Settler Aided Murder of Palestinian, Defiled Memory of 18-Month-Old Murdered Baby Taunting: “Ali’s on the Grill!” by Richard Silverstein

PLEASE TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW AND SEND YOUR LETTER TO THE UN OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ADVISER ON THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE AND THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR.

Elisha Yered took the murder weapon from the murderer, Yechiel Indore, and buried it outside their settlement.  After both were arrested and interrogated, Yered took the Shin Bet to the spot where the weapon was buried and they retrieved it.  His explanation was that he wanted to be sure that no Palestinians took the weapon, so he hid it. The police and Shin Bet seemed to be satisfied with this cock and bull story and have not charged him as an accessory to murder… Yered is also the settler taunting the Dawabshe family in the video above.  I’m profiling him because he is an exemplar of the most violent and homicidal of the Hilltop Youth, the sharp spear of the settler vigilante militias.  He and his fellow terrorists are also photogenic and eager to exploit Israeli media to spread their genocidal message.  The TV news shows reciprocate by featuring them regularly. 

Continue reading at https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2023/09/01/settler-aided-murder-of-palestinian-defiled-memory-of-18-month-old-murdered-baby-taunting-alis-on-the-grill/

Ben Gvir: Give Every Jew a Gun by Richard Silverstein

PLEASE TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW AND SEND YOUR LETTER TO THE UN OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ADVISER ON THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE AND THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR.

The ranks of Israeli politicians are replete with those advocating ethnic cleansing, apartheid and even genocide. As I’ve written here, a Likud MK called for building death camps for “Arabs.”  The leading candidate to run the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, Effi Eitam, has said of Palestinian MKs:

“The day will come when we will expel you [to Gaza]”

“We should expel the vast majority of Arabs from Judea and Samaria, we can’t have all these Arabs…”

Regarding Lebanon, he said: “Simply slaughter Civilians? Yes, that is the equation.  It’s cold, it’s cruel. But that is it.”

I suppose there could be no better candidate for a museum commemorating Nazi genocide than someone who advocates genocide.  Every time someone hears him talk about the Holocaust. they will be reminded of his own genocidal rhetoric.  Seriously, it is a grave insult to the 6-million to appoint a former IDF general, a cruel, vicious brute to safeguard their memory.  But that is par for the course for this state birthed in the crucible of Nakba and continuing it to this day.

… Genocide does not happen suddenly. It evolves from lesser crimes and gradually grows into a monstrous hate capable of exterminating tens of thousands or millions, depending on circumstances.  For this reason, I’m not satisfied with the word ‘apartheid’ alone.  While it is an accurate portrait of current reality, it is not sufficient. As I’ve written, we must speak about genocide.  Its most extreme form is the extermination of the people.  But genocide also encompasses incitement to genocide; attempts to erase culture, language and traditions. These are all genocide.  Israel qualifies on all these counts.  It assaults Palestinian NGOs, destroys thousands of homes, steals land, demolishes schools, bombs universities, power plants and sewage treatment facilities.  All this is genocide.  That it has not yet exterminated tens or hundreds of thousands is no comfort.  That may yet come, considering the venomous hatred of the Judeo-Nazis above.  In the meantime, genocide remains a potent and accurate term.

Continue reading at https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2023/08/25/ben-gvir-give-every-jew-a-gun/

Israeli President Herzog to Address Joint Session of Congress by Richard Silverstein

PLEASE TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW AND SEND YOUR LETTER TO THE UN OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ADVISER ON THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE AND THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address a Joint Session of Congress on July 19th… At least four members of Congress have announced a boycott of Herzog’s speech: Reps. Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Jamaal Bowman.  Rashida Tlaib has not joined them (yet). If she does attend, I’m virtually certain she will stage an act of protest during the event.

…I want to declare as forcefully as I can that as a Jew, I support [their] decision.. .There is no reason to give any Israeli a hero’s welcome.  Israel is a nation that has gone off the rails. Not only is it on the verge of becoming a fascist state, rejecting the rule of law and destroying the power of the judicial branch, it is also engaged in what can only be called genocide against Palestinians.  Mass violence by both the IDF and settlers acting on behalf of the state, along with numerous other phenomena, justify using this controversial term.  This must not be rewarded. Instead, the US should announce a boycott of all Israeli leaders; even prohibit them from entering the US.  Or at least the worst of the lot (which is most of the cabinet) should face such prohibition.

Continue reading at https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2023/07/14/israeli-president-herzog-to-address-joint-session-of-congress/

Israel and Genocide by Richard Silverstein

Please TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW and send your letter to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.

We must call it what it is, no matter how much of a taboo there may currently be. The Holocaust, horrific as it was, does not absolve Israel of responsibilty for its crimes against the Palestinian people. Nor does suffering such a heinous tragedy mean that Israel is incapable of wreaking a similar tragedy on another people. Israelis may resist such terms and be enraged at being associated with them, but the same opprobrium earlier met the use of terms like apartheid and war crimes. For decades, Israel argued that they were inappropriate, prejudicial and even blood libel. But eventually, they became accepted and normalized as references to Israel and its campaign of Palestinian oppression. The same process will follow with the term genocide.

Continue reading at https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2022/01/30/israel-and-genocide/

Israeli Holocaust Commemoration Marred by Political Infighting by Richard Silverstein

Please TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW and send your letter to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.

Returning to Yad Vashem, the western portion of its current site was the Palestinian site, Hirbat al-Hamama.  It was the agricultural fields of the adjacent village of Ayn Karem.  All of the Palestinian settlements were occupied by the Palmach in July 1948.  Their inhabitants were driven out.   The hill immediately adjacent to the current museum site is where Deir Yassin once sat.  And on another nearby hill in the Jerusalem Forest, Mohammed Abu Khdeir was brutally murdered in an incident portrayed in the HBO series, Our Boys. As conference-goers discuss weighty subjects of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Europe, they ought not to lose sight of the fact of Israeli Nakba and ethnic cleansing.  As the Jewish people recovered from the Holocaust, the Yishuv repeated a similar crime against the Palestinian people.

Continue reading at https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2020/01/27/israeli-holocaust-commemoration-marred-by-political-infighting/

Israel’s Final Solution to the ‘Palestine Problem’ by Richard Silverstein

Please TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW and send your letter to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.

Last week, I heard MK Betzalel Smotrich present, before an esteemed group of public officials from the religious Zionist movement, his “decisive plan”–a plan to finally end the conflict and defeat it [Palestinian nationalism].  A plan, whose goal is to cut off any hope for Palestinian nationhood.  Three options will be put before the Palestinians (and possibly also the “Arabs of Israel,” that’s not clear):

  1. continue to live in the [occupied] territories that will be annexed to the State of Israel, without the right to vote for Knesset.  Their status will be as alien residents which, according to him, follows Jewish law which declares they must always be a bit inferior [to Jewish status].
  2. leave the country
  3. those who do not accept either of the two previous options–the IDF will know what to do.

When he was asked: “You’re also speaking of killing children and women from families who are not willing to accept these conditions?”  The answer was: “Yes.  When in war, as in war.”

Continue reading at https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2017/05/10/israels-final-solution/