Call it for what it is … – My thoughts, insights & musings

Never, never be afraid to do what’s right. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

Martin Luther King Jr.

My soul is screaming in pain.

My heart is broken.

My mind is outraged.

My conscience says enough is enough.

I have looked away when I should have stood up.

It’s time to act.

Inspired by 100,000 fellow Australians that stood up on Sunday by attending the March for Humanity[1] I have written this blog.

The words that follow will not fix the above, but it’s my attempt to address our inhumanity, our hypocrisy, our violence, our genocide. To try to make some sense of how this could happen in the world today.

It was grotesque images of Jewish bodies deliberately starved and brutalized by the Nazis that horrified the world to the point of prompting the resolve that genocide could never be allowed to happen again.

And yet, here we are.

We are seeing images that echo that same horror. Images documenting the indiscriminate violence, the deliberate starvation and the brutalisation of the people of Palestine. And what I can’t fathom, this time the perpetrators are the Jewish people of Israel.

How can such a monstrous inversion be possible?

To answer this question we must first look at the leaders of the Western World, which includes our own politicians here in Australia, but in particular the leaders in the United States who provide Israel with impunity from international law.

We need to look at the mindset of the Israeli people.

We need to look at the history of genocide and colonisation and how it has influenced all of us, especially those of us who were the colonisers.

But first let’s recap the history of Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel and the violence and apartheid that it stands for.

All we hear from the Israeli Government and our own leaders is October 7, this date is repeated over and over and over again to paint the picture that this is when this conflict started and Israel is just defending itself from the terrorist organisation, Hamas.

The conflict between Israel and the indigenous Palestinian people did not begin on October 7, nor did Israel’s brutality against Palestinians.

In 1897 the first Zionist Congress convened seeking a Jewish homeland in Palestine, spurred by widespread antisemitism in Europe.

In 1917 the Balfour Declaration was issued. It was a statement by the British government expressing support for the establishment of a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine which was occupied by the British after the defeat of the Ottomans in the First World War.

In 1920 the Haganah was formed. Haganah were a terrorist militia formed by Zionist settlers that conducted numerous massacres of Palestinians with the goal of driving them off their land and seizing their properties, paving the way for an Israeli state.

By 1936 more than 350,000 Jews had migrated to Palestine over the course of just a couple of decades, mostly from Europe. This put pressure on indigenous Palestinians dealing with land dispossession and economic hardship due to the massive influx of Jews.

This led to the Arab Revolt from 1936 to 1939 when Palestinians staged an uprising, fighting for their land and livelihoods, but faced brutal suppression at the hands of British troops. Over 5,000 Palestinians are killed. Nearly 15,000 wounded. British forces demolish Palestinian neighbourhoods and impose a harsh military occupation.

By the 1940’s new Zionist terrorist militias, the Irgun and the Stern Gang emerge alongside the Haganah. They target British forces and Palestinian civilians, using violence to force Britain’s hand.

In 1947 the UN steps in with its Partition Plan to partition Palestine into two states but allocates over half of the land to the Jewish minority, which owns less than 7% of Palestinian land, ignoring Arab opposition.

In 1948 Zionist leaders declare the establishment of the State of Israel. This was the catalyst for the Nakba, or the catastrophe according to Palestinians. Zionist militias violently expelled over 750,000 Palestinians, stealing or destroying their homes. Over two years, more than 400 towns and villages are entirely destroyed. 15,000 Palestinians are killed. 1,000’s more are left homeless and stateless, scattered across refugee camps throughout the region.

In 1950 Israel passes the Law of Return, granting every Jew around the world the right to settle in Israel, while denying these same rights to Palestinians.

In 1953 the Qibya massacre occurred when the Israeli Forces attacked the village of Qibya in the West Bank, which was then under Jordanian control, and killed more than 69 Palestinian civilians, two-thirds of whom were women and children. Afterwards, Ariel Sharon (who led the attack and later became an Israeli Prime Minister) wrote in his diary that ‘Qibya was to be an example for everyone’ and that he ordered ‘maximal killing and damage to property’.

