On 19 July, Israel, confident of unquestioning imperialist support, shamelessly passed an overtly racist bill officially designating the country as the jewish homeland. Sixty-two voted in favour of the bill while 55 opposed.
The legislation declares: “The state places national value on development of Jewish settlement and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation”– settler land theft and racial segregation in other words. It also affirms that Jerusalem is the “united capital of Israel”.
Arab members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) tore up copies of the bill in protest and were removed from the plenum hall. The chair of the Joint List, the third-largest grouping in the Knesset comprised of the four main Arab-supported parties in Israel, stated that the Knesset had “passed a law of jewish supremacy and told us that we will always be second-class citizens”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: “This is a defining moment; long live the state of Israel.” He responded to his critics by saying: “How dare you talk this way about the only democracy in the middle east?”
And all the while, Israel tightens its grip on Gaza, launching further artillery strikes into the strip. So far in this latest wave of resistance the ‘Israeli Defence Force’ (IDF) has killed at least 149 Palestinians and wounded more than 16,000 in punishment for resisting their incarceration and genocide.
