Unbelievable Reverence for Security Officials and Disdain for Palestinian Lives
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I’m also in the camp that says “Grab whatever allies you need to stop the horrific evils that WILL happen if you don’t”. Just be wary of suspect allies’ motives and secret agendas. And don’t let the perpetrators of these evils and their allies escape the legal penalties, reparations and reputational damage arising from their previous behaviour.
Like the author, I think there is a dawning awareness by Israel, its citizens and those responsible for war crimes that they will be held accountable at some stage for the crimes they’ve committed. They’d expected to get off scot-free. Now they don’t.
Not sure about the point of this article. If Gaza has demonstrated one thing only it is that there is no real difference between ‘liberal’ and ‘right-wing’ Zionists. It is like calling someone a liberal racist. An oxymoron.
If you are a Zionist you are a Jewish Supremacist and besides that the differences between one brand of Zionist and another concern nuance, tactics, tone and emphasis. Not principle.
Was not the ‘liberal’ Zionist Arthur Ruppin who cofounded Brit Shalom also a devoute eugenicist and believer in the racial sciences who went on to negotiate the trade agreement with the Nazis, Ha’avara?
The silence of Yachad, which is the most liberal of the liberal Zionists in this country has been deafening. None of them see Palestinians as human or equal.
Mike Katz, the Chair of the JLM, which sponsored the false antisemitism narrative, is a paid up Yachad member.
The main role of liberal or labour Zionists abroad is to provide cover for the right-wing Zionists in Israel today, Gvir and Smotrich included.
So like the end days of SA apartheid. The English speaking liberals turned their gaze away from the torture and killings and continued to enjoy their privileges. Until it became obvious the party was coming to an end and then they became anti-apartheid, not activists, but sort of supporters, and turned on their dislike of the Afrikaans speakers who still believed in it (and tended to be less educated and less affluent). Horrible hypocrites who contributed nothing but unreliable supportive words. And so in Israel with the Zionists.
I was going to write basically what Tony Greenstein has commented above. Or at least the first two paragraphs, without the specific detail. Ethnic cleansing has always been on the agenda.
The oil in the sea off Gaza is why I think America are supporting Israel. How long before they start drilling? And I wonder if Trump has already brokered a deal where America will help Israel build more settlements in exchange for a share of the oil?
Adding to Dee Howard’s comment, Netanyahu has already issued Licences to BP and four other US Oil/Gas Corporations, they’ve also built a floating harbour, pretending it was for getting aid to the Palestinians. With Germany and other EU countries desperate for Gas after the Nordstream Gas Pipelines were blown up and that’s why they haven’t condemned the Genocide, their Industries are struggling. You can bet the US promised they would be first in the Queue.