In 1956 the Suez Crisis erupts and as world attention focuses on Egypt. Israeli forces carry out brutal massacres under the cover of war in Khan Yunis and Rafah, nearly 400 Palestinians were killed.

In 1967 the Arab Israeli war started when Israel launched surprise air strikes among its neighbours, killing some 20,000 Arabs, achieving an overwhelming victory that leads to the further occupation and illegal confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Nearly 400,000 Palestinians are evicted from the West Bank, half facing their second expulsion.

In 1982 after invading Lebanon to weaken the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Israel teams up with the Phalangists, a Christian militia which kills over 3,000 Palestinian refugees in the Beirut neighborhoods of Sabra and Shatila.

From 1987 to 1993 the first Intifada begins. Frustration among Palestinians living under Israeli occupation was reaching a breaking point, and the death of four Palestinians in the car crash caused by an Israeli vehicle triggers a revolt against Israel that emerges in Gaza’s Jabilia refugee camp. More than 1000 Palestinians and 100 Israelis are killed during the first Palestinian uprising.

In 1993 Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, effectively ending the First Intifada. It was meant to ensure peace and Palestinian self-determination.

In 1994 the Hebron massacre occurred when an Israeli terrorist settler kills 29 Palestinian worshippers inside al Ibrahimi Mosque.

In 2000 the Second Intifada erupts. The catalyst was Israeli forces storming the Al Aqsa Mosque with 1000 soldiers but was caused by years of broken promises, expanding illegal settlements and Israel’s refusal to honour the peace agreement. By the end of the Second Intifada, nearly 5000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 1200 children, and more than 5000 homes are demolished.

In 2002 Israel begins constructing a 70 kilometre separation wall in the occupied West Bank. The wall was outlawed by the International Court of Justice, despite this Israel expands the wall, separating Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and heavily restricting their movement. Today, the wall is over 700 kilometres long.

From 2002 to 2007 Israel launches at least 12 military operations in the occupied West Bank towns of Ramallah, Tulkalm and Nablus, as well as in occupied East Jerusalem, and in Gaza, 1000s of Palestinians are killed. Hundreds of Palestinian homes are bulldozed, and more than 5000 Palestinians are incarcerated without clear charges or trials.

In 2005 Israel withdraws its troops from Gaza, but in 2007 imposes a full blockade on Gaza, accusing newly elected Hamas of terrorism. Israel cuts off access to Gaza by land, air and sea, and fully controls its water, electricity, imports and border crossings.

Between 2008 and 2021 Israel wages four wars in Gaza. Over 4000 Palestinians are killed, 10s of 1000s of homes, schools and historical sites are reduced to rubble. More than half of Gaza’s population is internally displaced over the years, rebuilding becomes nearly impossible.

This brings us to 7^th October 2023, following the Hamas surprise attack which resulted in 1,195 deaths and around 250 people taken hostage, Israel begins indiscriminately bombing Gaza in a relentless onslaught that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, including over 17,000 children, marking the start of the genocide that continues today.

While Israel and its allies (including Australia) obsessively fixate on October 7 as the day when the violence began, the real tragedy lies in decades of suffering of Palestinians. A suffering that started over 100 years ago and has been systematically ignored as Israel continues its goal of erasing and exterminating Palestinians, their heritage, their culture and their future.

So how has been allowed to go on for so long?

To answer that we need to look to the leaders of the Western world, in particular the United States.

In June 1986, Joe Biden, then a senator who later became President of the United States said, Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region.

U.S. President Harry Truman was the first world leader to officially recognise Israel as a legitimate Jewish state, only eleven minutes after its creation. In explaining his decision to recognise Israel, he said, I believe it has a glorious future before it, not just as another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilisation.

Something both the US and Israel highlight is the idea of shared values. Many US politicians talk about Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East. This is what Barack Obama said in a speech he gave in Israel in 2013, Together, we share a commitment to security for our citizens and the stability of the Middle East and North Africa. Together, we share a focus on advancing economic growth around the globe and strengthening the middle class within our own countries. Together, we share a stake in the success of democracy. But the source of our friendship extends beyond mere interests, just as it has transcended political parties and individual leaders. America is a nation of immigrants. America is strengthened by diversity. America is enriched by faith. We are governed not simply by men and women, but by laws. We’re fueled by entrepreneurship and innovation, and we are defined by a democratic discourse that allows each generation to reimagine and renew our union once more. So in Israel, we see values that we share, even as we recognize what makes us different. That is an essential part of our bond.

I would question this idea that both the US and Israel are beacons of democracy, especially given the fascism of the current US administration, be that as it may, it’s a narrative they both like to emphasise.

Since the Second World War, the United States has given more money to Israel than any other country, about $260 billion in total, that included economic aid until 2008 but now the US only gives money for military spending. Israel gets $3.8 billion a year as part of a deal signed by President Obama. American taxpayer dollars have helped Israel build up one of the most powerful militaries in the world. It should be noted that most of the money given to Israel has to be spent in the US. The US essentially provides grants for Israel to buy American military hardware. The US doesn’t attach any conditions to this military aid, Israel is given a blank check with regard to the military hardware, the technology and the resources that the United States provides, there is little or no scrutiny.

But possibly the most crucial element of the US Israel relationship is the US is the guarantor of Israeli impunity when it comes to international law. The US has used its veto power in the United Nations Security Council 50 times since 1972 to protect Israel from international resolutions. It has used its veto power six times since the October 7 attack, most recently in June this year. The majority of the 193 nations that make up the UN wish to stop the atrocities currently being perpetuated against the Palestinian people. But any resolution that might actually be able to do something to put pressure on Israel or facilitate an end to the genocide is vetoed by the US, giving Israel carte blanch to continue their violence with impunity.

The US also withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, accusing it of having a ‘chronic bias’ against Israel and this year has slapped sanctions on four judges from the International Criminal Court over the tribunal’s investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel in Gaza and in the West Bank.

It should be noted that three quarters of the world, some 147 countries, already recognise Palestine as a state. That list of countries may soon include the likes of France, the UK and Canada. But not Australia. Our government says it will recognise the state of Palestine when the time is right – whatever that means.

Sounds like moral cowardice to me.

Our government has recently signed a statement with 14 other countries condemning Israels blockade of aid, so that is something. But the statement does not speak of the 22 months of Israeli bombings of homes, hospitals, refugee camps, schools and civilian infrastructure, nor does it condemn the violent erasure of entire Palestinian families, or the arbitrary arrest and torture of Palestinians. While it calls for a ceasefire, it fails to demand justice or accountability for these war crimes, and it encourages normalisation with a state committing genocide.

Justice will not come with normalisation.

As Hiba Farra wrote, ‘The Australian Government has a choice: stand with justice or stand in the way. Supporting justice means a genuine commitment to Palestinian self-determination, not dictating terms. It means ending complicity in Israeli crimes, imposing real sanctions, and amplifying Palestinian voices instead of silencing them. Anything less is cowardice dressed up as diplomacy.’[2]

Its time Australia stood with the majority of the world instead of kowtowing to the US. There was a time when we imposed sanctions against South Africa because of its apartheid, its time we did the same to Israel for its apartheid and genocide of Palestinians.

I digress, but the point is, we could not be where we are today if the US had not enabled there to be no cost or consequences internationally, or legally, or in terms of sanctions at the UN, for the way Israel treats the Palestinians.

Nazi violence against Jews required that Jews be dehumanised in the minds of Germans. The problem for Israel is that the settler colonial project that requires the violent displacement and subordination of an entire people, which is what was necessary to create Israel, depends on dehumanisation, and as we’ve seen throughout the Gaza genocide, Israeli leaders are constantly comparing Palestinians to animals.

