The Zionist fantasy to get rid of the Palestinians
At the root of the Kafr Qasim massacre (1957) was the same fantasy that has accompanied Zionist presence in Israel since the establishment of the state: that one day we will get rid of the Palestinians. ■ How deeply ingrained is the fantasy of making the native-born Palestinians disappear — whether by chasing them away or if that’s not possible, then by their extermination — that made young Jews willing to kill babies, women and the elderly because they were obliged to “follow orders” just over a decade after the Holocaust?
By Orly Noy • Translated by Sol Salbe
I have a notebook in which I write new words that I’ve learnt in Arabic. Yesterday, after watching the film The 1957 Transcripts (called Black Flag in Hebrew) about the Kafr Qasim massacre (directed by Ayelet Heller, produced by Osnat Trabelsi), I added the word مجزرة [Majzara] to my book. I hadn’t come across that word for slaughter.
It’s hard to explain how disturbing this film is. It is based on the transcripts of the trial of those involved in the massacre, and testimonies from survivors. The film had been actually completed just before October 7 but became alarmingly topical afterward. When I see the pictures from Gaza and read the testimonies — of both the Palestinians and the soldiers — it is as if I am drowning in an inescapable whirlpool that swirls around the question of how is this possible? How are we capable of this? How is this even possible? Yesterday, this film provided me with the answer that it’s difficult to actually express in words.
At the root of this massacre, which was planned and finessed in detail, was the same fantasy that has accompanied Zionist presence in Israel since the establishment of the state: that one day we will get rid of the Arabs. One day they will no longer be here, and everything will be ours. This fantasy is the driving force of the Nakba, it is the driving force of the Kafr Qasim massacre, and it is the driving force of the current genocide in Gaza. It is not for nothing that the current apocalypse is viewed as a miracle by Minister Orit Strock [Religious Zionism] and her associates. It is not for nothing that Minister Gila Gamliel [Likud] drew up a detailed plan for the establishment of camps for Gazans in Sinai. It is not for nothing that the abuse of West Bank Palestinians has reached monstrous new heights since October 7. They, the abusers, genuinely believe that they have been given the opportunity to turn this old fantasy into a reality. It will happen soon.
Plans are put down on paper, they’re discussed around tables laden with savoury snacks, but are put into fruition by young people in uniform in front of defenceless people. And they set out to implement these plans with the promise that if they follow the orders, one day the Arabs will no longer be here. And for this, they repeatedly testify at the trial, they would carry out any order. “And if you saw a baby crawling in an alleyway during the curfew, would you shoot them too?” asks the visibly horrified judge in the film. “Yes,” the Border Police officer finally replies. And women as well? And Children? Yes, women and children as well. An order is an order.
How deeply ingrained is the fantasy of making the native-born Palestinians disappear — whether by chasing them away or if that’s not possible, then by their extermination — that made young Jews willing to kill babies, women and the elderly because they were obliged to “follow orders” just over a decade after the Holocaust? And if they were willing to shoot a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy (according to the Israeli count, the number of victims of the massacre is 47; According to the Palestinian count it is 49, because both the foetus in its mother’s womb and the grandfather who saw his grandson shot dead and died are counted) only a decade after the Holocaust because they “obeyed orders,” what are young Jews in Israel capable of today, some seven decades later on?
I don’t know with what words can we still cajole the Jewish public to open their eyes and see what is happening to us. I think there’s something so terrifying about this realisation that people prefer to double-down the cruelty, using various justifications, as long as they don’t have to really look in the mirror. We live right in the jaws of the predatory beast but and we refuse to see it. Just one more minute and we would be completely swallowed up within it. If there is anything left to salvage from our humanity, we’d need to fight for it now tooth and nail, otherwise there will soon be nothing to talk about.
Translated by Sol Salbe, Middle East News Service
Hebrew original:
The film: ‘The 1957 Transcripts’
The film delves into an almost forgotten event that took place in Kfar Qasim in October 1956, when 47 innocent civilians were shot and killed by Israeli Border Police soldiers. Through a gripping narrative structure, like a suspenseful legal drama, the film unfolds the historical, political, and psychological reality that had shaped and triggered the event. A cinematic montage created by the intertwined plotlines, emphasizes immense gaps, conflicting narrative, and deep divides between Jews and Arabs who are destined to live together on the same land. If we begin to recognize these gaps, will there be hope for reconciliation?
