Mass Transfer [ethnic cleansing] by force — and all ‘out of love of humanity’
Contemporary Israeliness is compressed into three short phrases. ■ At this stage, the monstrosity is also very much Israel’s. But for Israelis themselves, it feels like “love of humanity.” To kick the Gazans to all corners of the globe, out of love of humanity and not hatred of humanity. ■ For the most part, Israeli society supports this mass killing.
By Rogel Alpher • Translated by Sol Salbe
Most public expressions of opinion since the beginning of the war are prefaced with the phrase “like all the people of Israel.” It is important for speakers to express the prevailing opinion. Unfortunately, I cannot say that like all the people of Israel, I was shocked by the cover story of the last week’s Haaretz weekend supplement. I was shocked, like many readers of Haaretz and a few of the citizens of Israel. The article dealt with the bloodbath that the IDF unleashed in Gaza two weeks ago, in the nighttime attack in which it violated the ceasefire. During the 24 hours after the attack, the TV channels boasted of the targeted and miraculous killing of hundreds (some said 300, others 400) Hamas operatives, in addition to the seven main targets of the attack, the heads of the Hamas civilian administration in Gaza.
But as time passes and eyewitness testimonies and photos from Gaza mount up, it becomes clear that in this attack, it was mainly children, women and adults over the age of 65 who were killed. 183 children, according to data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza. 94 women. and only 125 men under the age of 65. Entire families were annihilated there. It is clear that only some of the men under the age of 65 were terrorists, if at all. Hence the following conclusion: In this attack, Hamas operatives were the collateral damage. Most of the dead were children, women and uninvolved men.
For the most part, Israeli society supports this mass killing. The reason can be found in the words of Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, following the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. “Your neighbours are shooting at you again, Oded Ben Ami told him. “They are not neighbours,” Davidi asserted, “they are monsters.” Then he added: “Every single person who is there needs to be kicked out. And I express this in the form of love of humanity, not hatred of humanity.” Mass transfer by force — and all out of love of humanity. The entire contemporary Israeliness is here, crammed into three short clauses. The dehumanisation of the Palestinians (“monsters”) justifies the Israelis’ mass killings. Maybe they look like children to you. But they are monsters.
At this stage, the monstrosity is also very much Israel’s. But for Israelis themselves, it feels like “love of humanity.” To kick the Gazans to all corners of the globe, out of love of humanity and not hatred of humanity, Davidi emphasised. One can only assume that he is referring to the love of the Jewish people (is there any other kind?). There is no other way to interpret his words. After all, it is impossible to forcibly expel people from their homes and their land out of their love. It doesn’t blend well. But his words stem from the love of humanity also from the simple reason that he is a Jew, and therefore good, and loves humanity by nature.
Ben-Ami did not respond to Davidi’s Kahanist statement. It didn’t bother him. To this extent, it is self-evident and normalised, the dominant ideology in Israel. It was later reported that the IDF intends to increase the intensity of the fire even further. No one asked worriedly about dead monsters.
