On the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli troops massacred at least 62 civilians in the Palestinian city of Gaza. Among the individuals who were killed with chemical gas and bullets, were 8-month-old infants, children and women. Approximately 3,000 others have reportedly been injured in the assault.
The victims had no other "fault" but commemorating the 1948 exodus of 750,000 Palestinians from their native lands, also known as the Nakba, or "catastrophe." At the time of the attack, they were unarmed and in an empty plot of land, and ultimately posed no threat to public safety.
The Israeli government, in turn, argues that the civilians, who organized a protest on the same day as the dedication ceremony of Washington's embassy in Jerusalem, were potentially terrorists. After all, they voted for the elected and legitimate administration of Gaza. Killing them, in the eyes of Israel, was a mandatory step taken in the name of national security.
This has been a Zionist maxim to which successive Israeli governments subscribed for more than half a century. At the same time, it is testament to Israel's level of intolerance toward the residual crumbs of a state, which was invaded and taken apart with references to the holy scripture in violation of international law.
Unfortunately, this policy, which ruined the lives of thousands of Palestinian civilians, serves the interests of nobody except a small group of ruling elites – not to mention that it ruins the lives and the future of Jews in Israel and elsewhere.
The dead body of every Palestinian, who loses their life as a result of Israel's disproportionate use of force, ends up fueling the fire of hate. It paints a target on the back of Jews who live in various parts of the world. To make matters worse, it facilitates the brainwashing of young people who are used in terrorist attacks.
The attitude of successive Israeli governments, which ironically resembles the Nazi mentality, is the reason why the country has been living under dire economic circumstances since its establishment.
Yes, we are talking about a vicious circle. However mild, repression keeps alive the popular reaction. In the end, the whole episode serves as a perfect smokescreen to ramp up the violence and hide economic and political black holes.
Luckily, some developments, at least in part, improve this dark picture.
Jews who take to the streets of Jerusalem and Washington stand in solidarity with their Palestinians brothers and sisters. Religious Jews react to the state of Israel's exploitation of their holy book to legitimize massacres.
Perhaps their numbers are limited today. But they mean a lot to the resolution of this problem.
After all, "great humanity" alone will defeat fascism as it did half a century ago.
