Shai Parnes: "Israel is attacking everyone in Gaza simply for being Palestinian: this is genocide."

CairoOne of Israel's leading human rights groups, B'Tselem, published this week a report claiming that his country is committing genocide in Gaza and that its international allies either assist it or fail to arrest it due to a lack of political courage. They also warn that Israel's practices in the occupied West Bank are similar to those in the Gaza Strip on a small scale and could soon degenerate into open genocide. ARA spoke with a spokesperson for the organization, Shai Parnes, to delve deeper into the investigation's findings.

B'Tselem argues that genocide does not occur in a vacuum, but rather emerges from long-standing conditions that eventually lead to genocidal aggression.

— When we analyzed the situation, we identified three components in Israel's genocidal attack. The first was seventy years of occupation, apartheid, dehumanization, oppression, and separation inflicted by the Israeli government on Palestinians: the impunity of any Israeli, whether a soldier following orders or a citizen harming a Palestinian. Then there was the Hamas attack on October 7, which was a war crime: for the first time in their lives, Israelis felt truly afraid. The third component was that, at the time, the most radical, right-wing, brutal, and messianic government Israel has ever had was in power, which used and mobilized these emotions to launch a genocidal attack on Gaza.

The Intent is always a crucial element when addressing the issue of genocide, also in the case of Gaza. How have you approached this?

— Since the first days of the Israeli attack there have been statements by high officials, such as Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, naming the Palestinians of Gaza Amalek, a well-known passage from the Bible that every Jewish Israeli knows, which commands us to exterminate them. These statements, from MPs and ministers, appear in the media almost every day. Israel is attacking every single Palestinian in Gaza, regardless of what they have done, simply for being Palestinian. This is genocide.

They also warn that this genocide may not be confined to Gaza, but could spread to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

— We have seen the forced transfer of 40,000 people from refugee camps in the northern West Bank and the use of indiscriminate bombing. We have seen the total impunity enjoyed by the army and settlersWe see how Israel destroys Palestinian society and economic life by preventing olive harvests or establishing hundreds of checkpoints. In these 22 months, more than 960 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by soldiers and settlers. We're seeing house demolitions. These are the same practices as in Gaza, but on a smaller scale.. For now.

B'Tselem has called on the international community to act urgently using all possible means under international law. What actions could be taken?

— I don't think the international community needs B'Tselem's advice on how to act. They know better than anyone how to exercise power and how to act diplomatically, economically, or by other means within the framework of international law. What they lack is will, courage, and political morality. The world knows what is happening in Gaza. But the international community has violated its duty: to protect human lives. And some countries have not only done nothing, but have even supported Israel.

How has your report been received in Israel?

— This conversation [about genocide] has opened up a bit. There's a kind of debate about Israel's actions in Gaza. But I must say that the mainstream Israeli media doesn't explain anything about what Israel does in Gaza. And if they do, it's to justify practically everything. Most Israelis want an end to what they call the war on Gaza, not because of what Israel has done, but for other reasons.