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In Beit Hanoon, north Gaza, Israeli soldiers carved the Star of David on what used to be agricultural land using, apparently, tanks.
This is what I told Al Jazeera’s Justin Salhani (who is also a regular contributor to From The Periphery):
We’re seeing what absolute impunity looks like in an army that is given everything it needs to destroy Palestinian life. As in any genocide, those committing them often take pleasure in displaying their superiority by forcing their symbols on their victims. The Israeli army also utilises religious figures who speak of this genocide of Palestinians and the colonisation of Gaza as a religious duty. The IDF has rabbis on the ground and soldiers have brought the menorah and shofar to the battlefield. This is not new, it’s just much more widespread now. The Israeli religious philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz described these attitudes as that of Judeo-Nazis in the 1990s, warning that it could become the norm if not stopped. Sadly, he was right.
Al Jazeera also reported that this seems to have been made by the IDF's 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion because what looks like the number 7979 is carved next to it. That battalion, which translates to Judah's Victory in Hebrew (in case you thought the Israelis are subtle about their intentions), is all-male and ultra-orthodox. As a result, I've seen folks focus on that detail and explain it away as being the act of a small number of religious extremists.
I was on Al Jazeera for a brief comment:
Putting aside the question of why the IDF includes religious extremists in its ranks - spoiler alert: because they share the same goal as the Israeli secular mainstream- I think this misses the point, which is to celebrate.
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