Ukraine, Israel, racism and refugees

By
John Minto
-
38
1358

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed so much hypocrisy in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the western world that’s it’s hard to keep track.

Israel has racism down to a fine art. 

While the world was putting their hand up for Ukrainian refugees – Israel put its hand up only for Jewish Ukrainian refugees (at least one grandparent must be Jewish)

As early as January 2022, Israel began planning to transfer Ukrainian Jews to become colonists in the land of the Palestinians. Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption proclaimed: “We call on the Jews of Ukraine to immigrate to Israel – your home.”

The refugees/colonists began to arrive in early March, receiving preferential treatment, while Ukrainians who could not prove their Jewishness according to Israel’s racist criteria for refugees face myriad difficulties.

Meanwhile, the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division has begun preparing 1000 housing units for Ukrainian Jews on stolen and occupied Palestinian and Syrian land in the occupied West Bank and the occupied Golan Heights. 

When there was an outcry from Israeli liberals saying, quite rightly, that this was not a reflection of Jewish values, the government said they would take non-Jewish refugees as well. The predictable reaction from racist Israelis was “We are a Jewish state – why are we taking in these gentiles?”. The government however says the non-Jewish refugees won’t be able to claim Israeli citizenship – they will have to leave when the fighting stops.

Important to point out here that Israel is NOT a Jewish state. 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinians. Israel is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural state dominated by a racist regime which has made indigenous Palestinians second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth class inhabitants in the land of their birth and the land of their ancestors, Palestine. This is well described in Amnesty International’s short video on Israeli apartheid.

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Jewish Ukrainian refugees are being welcomed because it helps Israel maintain a majority Jewish population. It’s a country obsessed with demographics and determined to maintain what Israel’s largest and most respected Human Right Group, B’Tselem, calls “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea”.

It is proposed that most of the Jewish Ukrainian refuges will be settled in illegal Jewish-only settlements on stolen Palestinian land while Israel’s apartheid government continues its refusal to allow Palestinians to return to their homes and land after around 800,000 were ethnically cleansed from vast swathes of Historic Palestine by Israeli militias in 1948 – a process which continues to this day.

And Jewish Ukrainian refugees will qualify for automatic Israeli citizenship – something denied the big majority of Palestinians in their homeland Palestine – all of which has been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Naftali “I’ve killed a lot of Arabs in my time and there’s nothing wrong with that” Bennett has been promoting himself as an international mediator. Israel didn’t join the international condemnation of Russia and has repeatedly refused Ukrainian appeals for military assistancebut Bennet flew to Moscow for a three-hour meeting with Putin and was then on the phone to Zelensky suggesting to him he should think about the cost in death and destruction in Ukraine and agree to Russian terms. Bennett followed up by trying to get the parties together for a mediation meeting in Jerusalem.

This is the same Israeli leader who refuses to meet with Palestinian leaders, refuses to negotiate any peace deal with Palestinians and says he will never agree to a Palestinian state being established on his watch. Not the credentials for an international mediator.

And in case readers missed the recent news a further two high-profile groups have joined the international human rights condemnation of Israel as an apartheid state.

A short summary of the highest profile groups that have described Israel in this way over the past 18 months is here:

  • Numerous Palestinian Civil society organisations

It’s racism on steroids in Israel just as it was in apartheid South Africa. And increasingly Jews around the world are seeing it as such. From an opinion poll last year 25% of American Jews already regard Israel as an apartheid state and 38% of young American Jews say the same thing.

We need regime change in Israel and everyone living in historic Palestine enjoying equal rights.

 

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38 COMMENTS

  1. Stuff displays its usual disappointing shallowness with a report on antisemitism in New Zealand that as usual conflates antizionism with antisemitism, fails to mention Palestinians, ignores the multiple findings that Israel is an apartheid state, satisfying itself with the vague Gluckman statement that: ‘However, that did not mean legitimate criticism of Israel and its position in the Middle East was invalid. “I have no problem criticising Israel and nor should other people if they understand the issues,” he said. “The problem is, simply, that most of the criticism is because Israel chooses to exist.”’
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300552815/new-survey-highlights-concerning-levels-of-antisemitism-in-new-zealand

    • Yes the articles are in today’s Press and numerous letters have gone off to the Press about it already. I need to see the full survey questions.

