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REVIEW: David Robie additionally blogs at Café Pacific
Simply months earlier than the outbreak of the genocidal Israeli struggle on Gaza after the lethal assault on southern Israel by Hamas resistance fighters, Australian investigative journalist and researcher Antony Loewenstein printed an awfully well timed ebook, The Palestine Laboratory.
In it he warned {that a} worst-case state of affairs — “lengthy feared however by no means realised, is ethnic cleaning in opposition to occupied Palestinians or inhabitants switch, forcible expulsion beneath the guise of nationwide safety”.
Or the claimed fig leaf of “self defence”, the obscene justification provided by beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his two-month struggle of vengeance, loss of life and destruction unleashed upon the folks of Palestine, each within the Gaza Strip and the Occupied West Financial institution that has killed at the least 14,850 Gazans — nearly all of them ladies and youngsters — and greater than 218 West Financial institution Palestinians.
As Loewenstein had warned in his 265-page exposé on the Israeli armaments and surveillance trade and the way the Zionist nation “exports the expertise of occupation world wide”, a catastrophic struggle may set off an awesome argument inside Israel that Palestinians have been “undermining the state’s integrity”.
That disaster has certainly arrived. However within the course of as a part of rising worldwide protests in help of a right away ceasefire and requires a “free Palestine” long-term answer, Israel has uncovered itself as a merciless, ruthless and morally corrupt state ready to slaughter ladies and youngsters, assault hospital and medical staff, kill journalists and shun worldwide norms of army battle to attain its objective of destroying Hamas, the elected authorities of Gaza.
Interviewed by Al Jazeera on Friday after a four-day non permanent truce between Israel and Hamas took impact, creator Loewenstein described the battle as “apocalyptic” and essentially the most devastating in nearly 80 years for the reason that Second World Struggle.
He additionally blamed the loss of life and destruction on Western international locations that had allowed the Israeli Defence Power (IDF) to “get away with issues that no different nation may due to whole international impunity”.
‘Genocide Joe’America, led by a feeble and more and more lame duck President Joe Biden – “genocide Joe”, as some US protesters have branded him — and a number of other Western international locations have misplaced credibility over any debate about international human rights.
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says, the US and the West have enabled the ethnic cleaning and displayed a double normal by condemning Hamas for its atrocities on October 7 whereas giving Israel a clean cheque for its crimes in opposition to humanity and struggle crimes in each Gaza and the Occupied West Financial institution.
We’re relieved to verify the secure launch of 24 hostages.Now we have facilitated this launch by transporting them from Gaza to the Rafah border, marking the real-life impression of our position as a impartial middleman between the events.
— ICRC in Israel & OT (@ICRC_ilot) November 24, 2023
In actual fact, as Erdoğan has more and more condemned the Zionists, he has branded Israel as a “terror state” and says that Israeli leaders needs to be tried for struggle crimes on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice in The Hague.
It has additionally been disturbing that President Biden has publicly repeated Israeli lies within the battle and Western media has usually disseminated these falsehoods.
Media analysts say there may be systemic “bias in favour of Israel” which is “irreparably damaging” the credibility of some information businesses and shops thought of “mainstream” within the eyes of Arabs and others.
Loewenstein, who was awarded Australia’s 2023 Walkley Award within the journalism ebook class on Friday evening, warned in The Palestine Laboratory that “an Israeli operation is perhaps undertaken to make sure a mass exodus, with the prospect of Palestinians returning to their houses a distant risk” (p. 211).
Many critics concern the underside line for Israel’s struggle on Palestine, is not only the elimination of Hamas — which was elected the federal government of Gaza in 2006 — however the destruction of the enclave’s infrastructure, therefore the savage assault on 25 of the Strip’s 32 hospitals (together with the Indonesian Hospital) and bombing of 49 p.c of the housing for two.3 million folks.
Loewenstein stories:
“In a 2016 ballot performed by [the] Pew Analysis Centre, practically half of Israeli Jews supported the switch or expulsion of Arabs. And a few 60 p.c of Israeli Jews backed full separation from Arabs, in accordance with a examine in 2022 by the Israeli Democracy Institute. Nearly all of Israeli Jews polled on-line in 2022 supported the expulsion of individuals accused of disloyalty to the state, a coverage advocated by common far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir (p. 211).
