26 july 2019
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Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Tzipi Livni
Much like white South Africans, Jewish Israelis will never voluntarily give up their privileged position as settlers Dissident Israeli scholar Nurit Peled-Elhanan’s important academic study, “Palestine in Israeli School Books” is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand some important realities about the Israeli state and Israeli society. As a settler-colonial entity, real change can never come from within Israeli society. It must be imposed from the outside. |
Much like white South Africans, Jewish Israelis will never voluntarily give up their privileged position as settlers.
South African apartheid was defeated by the masses of South Africa (with the support of some white dissidents), and their political leaders, in alliance with a global solidarity campaign.
In the same way, Israeli apartheid will be defeated by the Palestinian struggle. This struggle is supported by a minority of Israeli dissidents, and by the international solidarity movement – especially the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Peled-Elhanan’s book was a major study of 17 Israeli school textbooks on history, geography and civic studies. As you can see from what she says in the interview above, she came to some stark conclusions.
When they even mention Palestinians at all, Israel’s official schoolbooks teach a “racist discourse”, which quite literally wipes Palestine off the map. Maps in the schoolbooks only ever show “the Land of Israel”, from the river to the sea.
She explained that not a single one of the schoolbooks included “any positive cultural or social aspect of Palestinian life-world: neither literature nor poetry, neither history nor agriculture, neither art nor architecture, neither customs nor traditions are ever mentioned.”
Of the rare times that Palestinians are mentioned, it is in an overwhelmingly negative and stereotypical fashion: “all [the books] represent [Palestinians] in racist icons or demeaning classificatory images such as terrorists, refugees and primitive farmers — the three ‘problems’ they constitute for Israel.”
She concluded that the children’s schoolbooks “present Israeli-Jewish culture as superior to the Arab-Palestinian one, Israeli-Jewish concepts of progress as superior to the Palestinian-Arab way of life and Israeli-Jewish behaviour as aligning with universal values.”
All this is quite the opposite of the stereotypical and misleading story about children’s schoolbooks in Palestine. The books printed by the Palestinian Authority since the 1990s are frequently portrayed in anti-Palestinian demonology as putting forth the worst anti-Semitic calumnies about Jewish people.
Overall, this narrative is a crude fabrication instigated by anti-Palestinian propaganda groups, such as that run by Israeli settler Itamar Marcus and his “Palestinian Media Watch”.
Peled-Elhanan’s book comprehensively demolished a second, complementary, Israeli myth: that Israelis – by way of contrast to the dastardly Palestinians – instead “teach love thy neighbour”, to quote Israel’s war criminal ex-foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
Seven years ago, when Peled-Elhanan’s book was published, she warned that, in contrast to liberal hopes for change from within Israeli society, things were moving “backwards and backwards” and that the then-current textbooks were little more than “military manifests”.
“We have three generations of students who don’t even know where the borders,” between the West Bank and the rest of historic Palestine are, she despaired in the interview above, filmed back in 2011.
Seven years on from the book’s publication, things have only got progressively worse.
That can be seen in the video that circulated on social media this week of young Israeli soldiers celebrating and cheering after they dynamited Palestinian homes east of Jerusalem. Those same soldiers are a product of Israel’s education system.
As Israel’s violent oppression of an entire indigenous people become more and more blatant for the world to see, so public opinion is increasingly shifting against Israel – even among the previously supportive voter and activist base of the Democratic Party in the US.
As Israel can rely less and less on outside support, it becomes more important for the apartheid state to circle the wagons, and ensure the next generation of settlers and soldiers are inculcated into the Israeli state’s official ideology – Zionism.
Last month it emerged that Israel has begun requiring all high school students – including those Palestinians who are second-class “citizens” of Israel – to pass an online government propaganda course before they can participate in overseas trips.
According to the Palestinian human rights group Adalah, the course “promotes racist ideology”, brainwashing students with the myth that Palestinians are inherently violent savages.
Adalah says that one question asks: “How do Palestinian organizations use digital social networks?” The required answer is “encouraging violence.”
“Another question asks students to identify the origins of modern anti-Semitism,” Adalah explains. “The exam’s correct answer is ‘Muslim organizations’ and the BDS movement.”
In this way, Israel is teaching its children to hate: hate Palestinians, hate Muslims, hate the Arabs in general and hate anyone who supports or stands in solidarity with them against oppression.
