— Feature, Musings —05.21.2024 11:58 AM
My latest: when the tortured are (falsely) called torturers
Benjamin Netanyahu is not an extremely likeable person.
In Israel, where this writer met with many people earlier this month, Israel’s Prime Minister was reviled across the ideological spectrum, from Left to Right. His failure to anticipate and prevent the October 7 massacre will never be forgotten or forgiven by the Jewish state. When the war ends, so too will his tenure in power.
But, one, should Netanyahu be the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC), before a trial has even taken place? Two, does Israel’s Prime Minister, as dislikable as he is, lose the presumption of innocence?
And, three, while we are on the subject, should the ICC be referring to Israel as “the territory of Israel” – and the Gaza Strip as “the State of Palestine?” Fourth and final question: has the ICC ever sought an arrest warrant for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has killed 306,000 Muslim non-combatants?
The answer to all four questions is no. No, no, no, no.
The fact that a publicity-seeking prosecutor associated with the ICC is condemning Netanyahu before trial – which President Joe Biden, no less, called outrageous – is symptomatic of the age in which we live. So, too, the ICC’s relegation of Israel to a mere “territory,” and Gaza to a “State” (capitalized, no less). And letting genocidal monsters like al-Assad off the hook? Again, it is another sickening reversal of reality.
This sort of upside-down-ism is representative of a unique (and evil) phenomenon that is emerged since October 7: Holocaust inversion. Where everything – history, decency, truth – is turned on its head, essentially.
Holocaust inversion is depicting Jews, and the Jewish state, as Nazis. It is turning victims into predators. It is a willful and disgusting distortion of history. History shows, as indisputable fact, that six million Jews were slaughtered by Adolf Hitler’s regime during World War Two, It shows that Jews needed to re-establish their ancestral homeland, to be safe.
Holocaust inversion is like Holocaust denial, but qualitatively worse. The Holocaust deniers that this writer has interviewed, over many years, deny the Holocaust to whitewash the sins of Hitler and his evil regime. Those who practice Holocaust inversion – since October 7, too many Muslims, too many on the Left and, now, the ICC – don’t merely want to exonerate the likes of Hamas or Hezbollah. They want to falsely accuse Jews, too, of mass murder.
As British writer Howard Jacobson recently wrote for The Guardian, the objective in Holocaust inversion is there for all to see: “Charging Jews with genocide is a sophistication on that theme, painting them as perpetrators of the very crime that killed them in their millions, as a consequence of which that crime is abrogated.”
He continues: “There is a sadistic triumphalism in charging Jews with genocide, as though those making it feel they have their man at last. The sadism resides, specifically, in attacking Jews where their memories of pain are keenest. By making them now the torturer and not the tortured, their assailants wrest their anguish from them, not only stealing their past but trampling on it.”
And, now, we have the International Criminal Court’s Karim Khan doing precisely that from his perch in the Hague (aided and abetted by Amal Clooney, it has been reported): making a Jew the torturer, and not the tortured.
But, but, but some will say: Israel has committed genocide! Netanyahu must pay for that? Well, no.
It bears repeating: we don’t come here to praise Benjamin Netanyahu. But nor should we condemn him with arrest warrants when no genocide has taken place. The Population Reference Bureau and the Census Bureau in then United States, say this: “The Palestinian population growth rate is among the highest in the world: 3.4 per cent in the West Bank and 4.0 per cent in Gaza. Life expectancy at birth, too, is “high,” say the agencies. And, year over year, Palestinian population growth outstrips Israel’s by nearly 35 per cent.
If that is a genocide, it is fair to observe, it is a genocide that has completely failed.
The arrest warrants claiming Benjamin Netanyahu should fail, as well. They are based on a falsehood.
And they are trying to invert history – and reality.
Warren,
Netanyahu deserves far worse than you’re giving him credit for. His naked, self-serving ambitions laid the groundwork for Israel to self-implode in ways Hamas simply could not have dreamed of. That he would invite actual, literal, convicted terrorists – one (Ben-Gvir) of which was part of a group that assassinated a previous Israeli PM, and who has publicly proclaimed a desire to expel, exterminate, or subjugate non-Jews – to join him in government is proof enough of that. This is not even to mention his previous active support of Hamas, designed to keep the Palestinians infighting and, presumably, make the world think of them as entirely savage.
The term “genocide” is ultimately going to be determined by the historians, and even those won’t agree on it’s usage in the majority of cases where it is accused historically. For now, it’sonly an emotional argument. As for “war crimes?” He’s responsible for a great many of them, and they don’t suddenly become valid military actions on the basis that “Hamas is worse.” Recent reporting from Ronen Bergman, and whistleblowers from Sde Teiman paint a pretty damning picture.
I agree, it’s an embarrassment that someone like al-Assad would be passed over in this regard. And the ICC is a performative theatre with no teeth anyway. Absolutely none of this means that Israel’s current leadership is an unmitigated, and frankly evil disaster.
I hope internal solutions can be found. I hold out hope that Benny Gantz’ demands to change course makes a difference, but sadly, in the short term at least – National Unity leaving the goverment entirely beholden to the extremes means things will probably get worse before they get better. I only hope that “better” comes before Netanyahu’s messianic ambition leads his own people to the destruction he pretends to protect them from.
ICC, guilty of a cheap political stunt.
How about the ICC arrest warrants for the Hamas leaders? And aren’t arrest warrants usually issued before a trial? Sso many questions.
They did. Simultaneously. The ICC panel decided that, regardless of the cause of the war or who started it, both leaders are likely committing crimes against humanity.
And a warrant has not been issued; only the prosecutors have petitioned the judges for them. Then the judiciary panel will decide if either or both men should be compelled to face trial, which would only happen effectively if either of them set foot in Europe or Africa again… which I doubt is in the cards for either of them.
Warren,
This so-called national unity government needs to be toppled at the earliest opportunity. Even if Gantz and Gallant finally leave this government, toppling it in the Knesset is not likely unless further defections occur. So Netanyahu has the political advantage and will continue to leverage it to his maximum political advantage. (What else is new.)
The UN, ICC, other world bodies and charity organizations aren’t even attempting to hide their anti Semitism anymore. They’re almost to the point of wearing it like a badge of honour.
Anti-Netanyahu is not anti-semitism. That’s his political MO, not rooted in reality. The world has had enough of his “do as I say, or we’ll paint you a Jew-hater” schtick. The only question is, can he be removed before he takes too many more of his own people down with him?
Jason,
Whatever the maximum legislative mandate is under Israeli law as regards elections fixed or otherwise, Netanyahu is going there and no one can stop him. He’s there for quite a while yet.
Oh, I’ve no doubt he will creatively find a way to expand the crisis to the point where the 2026 election is delayed for “national security.” But you’re right. There’s no stopping it. Every far-right nutbar in the country has been granted legitimacy, and there are more than enough of them to prop Netanyahu up.
John,
This is not the time or correct context for three countries to establish diplomatic relations with the so-called Palestinian state. And yet those fools are doing it anyway…all that does is directly stamp a diplomatic imprimatur on what Hamas did. What idiots.