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‘Normalization’ of Israel means normalisation of genocide

Alameen Templeton

The normalisation of Israel means the normalisation of genocide and the acceptance of the Palestinians’ status as the world’s “Untermensch”.

And Israel continues “mowing the lawn” as normal, while Zionists in Johannesburg have occupied Constitutional Hill for the next three days in an ostensible invitation to all to discuss the Gaza atrocity “with a view to opening a discursive space about Israel/Palestine and the region that is conducive to more positive engagement”.

The Lawnmowers are pressing ahead with their normal, daily routine which has continued unrelentingly for 348 days now, notching up 41 252 confirmed victims dead, 95 497 injured and a guesstimate of 11 000 “missing”.

In Johannesburg, the New South Institute (NSI), a normalisation think tank, is holding a conference entitled “Narrative Conditions Towards Peace in the Middle East”.

Propaganda for the event says “the conference aims to critically engage current political framings, with a view to opening a discursive space about Israel/Palestine and the region that is conducive to more positive engagement”.

‘Don’t mention the genocide’

NSI’s promotional literature very carefully avoids using the words “genocide” or even “ceasefire” when describing the Gaza tragedy.

Presumably, then, using words like “genocide” and “ceasefire” are examples of what the NSI means when it says “the public discourse on Israel/Palestine has radicalized in crude and violent ways”.

So, this isn’t genocide, then; it’s “normal”.

The Palestine Chronicle reports Wednesday: “People in Gaza are only eating one meal every other day as 83% of required food aid does not make it into the besieged enclave due to Israel’s blockade, aid organizations have said.”

And that will continue, then, because it’s “normal”. In the mean time, the NSI notes the “protracted occupation of the West Bank has come to resemble an annexation”.

That’s Holocaust denialism there, in plain sight. The International Court of Justice has ruled two months ago already Israel’s “occupation” is an “annexation”, a grubby land left and Israel has to return all stolen land and to pay for all damages.

‘Appalling acts’

“In plain sight” is how Mark Smith, Britain’s top arms assessment expert described atrocities committed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

He told the BBC a month ago: “What we can see is appalling acts of violence perpetrated on civilians, on civilian property It’s actually quite clear, even from what you can see in open source… that the state of Israel is perpetrating war crimes in plain sight.

“Anybody who has a basic understanding of these things can see that there are war crimes being committed not once, not twice, not a few times, but quite flagrantly and openly and regularly.”

The NSI notes “right-wing extremism and messianism in Israel, moreover, threatens the fabric of democracy, the rule of law, and puts Israel in existential danger”.

Are we supposed to worry about Israel’s “existential danger” while the existence of life in Gaza hangs by a daily thread for over 2million people? Are we supposed to “try open a discursive space” instead of demanding an end to genocide? Can we really talk genocide to death?

The Real Holocaust

Perhaps, this is a good time to ask: What will be “enough” for Israel – 50 000 dead? 100 000? One million? Six million. Does normalisation stretch on to 1.9billion Muslims? Is this the Real Holocaust? Because Hitler’s little holocaust is starting to look like a practice run, if you count the Muslim dead, starting with Srebrenica on 11 July 1995 and running through the tragedies of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and now Palestine, again.

The Palestine Chronicle notes: “While Israeli military attacks on Gaza intensify, lifesaving food, medicine, medical supplies, fuel, and tents have been systematically blocked from entering for almost a year,” a statement signed by 15 organizations including CARE International, Oxfam, Islamic Relief, the Norwegian Refugee Council and KinderUSA, said.”

This is “driving a humanitarian disaster, with the entire population of Gaza facing hunger and disease, and almost half a million at risk of starvation.”

But the NSI wants us to remember that “many Israelis, including those who are deeply critical of the current Israeli government, find difficulty being heard in the public domain”.

Polls in Israel have shown repeatedly throughout the Gaza genocide that public support for their army’s continuing occupation is over 80%. There are not “many Israelis” deeply critical of their genocide.

It’s all ‘so last-year’

“Palestinian politics, especially since the rise of Hamas, entertains fascist strategies and messianic fantasies. The atrocities committed by Hamas are symptomatic of a profound malaise,” the NSI says.

But that is not an example of “radicalising the public discourse in crude and violent ways”.

It’s all “so last-year”, so very 2023. It’s almost as if the NSI hasn’t seen and wants us to forget what has happened since October 7 2023. It want us to “normalize” our morals and memories of the last 348 days, and to curb our expectations for the future.

So, the NSI reminds us that “what has been lost on all sides is an appreciation of nuance and complexity and, in turn, the search for constructive ways out of the current dead-end”.

But everyone knows there’s nothing “nuanced” about genocide. That’s a reality Tel Aviv appreciates. It knows that, by then end of October last year, it was already guilty of genocide and it knows 41 252 lives later, that it is still “only” guilty of genocide. And, if it continues to 100 000 and beyond, it will still only be guilty of the same crime.

So, from a particular point of view, things can’t get worse for Israel. In the mean time, it wants to continue killing uninterrupted – Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made that clear.

And there’s nothing “complex” about the solution – a ceasefire now and prosecution of war criminals at the International Criminal Court.

Netanyahu is trying to bog Hamas down in time-wasting “peace negotiations” to ensure the killing doesn’t stop. And the NSI wishes to “open a discursive space” for the same reason.

What do you think?

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