South African apartheid was defeated by the masses of South Africa (with the support of some white dissidents), and their political leaders, in alliance with a global solidarity campaign.
In the same way, Israeli apartheid will be defeated by the Palestinian struggle. This struggle is supported by a minority of Israeli dissidents, and by the international solidarity movement – especially the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Peled-Elhanan’s book was a major study of 17 Israeli school textbooks on history, geography and civic studies. As you can see from what she says in the interview above, she came to some stark conclusions.
When they even mention Palestinians at all, Israel’s official schoolbooks teach a “racist discourse”, which quite literally wipes Palestine off the map. Maps in the schoolbooks only ever show “the Land of Israel”, from the river to the sea.
She explained that not a single one of the schoolbooks included “any positive cultural or social aspect of Palestinian life-world: neither literature nor poetry, neither history nor agriculture, neither art nor architecture, neither customs nor traditions are ever mentioned.”
Of the rare times that Palestinians are mentioned, it is in an overwhelmingly negative and stereotypical fashion: “all [the books] represent [Palestinians] in racist icons or demeaning classificatory images such as terrorists, refugees and primitive farmers — the three ‘problems’ they constitute for Israel.”
She concluded that the children’s schoolbooks “present Israeli-Jewish culture as superior to the Arab-Palestinian one, Israeli-Jewish concepts of progress as superior to the Palestinian-Arab way of life and Israeli-Jewish behaviour as aligning with universal values.”
All this is quite the opposite of the stereotypical and misleading story about children’s schoolbooks in Palestine. The books printed by the Palestinian Authority since the 1990s are frequently portrayed in anti-Palestinian demonology as putting forth the worst anti-Semitic calumnies about Jewish people.
Overall, this narrative is a crude fabrication instigated by anti-Palestinian propaganda groups, such as that run by Israeli settler Itamar Marcus and his “Palestinian Media Watch”.
Peled-Elhanan’s book comprehensively demolished a second, complementary, Israeli myth: that Israelis – by way of contrast to the dastardly Palestinians – instead “teach love thy neighbour”, to quote Israel’s war criminal ex-foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
Seven years ago, when Peled-Elhanan’s book was published, she warned that, in contrast to liberal hopes for change from within Israeli society, things were moving “backwards and backwards” and that the then-current textbooks were little more than “military manifests”.
“We have three generations of students who don’t even know where the borders,” between the West Bank and the rest of historic Palestine are, she despaired in the interview above, filmed back in 2011.
Seven years on from the book’s publication, things have only got progressively worse.
That can be seen in the video that circulated on social media this week of young Israeli soldiers celebrating and cheering after they dynamited Palestinian homes east of Jerusalem. Those same soldiers are a product of Israel’s education system.
As Israel’s violent oppression of an entire indigenous people become more and more blatant for the world to see, so public opinion is increasingly shifting against Israel – even among the previously supportive voter and activist base of the Democratic Party in the US.
As Israel can rely less and less on outside support, it becomes more important for the apartheid state to circle the wagons, and ensure the next generation of settlers and soldiers are inculcated into the Israeli state’s official ideology – Zionism.
Last month it emerged that Israel has begun requiring all high school students – including those Palestinians who are second-class “citizens” of Israel – to pass an online government propaganda course before they can participate in overseas trips.
According to the Palestinian human rights group Adalah, the course “promotes racist ideology”, brainwashing students with the myth that Palestinians are inherently violent savages.
Adalah says that one question asks: “How do Palestinian organizations use digital social networks?” The required answer is “encouraging violence.”
“Another question asks students to identify the origins of modern anti-Semitism,” Adalah explains. “The exam’s correct answer is ‘Muslim organizations’ and the BDS movement.”
In this way, Israel is teaching its children to hate: hate Palestinians, hate Muslims, hate the Arabs in general and hate anyone who supports or stands in solidarity with them against oppression.
17 july 2019
scene peopled by countless excited young volunteers in Palestine-themed black t-shirts along with thousands of visitors, young and old, women and men, all brimming with enthusiasm.
Welcome to Palestine Expo, the largest Palestinian event in Europe. Welcome to a surprising breath of fresh air.
Futility of hope
Two fascinating days at this expo, packed with experiences.