Harmful escalationLoewenstein noticed the reelection in November 2022 of Netanyahu as Prime Minister and as head of essentially the most right-wing coalition within the Israel’s historical past as ushering in a harmful escalation of existential threats going through Palestinians.
The creator, who’s himself of Jewish origin, cites liberal Israeli columnist and journalist Gideon Levy in Haaretz reminding his readers of “an uncomfortable fact” after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Levy wrote that the long-held Israeli perception that army energy “was all that issues to remain alive , was a lie” (p. 206). Levy wrote”
“The lesson Israel needs to be studying from Ukraine is the other. Army energy just isn’t sufficient, it’s not possible to outlive alone, we want true worldwide help, which might’t be purchased simply be creating drones and drop bombs.”
Levy argued that the “age of the Jewish state paralysing the world when it cries “anti-semitism” was coming to a detailed.
The each day tv scenes — particularly on Al Jazeera and TRT World Information, arguably providing essentially the most balanced, complete and nuanced protection of the massacres (in distinction to such media as BBC and CNN with journalists embedded with the Israeli Defence Power — have borne witness to the rogue standing of Israel.
Turkey’s President Erdoğan has been one of many strongest critics of Netanyahu’s struggle machine, warning that Israel’s leaders shall be made accountable for his or her struggle crimes.
His condemnation has been paralleled by a number of petitions and actions looking for Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) prosecutions in opposition to Israeli leaders, together with an arrest warrant for Netanyahu himself.
Poisonous laboratoryAccording to Loewenstein, Israel’s “Palestine laboratory” and its poisonous ideology thrives on international disruption and violence. As he says:
“The worsening local weather disaster will profit Israel’s defence sector in a future the place nation-states don’t reply with energetic measures to cut back the impacts of surging temperatures however as an alternative ghetto-ise themselves, Israeli-style. What this implies in observe is greater partitions and tighter borders, better surveillance of refugees, facial recognition, drones, sensible fences, and biometric databases (p. 207).”
By 2025, Loewenstein factors out, the border surveillance industrial complicated is estimated to turn into value US$68 billion, and Israeli firms equivalent to Elbeit Methods are “assured to be among the many essential beneficiaries.”
Three years in the past Israel spent $US22 billion on its army and was is twelfth greatest army provider on this planet with gross sales of greater than $US345 million.
The efficiency of Palestine as a laboratory for strategies of controlling “undesirable folks” and a separation of populations is the first focus of Loewenstein’s ebook. The numerous case research of Israeli apartheid with companies showcasing and cashing in on the suppression and persecution of Palestinians are featured.
The ebook is split into seven chapters, with a conclusion, headed “Promoting weapons to anyone who needs them,” “September 11 was good for enterprise,” “Stopping an outbreak of peace,” “Promoting Israeli occupation to the world,” “The enduring enchantment of Israeli domination,” “Israel mass surveillance within the mind of your telephone,” and “Social media firms don’t like Palestinians.”
How Israel has such affect over Silicon Valley — together with many Western governments — is “each apparent and ominous for the way forward for marginalised teams, as a result of it’s not simply the Jewish state that has found the Achilles heel of massive tech”.
‘Actual hurt’ in opposition to minoritiesExamples cited by Loewenstein embody India beneath Prime Minister Narendra Modi efficiently demanding that Fb take away posts vital of his authorities’s dealing with of the covid pandemic of 2020, and proof of Fb posts inflicting “actual hurt in opposition to minorities” in Myanmar and Russia in addition to India and Palestine.
The corporate’s international coverage staff argued that they risked having the platform shutdown utterly if they didn’t adjust to authorities requests. Income earlier than human rights.
Loewenstein refers to social media requires genocide in opposition to the Muslim minority having “moved from the fringes to the mainstream”. Condemning this, Loewenstein remarks: “Leaving these feedback up, which routinely occurs, is deeply irresponsible” (p. 197).
He argues that his ebook is a warning that “despotism has by no means been so simply shareable with compact expertise”. He explains:
“The ethnonationalist concepts behind it are interesting to tens of millions of individuals as a result of democratic leaders have did not ship. A Pew Analysis Centre survey throughout 34 international locations in 2020 discovered solely 44 p.c of these polled have been content material with democracy, whereas 52 p.c weren’t. Ethnonationalist ideology grows when accountable democracy withers, Israel is the final word mannequin and objective” (p. 16).
The September 11, 2001, terror assaults on New York and Washington “turbocharged Israel’s defence sector and internationalised the struggle on terror that the Jewish state had been combating for many years” (p. 49).
Struggle in opposition to journalistsAlong with well being staff (200 killed and the full climbing), journalists have struggling a heavy worth for reporting Israel’s relentless bombardment with at the least 48 lifeless (together with media staff in Lebanon, the loss of life toll has topped 60).
The Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters with out Borders has accused Israel of looking for to “eradicate journalism in Gaza” by refusing to heed calls to guard media staff.
“The scenario is dire for Palestinian journalists trapped within the enclave, the place ten have been killed prior to now three days, bringing the full media loss of life toll in Gaza for the reason that begin of the struggle to 48. The previous weekend was the deadliest for the media for the reason that struggle between Israel and Hamas started.”
RSF additionally mentioned Gaza from north to south had “turn into a cemetery for journalists”.
Of the ten journalists killed between November 18-20, at the least three have been killed in the midst of their work or due to it. They have been: Hassouna Sleem, director of the Palestinian on-line information company Quds Information, and freelance photo-journalist Sary Mansour who have been killed throughout an Israeli assault on the Bureij refugee camp within the central Gaza Strip on November 18.
In accordance with RSF, that they had acquired an internet loss of life risk in reference to their work 24 hours previous to them being killed.
Journalist Bilal Jadallah was killed by an Israeli strike that hit his automobile straight as he was attempting to evacuate from Gaza Metropolis by way of the district of Zeitoun on the morning of November 19.
He was a distinguished determine throughout the Palestinian media group and held a number of positions together with chair of the board of Press Home-Palestine, an organisation supporting impartial media and journalists in Gaza.
Killed with household membersMost of the journalists have been killed with relations when Israeli strikes hit their houses, stories RSF.
It’s offensive that British and US information media ought to consult with Hamas “terrorists” of their information bulletins, no matter the truth that the US and UK governments have declared them as such.
As a former journalist with British and French information businesses for a number of years, I’m wondering what has occurred to the maxim that had utilized for the reason that post-Second World Struggle anticolonialism struggles — one particular person’s terrorist is one other particular person’s freedom fighter. Thus “impartial” descriptions have been usually used.
As President Erdoğan, has already identified, Hamas are nationalists combating in opposition to 75 years of Zionist Israeli colonialism and apartheid. Palestine is the occupied territory; Israel is the unlawful occupier.
Loewenstein argues in his ebook that Israel has bought a lot defence tools and surveillance applied sciences, such because the phone-hacking software Pegasus, that it had hoped to “insulate itself” from any political backlash to its infinite occupation.
Nevertheless, the tide has turned with a number of international locations equivalent to South Africa and Turkey closing Israeli embassies and recalling their diplomats and as demonstrated by the UN Basic Meeting’s overwhelming vote final month for a right away humanitarian truce.
There’s a shift in international opinion in response to the large worth that the Palestinian folks have been paying for Israeli apartheid and repression for 75 years. Whereas Iran has lengthy been portrayed by the West as a risk to regional peace, the relentless and ruthless bombardment of the Gaza Strip for seven weeks has demonstrated to the world that Israel is definitely the risk.
Nevertheless, Israel is on the incorrect aspect of historical past. No matter it does, the Palestinians will stay defiant and resilient.
Palestine will turn into a free, sovereign state. It’s important that worldwide group strain ensures that this occurs for a simply and lasting peace.
• The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the expertise of occupation world wide, by Antony Loewenstein. Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 2023. Reviewer Dr David Robie is editor and writer of Asia Pacific Report.
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