In a new political stunt by Israel’s genocidal far-right, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his fascist party (Otzma Yehudit), wore noose-shaped lapel pins to a legislative briefing.

The meeting revisited a bill Ben-Gvir has been lobbying for with perverse delight, which would legalise the execution of Palestinian detainees.

In defense of hatred

The fascist minister defended the hate symbol, arguing it:

represents one of the options for carrying out the death penalty. Of course, there is the option of hanging, the electric chair, and also lethal injection.

Ben-Gvir also gloated that “hundreds” of Israeli doctors have contacted him offering to assist with executions. This came despite the Israeli Medical Association’s unequivocal declaration that such actions would be unethical:

Since it was announced that doctors would not want to help with the law, I have received a hundred calls from doctors saying, ‘Itamar, just tell me when’.

The claim is disturbingly believable. Israeli doctors are complicit in the carceral treatment of Palestinians. Thousands of Palestinians continue to be held in Iraqi prisons without charge, subject to torture and sexual violence.

An ideology rooted in Kahanism

Otzma Yehudit — which incidentally means ‘woe’ in Hebrew — is a ‘Kahanist’ party founded on the racist Zionist teachings of extremist rabbi Meir Kahane.

Despite Kahanism’s long history of violence, the Starmer government has not designated it a terrorist group. Instead, it proscribed the non-violent activist group, Palestine Action in June under pressure from pro-Israel groups sympathetic to Kahanism.

Murder rebranded as capital punishment

The proposed law is both deeply racist and vicious.

It mandates the death penalty, without any judicial discretion, and applied solely for incidents involving the death of Israeli citizens. It will not apply to extremist Israeli settler groups who slaughter and taunt Palestinian communities. Human rights think-tank Zulat for Equality and Human Rights condemned the bill, saying:

that the death penalty would be imposed in Israel on the basis of nationality: Only someone who harms Jews would be sentenced to death.

Ben-Gvir was filmed in October ranting at Israeli captives, saying that the removal of Palestinians rights isn’t enough, and that they should be killed.

Nooses have long been used to terrorise colonised and oppressed peoples, from the KKK in the US to apartheid-era South Africa.

The US NAACP civil rights group is pushing to classify even the symbolic use of a noose against minorities as a hate crime. Israel is unlikely to follow suit anytime soon.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

This post was originally published on Canary.