On June 13th Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister, was unseated by Naftali Bennett, a politician even farther to the right than Netanyahu. Just days into the new coalition government led by Bennett, there has already been a new round of racist hatred and brutal violence against Palestinians. On Tuesday, a demonstration by the far right called the flag march went through Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, with the demonstrators shouting “Death to Arabs” and other despicable, racist slogans.
Bennett himself has a long history of similarly violent, racist actions. Bennett formerly served in an elite unit of the Israeli Defense Forces. He remarked that he’s “killed lots of Arabs” in his life, but “there’s no problem with that”. Bennett is staunchly against Palestinians having any sovereign state, and served for years as leader of a Zionist settler party in Israel.
It’s no surprise then that Bennett decided to bomb Gaza just days after taking office. In response to Hamas sending incendiary balloons into Israel, Bennett launched multiple air strikes into the Gaza strip, targeting Hamas bases. This is just weeks after Gaza was brutally bombed by Israel – leading to the destruction of schools, hospitals, and other vital infrastructure, not to mention the hundreds of lives lost by Israel’s bombing.
It doesn’t matter who’s in power – Israel’s bombing and brutal occupation of Palestinian land will continue with US support. We must demand and end to the Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine!
Image Credit: Business Insider