Even as the Palestinian issue seems to be gradually fading from the agenda of mainstream public opinion in the West, worn down by the futility of hope; despite the brainwashing in Israel that conflates Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group (IS) as identical, and despite the rising Islamophobia, I saw just the opposite during these two days: a tremendous interest in Palestine and genuine concern for its people, and determination to actively aid the Palestinians.
There was a scathing and bitter criticism of the occupation and its dispossession, abuse, humiliation, crimes, violations of international law – but without manifestations of antisemitism. Proving once again that it is possible (and necessary) to criticise Israel and even to act against it without being antisemitic.
Two figures I met there tell the story best: Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al-Aqsa, which organised the event, and Chief Zwelivelile Mandela, a member of the South African parliament and a key speaker at the exhibition. Patel is a Malawian-born Muslim of Indian origin who grew up in Britain.
A deep commitment
One visit to Palestine changed his life: he became an activist for Palestinian rights. He is an impressive, authoritative, soft-spoken man. He organizes these events from a deep commitment to the Palestinian issue.
Mandela is a larger-than-life figure: Nelson Mandela’s first grandson, he accompanied him during much of his global travel and today lives in his village, Qunu, and keeps faith with his grandfather’s legacy.
He is completely committed to the Palestinian cause, guided by Nelson Mandela’s teachings, including this one from 1995: “Our struggle will not be complete without freedom for the Palestinian people.”
Zwelivelile Mandela spoke very firmly during the panel discussions: Apartheid Israel shows all the characteristics of an apartheid state. In Israel, as in the West, some people still argue vainly over whether Israel is an apartheid state or not; the grandson of Nelson Mandela states unequivocally: “To us, the South Africans, it is clear: Israel is an apartheid state.
"We, all of us, who have experienced the brutality of South African apartheid – this [in Israel] is the worst form of apartheid we have witnessed.” His operative conclusion was also unequivocal: “We have a moral duty to boycott Israel because of its apartheid regime against the Palestinians.”
Could it be said with any greater clarity? Can we also brand the grandson of the greatest statesman and freedom fighter of the 20th century, the companion who was shaped by his influence and follows his path, as an antisemite? Zwelivelile Mandela’s words and the fascinating meetings with him will remain with me for a long time.
Another reality
One conference does not tell the whole story, of course, and we must not harbor false expectations.
At a time when Islamophobia is intensifying, the Jewish and Israeli propaganda machines are racking up big successes in Europe and America, branding every criticism of the Israeli occupation as antisemitism, the struggle against Israeli occupation is undergoing decriminalization. With all the regulations and legislation against BDS in Europe and the US, it becomes harder and harder to work against the Israeli occupation: just try to rent a hall for a Palestinian solidarity event in Germany or the US.
This gathering reminds us that another reality exists. It reminds us that the spirit of the struggle has not disappeared from Europe. That Palestine remains in the hearts of many. But we mustn’t delude ourselves: the struggle for justice and freedom for Palestinians is now at a nadir.
Palestinians are divided, bleeding from the wounds of the occupation and lacking leadership; Gaza is under a siege that defies credibility and has no end in sight; the West Bank is under a slightly more convenient occupation; US President Donald Trump is giving the occupation its strongest backing ever; and, with not a few right-wing governments supporting the occupation uninhibitedly, and Israel stronger than ever – the struggle is in a bad shape.
The inflection point in the international discourse between the two-state solution, whose time is apparently gone forever, and the one-state alternative, the only remaining solution, was evident in all the conference deliberations. Most, if not all, of the speakers explicitly supported the one-state solution. Most are not motivated by a desire to destroy Israel, as Israeli propaganda warns and as most Israelis claim.
Rather, they understand that only in the framework of one state can relative justice be achieved and most of the problems redressed. Most of the speakers also supported the only currently effective mode of action available in Western civil societies: BDS.
My two days at Olympia London were enjoyable and interesting. For two days in London it was possible to speak of hope, however faint and far away.
- Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist and a member of the newspaper's editorial board. Levy joined Haaretz in 1982, and spent four years as the newspaper's deputy editor. He was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996. His new book, The Punishment of Gaza, has just been published by Verso.
Welcome to Palestine Expo, the largest Palestinian event in Europe. Welcome to a surprising breath of fresh air.
