Celebrating racism as your birthright.

Well, where do I even begin? Sometimes words are not enough to properly convey the strength of emotion that we as individuals feel.

As of writing this article, Israel has killed around 1% of Gaza's population of 2 million. To put that into context, imagine 3 million Americans being killed or one third of all people living in London. It is a massacre of biblical proportions. What makes this even more startling and disturbing is that the United States and United Kingdom are allowing this to happen. It's a very bitter pill to swallow for the rest of us watching this killing occurring in almost real time.

Or perhaps we should not be surprised? For anyone who has been watching the developments of Israeli domestic politics, we can quite clearly see how the country has steadily slid towards a nightmarish hyper-nationalistic apartheid state. This was met with virtual nonchalance across most of Western media at the time of the Israeli elections back in November 2o22.

The current status quo is in some part a disaster of Tel Aviv's own construct. Repeated inflammatory and provocative actions by this hard core Zionist faction was eventually going to be met with a response by Hamas/Palestinians.

Let's take the example of Itamar Ben-Gvir. He grew up an ardent follower of Meir Kahane, an extremist Israeli leader who founded the right wing Jewish Defence League or JDL. Mr Ben-Gvir is an incendiary figure within Israeli society to say the least. He represents the very worst of Jewish - Zionist extremism and leads the far right Jewish Power party. To quote an article from the New Yorker: "Ben-Gvir, who is forty-six, has been convicted on at least eight charges, including supporting a terrorist organisation and incitement to racism, compiling a criminal record so long that, when he appeared before a judge, “we had to change the ink on the printer,” Dvir Kariv, a former official in the Shin Bet intelligence agency"

Amongst his numerous transgressions, in 2021 he pulled a gun and threatened to shoot a Palestinian car park attendant who had asked him not to park in a restricted area. A simple Google search will allow you to read all about his crazy far right antics, which are simply abhorrent. Thankfully, many Israelis also express discomfort at this politician running National Security.

Let's move on now to another racist. This time it's the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely. This is how Haaretz described her: "Hotovely is an unabashed Islamophobe and religious fundamentalist who denies the existence of the Palestinian people and supports annexation of the entire West Bank and Jewish control of the Temple Mount."

No mincing of words there then. A few days ago, during an interview on UK television she quite clearly stated that the chances of a two state solution were next to zero. As if that wasn't bad enough, she also has a track record of attacking anyone from the Jewish diaspora who criticises Israeli policies, going so far as to question their Jewish credentials. At the time of her appointment, a large number of British Jews signed a petition protesting her appointment, citing her extremist ideologies.

Let's keep it moving. Meet Aryeh King, the far right deputy of Jerusalem. One week ago, he suggested on X, that Palestinian prisoners should be, and I quote, "buried alive." This was in response to the capture of and parading of Palestinian prisoners:

It's not just the Palestinians he targets. His track record includes protesting against Christian missionaries who visit Jerusalem as well as attacks on the LGBTQ community within Israel. Again, I won't go into the details, a Google search will give you all the glory details.

The list goes on and on, and I've not even mentioned the violent Jewish settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank in pursuit of expanding their settlements.

I think by now (I hope) you are seeing the bigger picture and just how dangerous and extreme Israeli society is becoming. Thankfully, many Israelis can see through the vile, racially based form of political governance that has infected the Jewish state.

When you believe you have a God given to right to something, and use religious scripture to justify your position, it is very difficult to persuade said person to change their views. It goes without saying that the plight of the Palestinians is beyond desperate, it's so upsetting and a stain on our claim to be a civilised tolerant world. But I also feel really sorry for the moderate Jews and Israelis of this world, who must look in horror to what has happened to their country. Way before October 7th, huge protests were taking place against Netanyahu for his proposed judicial overhaul, and his handling of the current crisis all but seals his end as a politician. Many Israelis were already getting increasingly agitated about the direction that there country was heading towards, way before October 7th.

It's hard to see how peace will ever come to this part of the world, but I am hoping that the impending collapse of the ultra right wing government will herald a more pragmatic and conciliatory approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

We can but pray together, Israelis, Arabs, Jews and Muslims.