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Turning blood into cement: Reflections on nationalist violence in wake of suspected revenge killing of Palestinian teen


Video of Israeli marchers chanting “Death to the Arabs”.

From day one, Israeli ‘intelligence agencies’ assumed the kidnapped boys were not alive and yet kept it from families and media.  Instead the kidnapping was used to manipulate Israelis into believing the army was searching, while in fact raiding hundreds of homes, arresting thousands of people, wreaking violent havoc on Palestinian cities and villages. This month of militant fury was manipulated to implement dormant military plans, and to end with the missing kids tragically found dead, leading to a massively covered nationalist funeral, and a call for national mourning.

The national mourning was woven with immediate calls for settlement expansion, cynically turning blood into cement along with a free-for-all nationalist call for revenge.

This morning Mohamed Abu Khdeir, 16, was murdered in the north Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, a community that has been in upheaval since. While my heart is with all families who have lost loved ones, we must understand: This wave of violence is not spontaneous, it is deliberately orchestrated.

In the name of nationalist Judaism, mobs of young Israelis are marching Jerusalem streets chanting ‘death to Arabs’, ‘may your village burn’. Lynchings and hate crimes are now added to the list of actions the Israeli police turn a blind eye to.

Without realizing it, we have condemned Jerusalem to become a fake Jewish Disneyland for tourists on the backs of those who have stewarded the city for centuries.  Jewish communities around the world still define themselves as Jewish through a loyalty to Zionist values. They are not comprehending what Zionism means when it is followed through and finally manifested at its full potential.  We are watching now as it unfolds. Nationalist racism is very familiar to us, indeed we studied it well in our high schools. So well we are emulating it. So let me tell you as a proud Jewish person: Zionism = Racism.

I’m intimately familiar with racist hatred, violence, and “just following orders.”  But from the Border Police to the soldiers to the ever growing state sanctioned Judeo-fascist youth movements calling for the removal of alAqsa to make room for the 3rd temple… – this fury is unfamiliar to me.

I admit it, I am scared.

First for the Palestinian communities of Jerusalem that already have a weight of the occupation I can’t comprehend on their shoulders, and next  for the well-being of everyone living in this city who has to pay a price for the virus the Zionist movement brought with it from Europe – racism.

Mainstream friends still argue that “we (Israelis) have a right to maintain our culture in our city”, advocating for segregation and racism with a strait face. The Jewish Zionist world gives racism the Kosher stamp of approval.  The world still gives Zionism its stamp of approval. Does this discussion become my opinion against his? Or can we agree, racism is not okay already?!

With help from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and luminous pagan voices for peace, justice and compassion- I do hope the world continues to boycott, sanction and divest from Israeli violence,  forcing us all to eventually transcend into becoming the democratic cosmopolitan land we all deserve to live in. Indeed a long term plan based on guiding values of equality, justice and democracy is where we should all be focusing our energies.

But in the mean time… Israel today is neither democratic nor Jewish.  At the risk of sounding messianic (desperate times…) I ask the communities who mention Jerusalem in their prayers every Friday, Saturday and Sunday to please send a clear message- The world does not tolerate Zionist racism anymore, Jerusalem must be freed! #help!

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I think you meant “wreaking” in the second sentence.

(running back to read the article!)

Phenomenal article! Bookmarked, and will send it around. Many thanks Micha.

This article is so moving and packed with truth:

“The national mourning was woven with immediate calls for settlement expansion, cynically turning blood into cement along with a free-for-all nationalist call for revenge.

Brilliantly written.

“In the name of nationalist Judaism, mobs of young Israelis are marching Jerusalem streets chanting ‘death to Arabs’, ‘may your village burn’. Lynchings and hate crimes are now added to the list of actions the Israeli police turn a blind eye to.”

I am scared as well.

A very insightful article. I can imagine the tension and fear civilians must feel. This tit for tat that has resulted in young lives being brutally taken away, is simply awful.
The US leaders, and other world leaders, who have faithfully toed the zionist line, and dutifully condemned these killings, obviously forgot to do so with such gusto when the poor Palestinian kids were gunned down a few weeks ago. Until these enablers start calling a spade a spade, and criticizing the zionists criminals in Israel, there is NO hope for peace, and no sign of the violence ending. It is time Israel was shown collective punishment from the rest of the world, by boycotts, divestments and sanctions. Patting it on it’s head and making soothing sounds is only encouraging it’s crimes.

While my heart is with all families who have lost loved ones, we must understand: This wave of violence is not spontaneous, it is deliberately orchestrated.

In the name of nationalist Judaism, mobs of young Israelis are marching Jerusalem streets chanting ‘death to Arabs’, ‘may your village burn’. Lynchings and hate crimes are now added to the list of actions the Israeli police turn a blind eye to.

I think it is obvious to what historical event this is uncannily similar, but, since I have been criticized for making the comparison explicitly, I will refrain from doing so here.

Maureen Dowd has a piece up today at the NYTimes today talking about how her head is exploding over Dick Cheney’s rising from the deathlike to attack Obama for failing to clean up his mess. She needs to connect the dots between Cheney’s rantings and Netanyahu’s policies. They are cut from the same cloth.