Futility of hope
Two fascinating days at this expo, packed with experiences.
Even as the Palestinian issue seems to be gradually fading from the agenda of mainstream public opinion in the West, worn down by the futility of hope; despite the brainwashing in Israel that conflates Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group (IS) as identical, and despite the rising Islamophobia, I saw just the opposite during these two days: a tremendous interest in Palestine and genuine concern for its people, and determination to actively aid the Palestinians.
There was a scathing and bitter criticism of the occupation and its dispossession, abuse, humiliation, crimes, violations of international law – but without manifestations of antisemitism. Proving once again that it is possible (and necessary) to criticise Israel and even to act against it without being antisemitic.
Two figures I met there tell the story best: Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al-Aqsa, which organised the event, and Chief Zwelivelile Mandela, a member of the South African parliament and a key speaker at the exhibition. Patel is a Malawian-born Muslim of Indian origin who grew up in Britain.
A deep commitment
One visit to Palestine changed his life: he became an activist for Palestinian rights. He is an impressive, authoritative, soft-spoken man. He organizes these events from a deep commitment to the Palestinian issue.
Mandela is a larger-than-life figure: Nelson Mandela’s first grandson, he accompanied him during much of his global travel and today lives in his village, Qunu, and keeps faith with his grandfather’s legacy.
He is completely committed to the Palestinian cause, guided by Nelson Mandela’s teachings, including this one from 1995: “Our struggle will not be complete without freedom for the Palestinian people.”
Zwelivelile Mandela spoke very firmly during the panel discussions: Apartheid Israel shows all the characteristics of an apartheid state. In Israel, as in the West, some people still argue vainly over whether Israel is an apartheid state or not; the grandson of Nelson Mandela states unequivocally: “To us, the South Africans, it is clear: Israel is an apartheid state.
"We, all of us, who have experienced the brutality of South African apartheid – this [in Israel] is the worst form of apartheid we have witnessed.” His operative conclusion was also unequivocal: “We have a moral duty to boycott Israel because of its apartheid regime against the Palestinians.”
Could it be said with any greater clarity? Can we also brand the grandson of the greatest statesman and freedom fighter of the 20th century, the companion who was shaped by his influence and follows his path, as an antisemite? Zwelivelile Mandela’s words and the fascinating meetings with him will remain with me for a long time.
Another reality
One conference does not tell the whole story, of course, and we must not harbor false expectations.
At a time when Islamophobia is intensifying, the Jewish and Israeli propaganda machines are racking up big successes in Europe and America, branding every criticism of the Israeli occupation as antisemitism, the struggle against Israeli occupation is undergoing decriminalization. With all the regulations and legislation against BDS in Europe and the US, it becomes harder and harder to work against the Israeli occupation: just try to rent a hall for a Palestinian solidarity event in Germany or the US.
This gathering reminds us that another reality exists. It reminds us that the spirit of the struggle has not disappeared from Europe. That Palestine remains in the hearts of many. But we mustn’t delude ourselves: the struggle for justice and freedom for Palestinians is now at a nadir.
Palestinians are divided, bleeding from the wounds of the occupation and lacking leadership; Gaza is under a siege that defies credibility and has no end in sight; the West Bank is under a slightly more convenient occupation; US President Donald Trump is giving the occupation its strongest backing ever; and, with not a few right-wing governments supporting the occupation uninhibitedly, and Israel stronger than ever – the struggle is in a bad shape.
The inflection point in the international discourse between the two-state solution, whose time is apparently gone forever, and the one-state alternative, the only remaining solution, was evident in all the conference deliberations. Most, if not all, of the speakers explicitly supported the one-state solution. Most are not motivated by a desire to destroy Israel, as Israeli propaganda warns and as most Israelis claim.
Rather, they understand that only in the framework of one state can relative justice be achieved and most of the problems redressed. Most of the speakers also supported the only currently effective mode of action available in Western civil societies: BDS.
My two days at Olympia London were enjoyable and interesting. For two days in London it was possible to speak of hope, however faint and far away.
- Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist and a member of the newspaper's editorial board. Levy joined Haaretz in 1982, and spent four years as the newspaper's deputy editor. He was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996. His new book, The Punishment of Gaza, has just been published by Verso.
