#Israel / Post-truth: on Israel’s big lie only Israel itself is buying [Prof. David Ricci]
Last month, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the Israeli occupation of the territories, including settlements, violates international law. Netanyahu dismissed the ruling, asserting that "the Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land." This response perpetuates a "big lie" – a term coined by #Hitler to describe a falsehood so colossal that people believe it because they can't fathom anyone would have the audacity to distort the truth so dramatically.
[…] We, of course, condemn the big lies told by past tyrants in Europe, such as Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, or Franco, and we also reject those told by modern liars like Putin, Orbán, or Trump, who encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol in 2021, claiming that the presidential election victory was "stolen" from him.
[…] In 2022, settlers like Smotrich, Ben Gvir, Rothman, and Struck enshrined the big lie in the government's basic principles, stating that "the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all parts of the Land of Israel" – meaning that the territories belong to us by divine decree, so there is no occupation, no colonialism, no apartheid, no oppression, and recently, no war crimes.
Ricci argues that many Israelis willingly propagate this lie, claiming there is no occupation, only a "conflict." This narrative allows them to justify actions against Palestinians as self-defense rather than acknowledging the reality of a prolonged occupation.
The real issue is the ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories, which has persisted for over 56 years. The recent violence, including the attacks by #Hamas, is framed as a reaction to this occupation, not as an existential threat to Israel. Ricci calls for Israelis to confront the truth of the occupation and its implications on national policy and international perception.
[…] Even when #Biden offers us the two-state map that could help us get out of this "conflict," Netanyahu, #Gallant, #Lieberman, Sa'ar, #Gantz, and of course Ben Gvir and #Smotrich talk about continuing the ground fighting and bombings until Hamas can no longer bother us. Or, in other words, until our "deterrence power" grows so much that neither Hamas nor any other group of "aggressive" Palestinians will be able to challenge the occupation again.
[…] For them – and for us as Israelis who sell and buy this lie – this is what led to October 7. Not the presence of the occupation but the failure to create enough deterrence to keep Hamas in its place. And this, say the big liars, is what we can fix now.
Prof. Ricci is an emeritus professor and lecturer in political science at the Hebrew University, an expert in democratic theory, populism, and American politics.
Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2024-08-04/ty-article-magazine/.premium/00000191-1c89-d051-a3f7-ddcd4fca0000 or https://archive.is/7yDYZ
See also "The land didn't really wait 2,000 years empty": Historian Alon Confino passes away at 65 https://kolektiva.social/@oatmeal/112880154723276531
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