      • This stuff article https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/128210270/holocaust-centre-says-education-key-to-dismantling-antisemitic-views changes and misrepresents some of the questions from the ‘survey’ ,,,, ie “Jews have too much power in international financial markets”, becomes “Jewish people control financial markets (17 per cent agreed)” ,,,

        ,,,,and “Jews have too much control over the global media” becomes “they control global media (10 per cent agreed)” ,,

        ,,, Stuff/Holocaust Centre of New Zealand deputy chairwoman Miriam Bookman then proceed to knock over their own misrepresentation/strawman and tell us “Jewish people control neither.”

        Other questions are vague such as ,,:”The State of Israel has every right to exist as a majority Jewish state”, which begs the question , ‘by what or any means means?.,,,, A better question would be,,,’ Do Jews have the right to exist securly and without discrimination within the state of Israel?’ ,, and the answer would obviously be yes,,, along with all other inhabitants,,, equal human rights for all humans.

        Also, according to the ‘survey’, heeding experts on Human rights abuses and accepting their evidence based findings, means that agreeing with the reality that “Israel is an apartheid state” ,,,, Is anti-Semitic ,,,,,,

        So Numerous Palestinian Civil society organisations

        The late South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace prize winner Desmond Tutu “Name Israel an apartheid state and boycott”

        B’Tselem – Israel’s largest and most respected human right organisation, in their January 2021 report “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid”

        Human Rights Watch, the US largest human rights organisation, in their April 2021 report “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution”

        Amnesty International, in their February 2022 report “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians”

        etc etc etc , are all anti-Semitic ,,, according to the ‘survey’.

        Pointing out the racism and discrimination that Zionism subjects Palestinians and non-Jews to in Israel is the new ‘anti-Semitic’ ,,,, which to me demonstrates how perverting the meaning of words ,,,,shits all over the reliability and credibility of those who use them that way ,,, as well as debasing the word itself https://youtu.be/U1bQzcx9iBE?t=75

        Ending up with a slanted biased and crap survey,,, Stuffed news reporting bordering on fake,,,based on overstating genuine racist and bigoted prejudice against Jews ( called antisemitism ) from Nzers ,,,,

        Meanwhile some Jewish groups are white-washing real white-supremacist Nazis https://rumble.com/vz4q29-adl-organization-against-anti-semitism-whitewashes-ukrainian-nazs.html

        Interestingly some of the first Palestine land stealing Zionists were from Ukraine, in the 1880’s ,,,, thats at 6:50 in this Video,,, which starts with Zelensky on the scrounge for Israel weapons ,,,, and making inappropriate remarks about the Holocaust https://youtu.be/sMd0p24995s?t=134

    • We should and some of us are, be working on both fronts. We will I think always have racists in our society. People like Gaby who never ever answers anything properly, I know I said what about the 65 laws specific to Palestinians living in Israel.

      • The 65 laws myth is nonsense. Name one and show how its racist. It’s you who doesn’t come up with the goods. you are the racist since your only target is Jews.

  5. What the world sees in the Ukraine conflict is a thuggish ideologically driven tyrant invading a democracy and killing its civilian population…which is exactly what the Palestinians do to Israel. No wonder their influence is fading fast!

    • I have a feeling the record shows that it is the Israeli Government and Zionist settlers who are the thuggish ideologically driven invaders killing the civilian population. But no doubt you will continue to see it your way, regardless of the evidence.