14 july 2019
Interfaith peace activists heckled speakers, at the summit of the world’s largest Christian Zionist organization, in a protest over the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Demonstrators were forcibly ejected from the Washington meeting by security staff after disrupting the speeches of key convention delegates, PNN reports.
More than 100 Christian, Jewish and Muslim protesters chanted slogans and waved banners inside and outside the annual conference of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which had CUFI founder John Hagee, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and US Vice President Mike Pence as plenary speakers.
The joint action, by faith leaders and community members, was in protest over CUFI’s support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Several protesters disrupted the speeches of Hagee and Pence with Tarek Abuata, director of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), standing up and shouting, “Zionism is racism.” He was handcuffed by security officials and carried out of the convention center while calling, “People of God, wake up! Protect the Palestinian people.”
Christian and Jewish faith leaders also interrupted the US vice president’s address, chanting, “Jews and Christians say no to Zionism.” They too were dragged from the hall by conference guards.
One of them, Jonathan Brenneman, an American Palestinian activist, told Arab News that his actions were carried out in order to expose the occupation and express his views that Christian Zionists were not adhering to the true Christian faith.
FOSNA national organizer, Rochelle Watson, who also disrupted Pence, said: “We have reached a point where remaining faithful requires us to take bold action by speaking truth to power.”
During Hagee’s speech, protesters shouted, “Israel imprisons children, our God liberates” and “Israel demolishes homes, our God shelters.”
Outside the summit, demonstrators blocked one entrance to the conference center, and later an intersection. They prayed, sang, and read out the names of Palestinian children they claimed had been killed or injured as a result of Israeli policies, while holding up posters that read, “Reclaim Our Theology” and “Thou Shall Not Kill.”
The coalition of faith groups included the FOSNA, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR).
Jonathan Brenneman, a Palestinian-American Christian with the Mennonite Church, said: “I’m here in sacred witness for Mohammed, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, whose leg was amputated after he was shot by Israeli soldiers.”
Another protester with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, in New York, said: “I’m here because I have been struggling against the messaging that ‘all Jews support Israel.’ We just need to resist in a holistic way against the forces of empire that are using religion to do this work.”
Abuata said of the action: “We are here to bear sacred witness and hold CUFI accountable to a theology of love.”
Demonstrators were forcibly ejected from the Washington meeting by security staff after disrupting the speeches of key convention delegates, PNN reports.
More than 100 Christian, Jewish and Muslim protesters chanted slogans and waved banners inside and outside the annual conference of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which had CUFI founder John Hagee, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and US Vice President Mike Pence as plenary speakers.
The joint action, by faith leaders and community members, was in protest over CUFI’s support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Several protesters disrupted the speeches of Hagee and Pence with Tarek Abuata, director of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), standing up and shouting, “Zionism is racism.” He was handcuffed by security officials and carried out of the convention center while calling, “People of God, wake up! Protect the Palestinian people.”
Christian and Jewish faith leaders also interrupted the US vice president’s address, chanting, “Jews and Christians say no to Zionism.” They too were dragged from the hall by conference guards.
One of them, Jonathan Brenneman, an American Palestinian activist, told Arab News that his actions were carried out in order to expose the occupation and express his views that Christian Zionists were not adhering to the true Christian faith.
FOSNA national organizer, Rochelle Watson, who also disrupted Pence, said: “We have reached a point where remaining faithful requires us to take bold action by speaking truth to power.”
During Hagee’s speech, protesters shouted, “Israel imprisons children, our God liberates” and “Israel demolishes homes, our God shelters.”
Outside the summit, demonstrators blocked one entrance to the conference center, and later an intersection. They prayed, sang, and read out the names of Palestinian children they claimed had been killed or injured as a result of Israeli policies, while holding up posters that read, “Reclaim Our Theology” and “Thou Shall Not Kill.”
The coalition of faith groups included the FOSNA, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR).
Jonathan Brenneman, a Palestinian-American Christian with the Mennonite Church, said: “I’m here in sacred witness for Mohammed, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, whose leg was amputated after he was shot by Israeli soldiers.”
Another protester with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, in New York, said: “I’m here because I have been struggling against the messaging that ‘all Jews support Israel.’ We just need to resist in a holistic way against the forces of empire that are using religion to do this work.”
