Human rights defenders alarmed by Israel’s new ‘fascist, racist and colonizing’ government

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Global concerns over Israel’s new government, particularly what it means for Palestinians, continued to grow on Thursday as Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in to serve as prime minister again, this time leading the coalition far right and most religiously conservative in the country’s history.

The embattled leader was sworn in following a 63-54 vote of confidence in his new government by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. He appointed 30 ministers and three deputy ministers from his Likud party as well as Noam, Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”), Religious Zionism, Shas and United Torah Judaism.

“It is already clear that the emerging coalition will be disastrous for human rights between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”

The coalition finalized on Wednesday includes “a mix of an ultra-Orthodox and right-wing bloc,” with some of the “most right-wing politicians we’ve seen,” Al Jazeera’s Sara Khairat reported Thursday from West Jerusalem, while as the demonstrators gathered. “They were on the fringes of politics and now they are on the main stage.”

Some ministerial appointments were only possible because of two laws passed by the Knesset on Tuesday, one allowing Shas’ Aryeh Deri to serve as interior minister despite his recent conviction for tax evasion and a another allowing Bezalel Smotrich of Religious Zionism to hold several positions.

“These laws… dovetail with Netanyahu’s own attempt to evade potential liability for his longstanding bribery/corruption trial,” Mondoweiss’ Jonathan Ofir wrote. “If such exceptions can be made for Smotrich and Deri and cemented in law, it paves the way for the same for Netanyahu, when the need arises.”

\u201cAt @BtSIsrael, we have been warning for years against the rising forces of Kahanism and Jewish supremacy. Proud to be part of this organization alongside others who strongly resist this government. as the mask slips. Important \ud83e\uddf5\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\u201d

Benzion Sanders (@Benzion Sanders) 1672329711

Another controversial choice was Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit, the new national security minister, who was convicted in 2007 of inciting racism against Arabs and supporting a terrorist organization. As Common Dreams reported last week, the government has reached an agreement to lift the ban on parliamentary candidates who incite racism.

In a joint statement on Thursday, several advocacy groups said “it is already clear that the emerging coalition will be disastrous for human rights between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”

\u201cWe call on everyone who cares about the future of this place to support us.\u201d

B’Tselem \u05d1\u05e6\u05dc\u05dd \u0628\u062a\u0633\u064a\u0644\u0645

“Previous Israeli governments have already tightened military control over millions of Palestinians, seriously undermined their human rights and made it harder for them to have a just future,” they continued. “The top officials of this new government have made it clear that they intend to exacerbate this trend and come up with dangerous measures.”

Organizations such as Adalah, B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, Peace Now and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) have warned that “occupation and apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories have made Jewish supremacy the law of facto of the country and the new government is seeking to adopt this in its official policy.”

\u201cIt is happening now: thousands of people are protesting the swearing in of the most fascist, racist and colonizing government in the history of Israel. \n\nIsrael is not a democracy while the occupation exists.\u201d

Peace Now (@Peace Now) 1672312602

“As the mask falls, we will continue to stand firm to protect the human rights of the region’s most vulnerable population,” the groups concluded. “We call on everyone who cares about the future of this place to stand with us.”

Warning of the coalition’s determination “to hurt the vulnerable, discriminate against and deny medical care to migrants, Palestinians and gay people”, PHRI said in a series of tweets on Thursday that “it is time to resist “.

\u201c2/The language may be whitewashed, but the plans are clear: legalize racist and queer-phobic discrimination, imprison refugees, and corrupt a \u201cCivil Administration\u201d by masking a military government.\n\nIt it’s time to resist. We must harness our expertise to prepare for the attacks to come.\u201d

Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) (@Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI)) 1672317345

On the eve of his inauguration, Netanyahu outlined the program of the new government and made it clear that the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory was a top priority.

“The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land of Israel. The government will encourage and develop settlement in all parts of the land of Israel in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria,” the agenda states.

\u201cApartheid… what is apartheid?\n\nThe 1st sentence of Netanyahu’s government directives:\n”The Jewish people have an EXCLUSIVE and indisputable right to all parts of the Land of Israel. The government will encourage and develop settlements… in the Galilee, Negev, Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria”\u201d

Muhammad Shehada (@Muhammad Shehada) 1672226815

Juan Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan, noted on his blog Informed Comment that a Jordanian newspaper called the Jewish-only right wing of Netanyahu’s platform “the execution of the Palestinian people.”

Cole added that “since Netanyahu has no intention of granting Israeli citizenship to the three million Palestinians living under Israeli military rule, the formal annexation of their territory would cement Israel’s apartheid system of racial difference”, a warning echoed by many other critics.

\u201c2/4 This goes even further than the 2018 Jewish National State Law, which defines self-determination as unique to the Jewish people within the \u2018State of Israel’\u201d

East (@East) 1672237769

\u201c4/4 Guiding principles, coalition agreements and recent legislative initiatives leave no doubt as to the direction in which the next government is heading: deepening its policies of apartheid and intensifying Jewish supremacy and systemic discrimination against Palestinians.\u201d

East (@East) 1672237769

After Netanyahu tweeted the land rights agenda lines in Hebrew, Palestinian-American writer Yousef Munayyer replied, “Say it in English so your fellow apartheid apologists here can understand it.

Munayyer also pointed to the US government’s silence on the matter, while US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides praised Netanyahu and proclaimed, “This is the strong US-Israeli relationship and unbreakable ties. “.

\u201cSo far, the US government has remained completely silent on this subject, with the exception of its ambassador to Israel who warmly congratulated Netanyahu.\u201d

Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayer) is not following anyone. Autodesk_new

In a statement Thursday, US President Joe Biden said, among other things, “I look forward to working with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been my friend for decades, to jointly address the many challenges and opportunities facing Israel and the Middle East region. East are facing”.

Although Biden did not explicitly address concerns about Israel’s new far-right government, he added that “as we have done throughout my administration, the United States will continue to support the two-way solution. States and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values.”

In a Twitter thread, Sina Toossi of the Center for International Policy noted that the US government has long “turned a blind eye to human rights abuses committed by its allies” and asserted that “the new Netanyahu government in Israel will of the American double standard on human rights even more blatant and blatant.”

\u201c5) The United States has always turned a blind eye to human rights abuses committed by its allies, and Israel is a prime example of this.\n\nThe United States has always put its own interests first strategic in relation to the promotion of human rights.\u201d

Sina Toossi (@Sina Toossi) 1672344205

\u201c7) The new Netanyahu government in Israel will make the American double standard on human rights even more egregious and egregious.\n\nBiden is now talking about his \u201cami\u201d who leads an openly fascist and ethno-supremacist government with a stated goal to accelerate ethnic cleansing.\n\n/end\u201d

Sina Toossi (@Sina Toossi) 1672344205Philip Weiss wrote for Mondoweiss on Thursday that the “deafening silence” from some US Zionist organizations shows they “are clearly upset” that Netanyahu has ignored calls not to move forward with a coalition which “includes fascist and racist/messianic groups”. convicted felons, as it would damage US-Jewish relations and provide ammunition to anti-Zionists. »

Weiss also pointed out that “the leading Jewish anti-Zionist group jumped on the new Israeli government today to catalyze Jewish support for democracy in Israel and Palestine.”

As he pointed out, Judith Butler of the US-based Jewish Voice for Peace said that “political strife on Jewish dinner tables across the Diaspora is a sure sign that consensus on the character “democratic” State of Israel has collapsed.”

Butler continued:

The new Israeli government has proven to be the most shameless racist in its history. Yes, but racism has been there from the start, a founding credo Of course, it’s good that we are shocked by Israeli racism, now more and more shameless, because the world shouldn’t be like that. And yet, many of us come late to this sense of shock and outrage. It is time to act now, knowing that it has been time to act for a very long time!

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced earlier this month that “150 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces so far this year, including 33 children”. the highest death toll in the region since the UN began tracking in 2005.

Three UN special rapporteurs have condemned the mounting violence by Israeli forces and settlers, as well as the illegal occupation more broadly.

“Illegal settlement poses a corrosive threat to Israeli society as a whole,” they said, “and unless Israeli forces abandon this dominant settler mindset and rightly treat Palestinians as occupied territories as protected persons, Israel’s deplorable record in the occupied West Bank will deteriorate further in 2023.”

The experts added that “no peaceful settlement can be pursued under Israel’s repressive occupation: a reality that should be a wake-up call for all decision-makers.”

This post has been updated with comments from US President Joe Biden and Sina Toossi.

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