the West’s disregard for the statements and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir , noting that he did not come to power out of nowhere, but rather the international community helped him to stay in his position by granting Israel complete impunity.
Hot Topics
At the outset, the writer Ben-Gvir introduced the leader of the extreme right-wing Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party in Israel, saying that he is an excessively evil man and “you may have heard his name before: he made international headlines when he filmed himself mocking handcuffed activists who were being held while trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. But you may not be aware of many of his recent shocking statements, because they have not received widespread coverage in the American media.”
She initially pointed to an AI-generated video that Ben-Gvir. The video showed Palestinian prisoners, seemingly in good health, standing on a conveyor belt towards a detention camp, then emerging emaciated and skinny. The accompanying caption read, “We promised – we delivered!” This appears to be a reference to the National Security Minister’s promise to worsen the conditions of Palestinian prisoners and make them a living hell—a key objective of his. Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has described Israeli prisons holding Palestinians as “torture camps.”
The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem described the Israeli prisons where Palestinians are detained as "torture camps".
She said she was being cautious about presenting the latest video and advised viewers to seek it out and watch it in its entirety to fully grasp its horrific nature. While the video has been removed, it remains online.
If Hassan Baker, she says, in a similar way and focused on the Israelis instead of the Palestinians, the story would have made headlines, and American lawmakers, who all seem to be obsessed with Baker, would have demanded that he be punished.
Mahdawi adds that Ben-Gvir also has some bizarre ideas for punishment. One of his sick fantasies was placing crocodiles in ditches around prisons where Palestinians are held to prevent escapes. The plan has now been suspended because Israeli human rights organizations said it would be cruel to the crocodiles!
In the discussion about Palestinian prisoners and the harsh treatment they are subjected to, the writer emphasizes that among them are 200 children detained under the “administrative detention” law, a technical name for a miserable and nightmarish practice.
According to B'Tselem's definition: "In administrative detention, a person who has not committed any crime is detained on the basis of his intention to commit an offense in the future. Because this measure is preventive, it is indefinite. The person is detained without legal proceedings, by order of the military commander of the area based on secret evidence that is not disclosed."
In other words: If you are Palestinian, heavily armed Israeli soldiers can storm your home in the middle of the night and take you to what resembles a torture chamber, even though you have not committed any crime, and detain you there indefinitely without telling you why you are being detained or informing your family of your whereabouts.
When you hear the word “prisoner,” people like Ben-Gvir want you to think of dangerous terrorists who deserve whatever they get.
Indeed, many like Layan Nasser, a 23-year-old woman, were taken at gunpoint from her parents' home for no apparent reason, and made international headlines only for being Christian.
Returning to Ben-Gvir, who is trying to control the lives of prisoners, one of his most notable achievements is the racist death penalty law, which was literally written to be applied exclusively to Palestinians.
Last month, Ben-Gvir posted a video of a gallows where Palestinians convicted of terrorism would be executed. For his birthday in June, he celebrated with a cake shaped like a noose.
Ben-Gvir not only wants to execute his opponents, but also wants to spill more blood in Gaza, which remains a war zone despite the so-called ceasefire.
But Ben-Gvir doesn't just want to execute his opponents; he wants to spill more blood in Gaza, which remains a war zone despite the so-called ceasefire. He recently said on a podcast: “I think we should carry out 30 to 40 targeted assassinations [in Gaza] every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat; there are people who don't deserve to live; they aren't even human.”
And the list of his evil deeds is long, says Mahdawi. He recently filmed himself entering prison cells containing Palestinian women and threatening them.
In the same podcast where he urged nighttime killings in Gaza, he went so far as to say he believed Israel should occupy all of Gaza. On Monday, he stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, accompanied by extremist settlers and under the protection of the Israeli army.
And this is what he does regularly: a blatant provocation and flagrant violation of an agreement that grants Muslims the exclusive right to perform their religious rites at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Jews pray at the Western Wall. But Ben-Gvir and his ilk seek to change the decades-old status quo and give Israel complete control. “We are in charge here in Jerusalem and throughout the Land of Israel,” Ben-Gvir said during a visit to the Temple Mount in 2023.
Mahdawi says that Ben-Gvir is so brazen that there is no justification for his actions. He has been condemned and sanctioned by politicians and governments around the world. Nevertheless, Israel's defenders have tried to portray him as a fringe figure. The American Jewish Committee stated in August, following the politician's remarks about settlements in Gaza: "Ben-Gvir's statements do not reflect the policy of the State of Israel and should be condemned by all who care about Israel's future."Some of Ben-Gvir’s peers have tried to distance themselves from him and the extremists, with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemning the video in which Ben-Gvir mocks foreign activists, saying: “You are not the face of Israel.”
Mahdawi commented that Ben-Gvir might be a source of embarrassment, but he is not an anomaly. He largely represents the face of modern Israel, and his vision of it accurately reflects the reality on the ground.
She referred to what Israeli journalist Amira Hass wrote in Haaretz this week: “Israeli policy aims to make life unbearable for Palestinians wherever they are, so that their emigration can be described as a voluntary act. ‘Erasure’ is the nightmarish solution that translates into a daily reality.”
Settler violence is escalating, they are seizing more land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the dehumanization of Palestinians has become widely accepted in Israeli society.
Haas continues, saying: “These forces and other similar forces are working together to create the physical, ideological, and psychological infrastructure within Israeli Jewish society, in preparation for another mass displacement of Palestinians, and the massacres that may accompany it.”
Mahdawi said she referred to Haas as a brilliant journalist, and because the writer is of Palestinian origin, and quotes her because Haas, by virtue of being Israeli, is a figure worth listening to and reading. As for the Palestinians, the world has made it clear that we are barbarians and no one believes what we say.
Mahdawi commented that this widespread dehumanization of Palestinians led to the audacity of someone like Ben-Gvir. He did not come to power out of nowhere, but was helped by an international community that granted Israel complete immunity. He also received support and incitement from international media organizations that contributed to distorting the image of Palestinians, questioning their claims, and fabricating approval for erasing their existence and expelling them.
He was supported by legislators who told us that Israel must be defended at all costs. Now, in the barren land of Gaza, in the nightly massacres perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and in Ben-Gvir's blatant thirst for blood, we are witnessing the inevitable result of this unconditional support. Ben-Gvir is not an anomaly; he is a product of the international community.
Tags:
asiawest