Abuata said of the action: “We are here to bear sacred witness and hold CUFI accountable to a theology of love.”
9 jan 2019
Moroccan Jewish scholar, Jacob Cohen
The Moroccan Jewish scholar, Jacob Cohen, who is known for his anti-Zionist ideas, stated that “Israel is still employing the cause of the Holocaust to justify the occupation and gain the sympathy of global public opinion.”
Cohen’s statement came during a seminar entitled: “The Holocaust and the Zionist Agenda,” which was organised by the non-governmental National Working Group for Palestine in Rabat.
Cohen, who is a human rights activist and an author, added: “Israel has been trying to invest in this cause since the 1970s in order redeem its public image and distract the world from the violations committed against the Palestinian people.”
“Israelis are always trying to raise this issue to suggest that Israel is threatened,” he noted.
Cohen continued: “At the domestic level, all the Israeli governments are trying to root the Holocaust issue in the consciousness of the Israeli citizens to continue spreading fear and violence and create a state of permanent aptness for war.”
The Israeli authorities claim that Israel needs security, so it must keep the Golan Heights and other Arab territories in a state of occupation. Thus, they are always trying to convince foreign diplomats to believe in such a narrative he said.
Cohen pointed out that after some EU countries boycotted some of the Israeli products, which are manufactured in settlements in the West Bank, “Israel’s answer was to publish several pictures showing Jewish merchants being boycotted by the Nazis, claiming that there is an attempt to reproduce the same scenario of the Holocaust. Such propaganda forced many countries to reconsider the idea of boycotting Israeli products.”
Cohen also indicated that “the Jewish lobby is working to transform the Holocaust into an unquestionable historical event which should not be placed under scrutiny as other historical narratives. Likewise, this lobby is attempting to block all kinds of research regarding this issue.”
He indicated: “The Jewish lobby forbids the use of the term “Holocaust” to describe the suffering of persecuted Indians or Africans, consecrating all possible efforts to reserve the use of such term exclusively for Jews.”
Cohen considered that “there are many types of repressive acts that can be referred to as a Holocaust and not just the ones related to the Jews.”
Cohen, who was born in the Moroccan city of Meknes, confirmed that “Israel does not want peace and relies on a system that cannot give up the use of weaponry.”
The Moroccan Jewish scholar, Jacob Cohen, who is known for his anti-Zionist ideas, stated that “Israel is still employing the cause of the Holocaust to justify the occupation and gain the sympathy of global public opinion.”
Cohen’s statement came during a seminar entitled: “The Holocaust and the Zionist Agenda,” which was organised by the non-governmental National Working Group for Palestine in Rabat.
Cohen, who is a human rights activist and an author, added: “Israel has been trying to invest in this cause since the 1970s in order redeem its public image and distract the world from the violations committed against the Palestinian people.”
“Israelis are always trying to raise this issue to suggest that Israel is threatened,” he noted.
Cohen continued: “At the domestic level, all the Israeli governments are trying to root the Holocaust issue in the consciousness of the Israeli citizens to continue spreading fear and violence and create a state of permanent aptness for war.”
The Israeli authorities claim that Israel needs security, so it must keep the Golan Heights and other Arab territories in a state of occupation. Thus, they are always trying to convince foreign diplomats to believe in such a narrative he said.
Cohen pointed out that after some EU countries boycotted some of the Israeli products, which are manufactured in settlements in the West Bank, “Israel’s answer was to publish several pictures showing Jewish merchants being boycotted by the Nazis, claiming that there is an attempt to reproduce the same scenario of the Holocaust. Such propaganda forced many countries to reconsider the idea of boycotting Israeli products.”
Cohen also indicated that “the Jewish lobby is working to transform the Holocaust into an unquestionable historical event which should not be placed under scrutiny as other historical narratives. Likewise, this lobby is attempting to block all kinds of research regarding this issue.”
He indicated: “The Jewish lobby forbids the use of the term “Holocaust” to describe the suffering of persecuted Indians or Africans, consecrating all possible efforts to reserve the use of such term exclusively for Jews.”
Cohen considered that “there are many types of repressive acts that can be referred to as a Holocaust and not just the ones related to the Jews.”
Cohen, who was born in the Moroccan city of Meknes, confirmed that “Israel does not want peace and relies on a system that cannot give up the use of weaponry.”
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