The headlines have shifted to Iran, but Israel continues to starve, bomb and expel the population of northern Gaza.
While Israeli society as a whole has activated its denial mode, the horrifying images – and the politics, statements and reality behind them – are causing some Israelis to protest war crimes, or even utter the word genocide.
Trigger warning – and be grateful for that, because I didn’t have one last week when a photo of a girl with half her head appeared on my feed one morning. Its fuzzy pink covering was almost indistinguishable from the part that was once inside its head, now spread around its body. His face, however, was mostly preserved, his frozen eyes half-closed, still looking at me.
No matter how much photographic, testimonial and real-time documentation Let’s see, the battle for true continues with full force. And nothing ignites debate more than the word “genocide”.
For Palestinians, genocide is a descriptive fact – anything else is a lie. For international courts, it is a legal conventionwith the International Court of Justice deliberating South Africa’s accusations according to a high standard of evidence, while ruling that Palestinians have a plausible right to be protected under that convention.
For many Israelis, the word is a anti-Semitic conspiracy and a lie.
The Israeli government already categorically denies lesser accusations – war crimes, ethnic cleansing, a second Nakba.
But the worse things get in northern Gaza, the more Israeli society activates its ways of long-term denial.
Nations rarely want to face their crimes. Israel has made long and elaborate efforts over the years to deny its worst deeds. It is already clear how this will work in the years and decades to come.
Israel’s leadership classified the files related to the Nakba during the Revolutionary War, while David Ben-Gurion cultivated the idea that most Palestinians left at the instruction of their leaders, according to historian Shay Hazkani. Archives were declassified, academics revealed terrible truths, and Israel reclassified the material.
In recent years, denial efforts have focused on individual cases, teasing out small details to prove Israel’s innocence – hoping this will paint a bigger picture of exoneration of the occupation overall.
Examples include the cottage industry that has emerged over the years to prove that Mohammed al-Duraaged 12, was not killed by Israeli fire in 2000.
Justification It’s another strategy of denial, and it’s not unique to Israel. “There is no crime, absolutely none, that cannot be tolerated when ‘our’ side commits it“, wrote George Orwell in 1945.
Making motifs also occurs: in 2017, Israeli police claimed to have killed Yakub Abu al-Kiyan for being a Islamic State terrorist; he was not, and the attack was unjustified.
O denialism comes into action when events are too terrible to be admitted. The headlines moved to Iran, but Israel still starve, bomb and expel the population of northern Gaza.
Many suspect that he is implementing the “General’s Plan”, which seeks empty northern Gaza of Palestinians. Developed by former security officials, the plan orders the evacuation of 300,000 to 400,000 civilians, followed by an end to humanitarian aid and bombings.
This plan aligns with proposals defended by the Misgave Institutecalling for an Israeli military government in northern Gaza. Members of the ruling coalition, including the party Likudreaffirmed their intention to clean up Gaza for Jewish resettlement.
IDF officials have declared that Israel is not implementing the “General’s Plan.” But officials on the ground in northern Gaza told the Haaretz that the plan is being implemented openly.
A IDF says it expanded humanitarian zones for Gazans, but Tania Hary, executive director of the Israeli NGO Gisharejects this term: “There is nothing really humanitarian over the area… there is not enough help or shelter for the people there, and airstrikes still happen.”
The normative environment of knowledge suppression includes the media. Israeli television news editors avoid showing the misery in Gaza. THE Committee to Protect Journalists reported 128 journalists killed in Gaza.
Israel closed Al Jazeera in the region, and foreign journalists only enter Gaza if integrated into the IDF.
To be sure, Israel is not alone in denial. Polls show that almost 90% of Palestinians do not believe that atrocities were committed on October 7th. But now, it is the horror of Gaza that needs to stop.
Perhaps the most surprising development is the decline of denial – Israeli authorities and individuals they declare Israel’s plans openly, sometimes proudly.
The South African government has gathered Israeli statements that signal an alleged genocidal intentand authorities continued to do so – including Bezalel Smotrichwho said starving Gazans to death would be justified.
Think tanks publicly debate whether this is genocide. In conversations, people far from the radical left believe that statements and actions in northern Gaza fit this definition.
Small steps between groups in society cannot stop the carnage fast enough, but knowing is a start. Israel could avoid future debates and save many lives by ending the war now.
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2024/10/30/o-horror-em-gaza-cresce-mas-israel-tenta-manter-o-silencio/
