{"id":1438532,"date":"2024-01-11T06:55:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T06:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/?p=310366"},"modified":"2024-01-11T06:55:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T06:55:43","slug":"apartheid-is-now-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/01\/11\/apartheid-is-now-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"Apartheid is Now Genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by Cole Keister.<\/p><\/div>\n

Israel’s criminal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza has confirmed its status as a Rogue State; one of the world\u2019s leading Terrorist States; and revealed their long held intention to exterminate Palestinians and bury the \u2018Two State Solution<\/a>‘ What was apartheid has become genocide; a campaign of hate.<\/p>\n

Palestinians, Arabs throughout the Middle East, and Muslims everywhere, will never forget or forgive Israel, creating the potential for decades of conflict. Nor will they forgive western governments, the US specifically, for creating political \u2018cover\u2019 for Israel and arming, what is a fanatical blood thirsty Zionist regime.<\/p>\n

Any government that continues to excuse Israeli brutality and fails to call out the genocide are themselves complicit.<\/p>\n

It is evil writ large, and in the full light of day \u2014 televised evil; and the only force that could potentially reign in Israel, the US administration, is doing nothing to stop it. And they wonder why they are despised around the world; consistently arrogant, self-righteous and unbearably hypocritical.<\/p>\n

Horrifying figures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israeli officials in or out of combat garb lie compulsively, always have done, they claim the goal of the military madness is the eradication of Hamas. Utter nonsense, its genocide, unleashed under the pretence of retaliation\/revenge. Hamas cannot be wiped out anyway; in fact Hamas has gained the support of the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, who back<\/a> the 7 October attack.<\/p>\n

The group is now seen as the pre-eminent body to defend Palestinian rights, and it has secured a status and popularity across the Middle East not seen for decades. So, as Israel kills, destroys and becomes increasingly isolated, Hamas is growing in power and extending its field of influence. And the reasons are clear. Israels insatiable appetite for violence and death; they do not just carry out violent acts, they are violence itself.<\/p>\n

Lets look at the latest statistics: over<\/a> 23,000 Palestinians have been killed and 58,166 injured.(according to The Gaza Health Ministry), 70% are thought to be women and children. Thousands more (nobody knows how many) lie dead and buried beneath the rubble of Gaza City. And as the IDF moves into South Gaza (where most Palestinians are) in search of Hamas fighters, many more civilians are at risk.<\/p>\n

Attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank (by Israeli settlers supported by security forces) have increased in the last three months, and new illegal settlements have been built. A report by Peace Now finds<\/a>, \u201cAn unprecedented surge in settlement activities, including the construction of outposts, roads, fences, and roadblocks initiated by settlers.\u201d Sixteen Palestinian communities have been removed from their land (in the West Bank), and a hundred and seventy-five Palestinians have been killed.<\/p>\n

The head of the Israeli Settler Movement, Daniella Weiss a far right Zionist, has said<\/a> that all Palestinians in the Occupied Territories \u201cshould be dispersed\u2026.[and] spread across the world\u201d. Weiss, who\u2019s monstrous views echo those of the Israeli government, believes<\/a>, \u201cThey [Arabs] should accept the fact that\u2026we the Jews are the sovereigns in the state of Israel and in the Land of Israel; they have to accept it.\u201d The \u2018Land of Israel\u2019 to which she refers of course includes the West Bank and Gaza.<\/p>\n

In addition to bombing and shooting civilians, stealing their land and destroying their property, two million Palestinians, according<\/a> to the IPC, are at risk of starvation as a result of the Israeli imposed siege of Gaza.<\/p>\n

In Northern Gaza 70% of the buildings have been destroyed; over 100 journalists\/media workers have been killed<\/a>, 70 of whom are Palestinians. This is more than in any other conflict in over 30 years; 101 United Nations (UN) staff have also been murdered, which is the \u201clargest loss<\/a> during any conflict in the Organization\u2019s 78-year history\u201d.<\/p>\n

None of this is accidental, or the inevitable,\u2018regrettable\u2019 consequence of war. The Israeli government, fanatical and paranoid \u2014 yes most of the world does hate you \u2014 is desperate to hide or distort the truth, so journalists (particularly Palestinian and Al Jazeera journalists) are seen as enemies, as are human rights organisations. They also despise the UN, which for decades has criticised Israel and passed resolutions condemning their actions in the occupied territories; in 2022 for example, the General Assembly passed more resolutions critical of Israel than against all other nations (192) combined.<\/p>\n

Western complicity<\/strong><\/p>\n

The mass slaughter of Palestinians and the choking siege of Gaza, has not only affirmed the barbaric, inhumane nature of the Israeli regime, it has brought into sharp focus the unbelievable hypocrisy and weakness of western governments (US, UK, EU etc). Self righteous one and all, their duplicity and double standards knows no limits, nor does their arrogance.<\/p>\n

They talk grandly about peace, but provide the tools of death and destruction, and supply the political armour needed for Israel to carry out mass murder. For decades they have repeated Israeli propaganda and racist rhetoric about Palestinians. Half-hearted calls for restraint have been made by the US and others, followed in the next breath by declarations of unreserved support; its pathetic, disgraceful.<\/p>\n

In contrast to Western weakness a raft of nations (mainly in the Global South) have publicly criticised Israel. Some have also cut diplomatic ties, and on 29 December the South African government filed an application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), starting proceedings against Israel for the Crime of Genocide.<\/p>\n

The application states<\/a> that, \u201cIsrael has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.\u201d It calls for the suspension of all Israeli military operations in Gaza, which they make clear, is “necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people”.<\/p>\n

It is a landmark action that should be widely backed. Successive Israeli governments have behaved as if they are above the law, if the application is successful, and the fanatics behind the mass slaughter of Palestinians are held accountable, it would send a powerful message to Rogue States everywhere. It could also open the way for further legal action against Israel, for systematic criminal activities in the occupied territories over the last fifty years.<\/p>\n

The mass murder of Palestinians being carried out by Israel is an act of evil built upon decades of similar evil actions. It did not come out of nowhere; Israel is violent, barbaric, and has been so always. The fact that the US and her mates have allowed Israel to abuse and subjugate Palestinians for decades, and with total impunity, has led to this genocide. They are all guilty.<\/p>\n

The post Apartheid is Now Genocide<\/a> appeared first on CounterPunch.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on CounterPunch.org<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2019s criminal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza has confirmed its status as a Rogue State; one of the world\u2019s leading Terrorist States; and revealed their long held intention to exterminate Palestinians and bury the \u2018Two State Solution\u2018 What was apartheid has become genocide; a campaign of hate. Palestinians, Arabs throughout the Middle East, and Muslims More<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Apartheid is Now Genocide<\/a> appeared first on CounterPunch.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1438532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1438535,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438532\/revisions\/1438535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1438532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1438532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1438532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}