Israel can only exist if it manages demographics to maintain a Jewish majority, and it does so by displacing, imprisoning and murdering Palestinians routinely. And the only way to get its people to participate in this is by convincing them that it’s the only way for them to exist safely. Seeing Palestinians as people who want to live in peace and be free doesn’t fit into that plan. So, they dehumanise them.

Of course, here in Australia we are not immune to the dehumanisation required by a colonial settler project. It is part of our mindset as well, we only need to look at our treatment of the First People of this land and see the similarities. I see the plight of the Palestinians to be the same as the First People of Australia and the genocide in Gaza is just a modern version of our own Frontier Wars that lasted for some 140 years up until the 1920’s.

The dehumanisation of Palestinians by Israel goes to the heart of the history of genocide and colonisation and how it has influenced all of us, especially those of us who are the colonisers.

…the colonizer, who in order to ease his conscience gets into the habit of seeing the other man as ‘an animal’, accustoms himself to treating him like an animal, and tends objectively to transform ‘himself’ into an animal.[3]

Western powers have not only failed to stop the genocide but are actively enabling it. Could it be our actions, or lack thereof, tacitly accepts the dehumanisation of the Palestinians in the same way as those powers had for centuries themselves, dehumanised the peoples that they had colonised?

It wasn’t until the grotesque images of the Nazi Holocaust emerged that Europeans saw first-hand the type of genocidal violence that Western powers had waged for centuries in their colonies had now come to Europe. Aimé Césaire called this the boomerang effect whereby governments that develop repressive techniques to control colonial territories will eventually deploy those same techniques domestically against their own citizens. He also said that before they were its victims, they were its accomplices. They tolerated colonialism before it was inflicted on them. They absolved it. They shut their eyes to it. They legitimized it, because until then, it had been applied only to non-European peoples.

So today, the genocide in Gaza should make us ask, if the deep-seated racism that allowed us for centuries to dehumanise, brutalize and massacre people who were colonised, is there any other explanation for Western acceptance and enabling of the Gaza genocide, other than racism?

Israel has shamelessly and cynically claimed the Nazi Holocaust as license for decades of settler colonial violence against the Palestinians. They will accuse me of antisemitism for the contents of this blog.

But it is undeniable. Take a look at a picture of the Warsaw Ghetto after World War Two and a picture of Gaza today and tell me what is the difference?

The holocaust was an atrocity of the highest order, as is the genocide of Palestinians.

Speaking up against the genocide by Israel is not antisemitic, it is the right thing to do.

If genocide is OK, then anything is OK. And that is not a world worth living in.

Our moral cowardice must end.

Our leaders must call this genocide out for what it is, and we must do everything in our power as an international community to end it immediately. Israel must be made accountable for their war crimes. And if they don’t come to the table then we must treat Israel as we did South Africa to stop its apartheid.

My soul is still screaming in pain.

My heart is still broken.

My mind is still outraged.

My conscience still says enough is enough.

I have looked away when I should have stood up.

It’s time to act.

If we don’t, we no longer deserve to call ourselves human.

As a postscript I want to add a few words about Sudan. I have been criticized today (7/8/2025) for just focusing on Palestine and deliberately ignoring Sudan as apparently it doesn’t ‘fit my moral framework’. At the time of writing this blog I was not aware that a genocide was also occurring in Sudan, my apologies for my ignorance of this matter.

Now that I am aware, my thoughts about Israel also pertain to Sudan. We must do everything in our power as an international community to end the genocide in Sudan immediately as well. The perpetrators of that genocide must be made accountable for their war crimes. And if they don’t come to the table then we must treat Sudan as we did South Africa to stop its apartheid.

As I said earlier, If genocide is OK, then anything is OK. And that is not a world worth living in. So we must fight it wherever it might be happening in the world.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Two books that I have read that I recommend are: