‘Never again’ has tragically lost its moral weight

Since he rose to power 30 years ago, Netanyahu has been bent on scuttling any prospect of peace with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution. He started by dismantling the Oslo Accords, while systematically embarking on poisoning the Israelis' public opinion, brainwashing them to believe that the Palestinians pose an existential threat to justify the ruthless occupation and the blockade of Gaza on false premises of national security. He portrays Israel as the victim when in fact it is victimizing the Palestinians, treating them as subhuman, dispensable, and unfit to live. His formation in December 2022 of the most fascist, messianic, and fanatic government in Israel's history has accelerated his monstrous agenda.

Netanyahu is a war criminal

In the wake of Hamas' beastly attack, Netanyahu has been waging a genocidal retaliatory war of revenge and retribution for nearly two years, starving Gaza's Palestinian inhabitants and rendering it unlivable. For Netanyahu and his cohort, October 7, 2023, provided a historic opportunity to realize his elusive vision of a greater Israel. As a result, he plunged the country into a pit of writhing horrors, never-ending violence, destruction and death.

Netanyahu's rampage in Gaza astounded the international community. That an Israeli government is capable of committing these unspeakable atrocities bewildered the world, which now views Israel as an apartheid state, a morally insolvent nation that lost its way. A pariah that routinely disregards human rights and international norms and conduct, to be shunned by the global community. Thanks to Netanyahu, Israel is blamed for fueling regional tension, alienating its friends, allies, and much of the global community, while Israel is becoming increasingly isolated.

Netanyahu betrayed his people and his country by deliberately prolonging the war for his political survival to forestall a verdict in his ongoing criminal trial and avoid a commission of inquiry over Hamas' attack under his watch. His war crimes have intensified antisemitism to a level unseen before, tainted the Jews' reputation and standing around the world, while vindicating the antisemite's prejudices that the Jews are exploitive, schemers, money hoarders, and out only for themselves.

For Netanyahu, 'Never Again,' coined in the wake of the Holocaust, applies exclusively to the Jews, and committing genocide against the Palestinians does not count.

Trump is complicit in the genocide in Gaza

The US under Trump has become an accessory to genocide, supplying Israel with all the military equipment and munitions it needs while providing it with political cover and punishing countries critical of Israel's war crimes. Happy to please his Evangelical backers, who support Israel unconditionally, Trump readily obliged to accommodate his political base.

Thousands of Palestinian women and children are killed and hundreds of thousands are starving to death. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, 185 people died from malnutrition in August. Leave it to those 'God-fearing' evangelicals to revel in a land soaked with Palestinian blood.

Trump, who is consumed with self-grandeur, has been concocting the most egregious plans to create his so-called 'Riviera of the Middle East,' involving the ethnic cleansing of Gaza by encouraging the Palestinians to leave for another country "voluntarily," whether temporarily or permanently.

How voluntary? Well, as his Israeli partners intend, destroy what's left of their homes, displace them, starve them to death, deprive them of any medical care and basic necessities, and kill anyone who stands in the way. This is how they would voluntarily leave. This is precisely what Netanyahu and his criminal gang are aiming for-to rid Gaza of every Palestinian man, woman and child by using these harshest and cruelest means possible and build a greater Israel on their ashes.

The war must stop!

The whole world must now act in concert, especially the Israeli public, the European community, and the Arab states. They all have considerable stakes in the final outcome of this genocidal war.

The role of the Israelis

I applaud the multitude of Israelis who have been protesting, demanding an end to the war and the release of the remaining hostages. However, these protests have not forced Netanyahu and his government to end the war.

To the contrary, against his own military highest command, he decided to call on tens of thousands of reservists to engage in the cruel reoccupation of Gaza City, which would result in the destruction of the city and the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians and scores of Israeli soldiers. The Israelis must now raise the ante by taking several decisive measures: