In Israel, Far-right Fantasies of Genocide Distract From Gaza's True Catastrophe - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Since the publication of the petition filed by South Africa to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the public discussion in Israel has focused – perhaps in horror, perhaps in amusement – on the chapter describing the murderous statements of Israeli public figures, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to singer Kobi Peretz and broadcaster Yinon Magal.
Somewhere along the way, the discussion of a much longer and more important chapter has been neglected: the one that isn't about statements but about actions, Israel's handiwork in Gaza in recent months.
The choice to focus on the statements accords with the spirit of the times, which prefers to obsess about presentations instead of rolling up our sleeves and dealing with the reality itself.
It's much more pleasant to make wisecracks on the internet against the crazy declarations of Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and TV commentator Eliyahu Yossian – and in doing so to distance ourselves from them too – than to discuss the catastrophe that is taking place in Gaza. Eliyahu and Yossian are really the smokescreen that enables us to repress the truth.
As opposed to the plethora of remarks by degenerates in key positions, which have been discussed incessantly, the part of the petition about the conditions in Gazaprovides a frightening look at the situation that all the media outlets are mobilized to hide from us, and that most Israelis in any case prefer not to see.
"Veteran humanitarian workers, who have served in war and disaster zones all over the world, people who have already seen everything, say that they have never seen anything resembling what they're seeing today in Gaza," notes the petition, citing some of their reactions: "apocalyptic," "a living hell," "a war in which everything is unprecedented."
According to the petition, every day an average of over 115 children are killed in Gaza. "It's a cemetery for children," according to Unicef spokesman James Elder. "In most conflicts, the percentage of children of all those killed is about 20 percent. Here it's 40 percent."
A woman and children in the ruins in Rafah after an Israeli strike last month.Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP
Every day, on average, some 50 mothers are also killed. There were 21,000 dead when the petition was prepared, almost 23,000 now, and thousands of others are missing. Most of the hospitals have collapsed, and the few that remain are described as "scenes from a horror movie."
In the absence of medicines and disinfectants, limbs are cut off, for lack of choice, without anesthetics and to the light of a flashlight. Patients are treated on filthy floors. Infected wounds are covered with worms and flies. Infants are dying from diarrhea and hypothermia.
According to the World Health Organization, "93 percent of the Gazan population is suffering from hunger, the highest percentage of food insecurity ever determined in the world" since the introduction of the food insecurity index in 2004. Nor is there water. New mothers are incapable of nursing their infants due to defective nutrition, and are forced to prepare formula for infants with polluted water.
About 355,000 homes, over 60 percent of the places of residence in the Gaza Strip, have been damaged or destroyed. "The extent of destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, bakeries, and water, sewage and electricity infrastructure … threatens to make continued Palestinian survival in Gaza impossible," declared dozens of United Nations representatives in November.
According to the petitioners, "Doctors, journalists, teachers, and academics are being killed in unprecedented numbers." To date 311 doctors and members of medical teams have been killed, and 103 journalists – 73 percent of the journalists killed in the entire world in 2023. Israel has also killed leading academics, including professors of medicine, engineering, and even literature. "We have no words to describe what's happening," said UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini.
The fantasies of Minister Eliyahu are only a dream, whereas the ongoing catastrophe is amazingly real.
Instead of fleeing to the part of the petition in which our country's finest crazies are displayed for all to see, we should linger a bit on the chapter that describes the crazy situation that is taking place right next to us. It's probably the most effective antibody for the toxic fantasies of those quoted in the chapter afterward.