History is full of ironies: World War I, marketed to Americans as a "war to end all wars," paved the way for an even more massive slaughter. The invasion and conquest of Iraq – which was supposed to augur what George W. Bush hailed as a "global democratic revolution" – instead ushered in a new era of chaos, bloodshed, and tyranny in the region. And in the year 2014, the state of Israel, founded in large part as a reaction to the Holocaust, has embarked on a policy of genocide in Gaza.
The Israelis and their international amen corner are increasingly open about this: a recent article in the Times of Israel – since taken down – was quite explicit in averring that Israel’s "right of self-defense" includes the option of wiping out the entire population of Gaza:
"Hamas has stated forthrightly that it idealizes death as much as Israel celebrates life. What other way then is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely? … [A]nyone who lives with rocket launchers installed or terror tunnels burrowed in or around the vicinity of their home cannot be considered an innocent civilian."
According to the author, Israeli-American Yochanon Gordon – a regular Times of Israel columnist – "the nature of this enemy" must "automatically cause the rules of standard warfare to be suspended." After arguing for a policy of genocide throughout the piece, Gordon poses a question to "humanitarians": "If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?"
Gordon’s answer is clear enough, in spite of his insincere-sounding "apology," but hey – you might say – this is just an opinion piece by someone who lives in Cedarhurst, New York: it doesn’t fairly reflect Israeli public opinion. Yet polls report most Israelis say the IDF isn’t using enough force in Gaza, and as for the Times of Israel: although they took down Gordon’s pro-genocide piece they published a very similar article that very day – which was not taken down – making essentially the same argument. Entitled "1 Samuel 15:18," the author – one Irwin Blank, another American with dual Israeli nationality – argues that the Jewish people have been pursued by "Amakelites" in one form or another throughout their history, and must finally take measures to eliminate their ancient nemesis. The title is a reference to this Biblical passage:
