(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Netanyahu Cites Amalek as Justification for Gaza [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-19 This is a painful diary for me, so bear with me. “Amalek” is a code word in Jewish tradition for an implacable enemy whose goal is to destroy all the Jews. It goes back to Torah times, when, according to the Bible, The Amalekites deliberately attacked the weakest members of the Israelite exodus from Egypt. Haman, who wanted to kill all the Jews in Persia, was called a descendant of Amalek. The rabbis would refer to Hitler as Amalek. There is no evidence that the Biblical Amalek ever existed. (Nor Haman, either.) But warnings about Amalek are a part of Jewish history. And labeling someone as Amalek is, or can become, a call to eliminate him, as God told Moses that he would wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven (Exod. 17:14; see also 1 Sam. 15:18). In rabbinic times, the command to wipe out Amalek was downplayed or dismissed. The Talmud (Ber. 28a) argues that because the nations have all been mixed up since Biblical days, the identity of Amalek has been lost. Maimonides held that the command meant to remove “Amalekite-like behavior” from the world. (For more discussion, see, eg., Genocide in the Torah.) In modern Israel, some settlers have compared the Palestinians to Amalek and said they must be prevented from becoming a nation. But I just saw on Chris Hayes’s program tonight that Netanyahu has now said that the destruction of Gaza is necessary because they are Amalek. Actually, a quick bit of research shows that he has been saying this since Oct. 7, and other Israelis are saying it as well. To label a people as Amalek is to call for genocide. There is no question that Hamas has behaved, and continues to behave, in the manner of the Biblical Amalek. The Oct. 7 massacre deliberately targeted the weak, the old, women, children. It was intentionally cruel, intentionally heartless, intentionally designed to provoke outrage, intentionally an act of genocide. Hamas does not to simply destroy the Jewish state; it wants to kill all the Jews who live there. There are also reports that Hamas is active in Germany setting up cells and connecting to like-minded groups to kill Jews in Germany and elsewhere in Europe simply for being Jews. But not all Palestinians, not even most Palestinians, are Amalek. Gazans have suffered as much, if not more, under Hamas than Israelis have. The IDF forces who showed journalists through the tunnels they found (one under the main hospital in Gaza) made the point that these were built using money, equipment, and supplies that had been sent to Gaza to help the Gazan people, and that Hamas had stolen them. Up to now, Netanyahu has behaved like a criminal, a more successful Trump. He is almost certainly corrupt, and he is hanging onto power for the same reason Trump wants to get it back: to avoid being called to account. But this makes him a war criminal. For what it’s worth, and it’s worth a lot, much of Israel is very upset with him, both for how he ignored warnings, for how he even built up Hamas, as well as for how he is conducting the war. See, for example, this editorial in today’s Ha’aretz: The Scorched-earthers in Israel's Leadership Tarnish and Endanger the IDF. Not to put too fine a point on it, I am very much afraid that Netanyahu is doing irreparable harm to the Jewish state and to the future of any kind of peaceful existence in that region, and even in the world at large. I am a second-generation Zionist; my parents were heavily involved in the creation of Israel. I have long believed in the necessity of Israel, and in the potential for Israel to be a light unto the nations (even now in my secular years). Netanyahu, and the fundamentalist rabbis and settlers whose support he depends on, are destroying all that. And they are doing so because a religious myth is telling them this is what they must do. (Not in Netanyahu’s case; he’s doing it for his personal survival, but the end result is the same.) It is small personal comfort for me to point out that this is hardly unique to Israel. I previously compared Netanyahu to Trump. I can also point to Putin (who is behind a lot of the madness of today’s world, though probably had nothing to do with Hamas specifically). There is Iran — which is backing Hamas, and also Hezbollah. There are the rising right-wing movements in Europe and South America. There are Xi Jinping and Kim Jung Un. There is the whole GOP. The world is increasingly being run by monsters who would rather destroy the world than share it. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/19/2212738/-Netanyahu-Cites-Amalek-as-Justification-for-Gaza?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/