      • And yet you don’t understand why the rest of the world sees the Russia/ Ukraine conflict in a different light than how they see the Palestine/ Israel conflict. That’s because you’re wilfully ignorant and adverse to connecting the dots that clearly show it is your view that is not what “the record shows”

      • It’s the evidence that convinces me. Israel has every right to defend herself from tyrannical islamofascists who deny her right to exist, exactly as Putin is doing with Ukraine. But I’m sure you’ll continue to see it your bigoted way.

    • History is already showing that your stock standard bullshit lines are wrong. Did you not know that Israel isn’t following your line, even though Zelenskiy is Jewish.
      Waiting to see you tar Biden with the same brush you use on Putin since he is guilty of the same sins and in more than one illegal war.

  6. This was on the newsgrub website today:

    “Wellington Jewish Council chair David Zwartz says the best way to fight racism is to get to know each other

    “The simplest way to fight racism is to get to know each other and do things together. When communities understand each other, they build trust and are able to put their judgements aside. They can embrace their similarities as well as their differences,” Zwartz says”

    Uh huh mr Zwartz, do you have anything to say about Israel and racism?

    why do the media give guys likes Zwartz such an easy time? He needs to be asked about the Israel/Palestine situation so we can watch him squirm when in fact it turns out he is OK with some racism

    • So are the Jewish community getting to know their Palestinian citizens…

      The most important thing out of this report is the racism to Moslems which is far greater than that to Jews. Neither is acceptable at all.

  8. John you may be right that there has been at times ruthless aggression against the Palestinian people in the disputed areas. Whether Israel had a right to create a state is different to them stealing land. You know the ancient history no doubt, so you would acknowledge that the Israeli people had lived in that area in 1000bc, were fucked over by the Egyptians, and ruled by the Ottoman Empire among others, So when we talk about stealing that may be a modern analysis but hardly when talking of a complete history. Like in the Ukrainian dispute the modern history only accounts for a small part of the understanding that’s required. When you talk of illegal, that’s a modern description. When there are people whose history goes back two thousand years modern legality can get lost and for some doesn’t count.

    • Much of what you say is religious myth. There is a fair chance that much of the population of Europe has Jewish forebears, and Goth, Vandal, Hun and whatever forebears. Maybe bear forebears!
      But not many groups say ‘Hey, I have ancestors who lived there 2000 years ago. You lot fuck off: I want it back!’

      • JT. Some peoples religious myth is others reality. You can judge if you think your qualified. I just read what history there is to read. I’m not religious at all certainly not Jewish but there’s plenty of writings that say The Jews have been there a long time. I doubt you can dismiss that and neither can John M. I believe Israel are bullies and overreact because of the threat to their own history. You can make an argument for both sides.

  9. The way the international community is piling sanctions on Russia really highlights the failure of the BDS movement against Israel. No comparison. And rightly so. The Palestinians have been made irrelevant by Israel’s growing support amongst her Arab neighbors. Witness the recent Negev Summit with US Egypt Bahrain UAE and Morocco. Palestinian terrorists meanwhile have murdered 11 Israelis in 3 attacks over 7 days and then celebrated the deaths. The ‘peace partners’.

  10. In response to New View and a number of others, excluding Gaby who has had her head in the sand for many many years.

    Many ethnic groups and religions have shared the land of historic Palestine (the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea) for thousands of years. Jewish communities have lived there throughout that time but were always a small minority. At the time of WWI 10% were Jews, 90% Muslims and Christians.

    The area has deep religious and cultural significance for Muslims, Jews and Christians. The 3 great ‘Abrahamic’ religions which share the stories of the Old Testament and which all trace their religous beliefs back to Abraham.

    For the past 3000 years the land occupied by Palestine / Israel today was always referred to as Palestine.

    Ever noticed the name Palestine on all the war memorials through Aotearoa.

    What we need is racism in all it forms to be called out.

    One democratic state for Jews, Muslims, Christians and anyone else.

  11. Two of the civilians murdered by the Palestinian terrorist in Bnei Brak were Ukrainians. The author’s foolish analogy has been shredded.

  12. wow the usual pro Israeli crowd are in fine form I see, posting from their bunker in Tel Aviv no doubt

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