Thread by @LeeMordechai

1/ I’m an Israeli historian. My community is still too silent about the horrible war in Gaza. Over 8 months I’ve closely followed the war, reading >1000 articles and viewing >1000 videos/images of the war from all sides. My summary conclusions & full report are in the 🧵:

2/ Details, examples and many, many footnoted sources are available in the images at the end of this chain, or in PDF format here:
academia.edu/112967602/Bear…

3/ For earlier readers: the new version expands the previous version (+35 pages), with new discussions (e.g. the involvement of the US, campus protests) as well as new evidence and findings. My conclusions remain similar, as follows:

4/ Over the past 8 months, Israel has repeatedly massacred Palestinians in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of >37,000 Palestinians, injuries of >85,000 and an additional >10,000 still missing. Most dead (~56%) are women and children.

5/ There is ample evidence for Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks throughout the war, as well as many examples for massacres and other killings. A long list of international institutions have harshly criticized Israel’s conduct of the war.

6/ Israel has been causing the death of the civilian population of Gaza. Israel has created famine in Gaza and used it as a weapon of war, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians from starvation. Israel created and maintained shortages of water, medicine and electricity.

7/ Israel has also dismantled Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including its health and educational systems. As a result, more people die from treatable conditions, all universities have been damaged/destroyed & ~625,000 children have no access to education.

8/ The vast majority of Israeli Jews supports the aforementioned measures because Israeli discourse has thoroughly de-humanized Palestinians. The de-humanization was led by Israel’s highest state officials, and it continues to be supported through the state & military.

9/ De-humanization is also widely prevalent in broader civil society. The de-humanization results in widespread abuse of, and violence towards, detained Palestinians and Gazan civilians and their property, all with few consequences.

10/ One of Israel’s government’s very likely objectives is to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip, whether in part or in total, by removing as many Palestinians as feasibly possible.

11/ Israel cleared significant parts of the Gaza strip by demolition and bulldozing in attempt to destroy the fabric of Palestinian society by targeting a long list of civilian institutions. Almost 60% of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged.

12/ One of the purposes of the war, according to the Israeli government, is to release the hostages – some 120 of whom remain in Hamas’ captivity. The evidence indicates that compared to the ethnic cleansing this is a low priority for the government.

13/ To date Israel has killed more hostages than it released through military operations (7). On many occasions Israel’s Prime Minister has stalled the negotiations for releasing hostages or attempted to obstruct them.

14/ In parallel to the war in Gaza, in the West Bank Israeli operations (military & settlers) have resulted in the deaths of >500 Palestinians since the beginning of the war, ethnic cleansing of >15 communities, as well as sharp increases in violence and abuse of Palestinians.

15/ All of the above has been made possible through the strong support of most mainstream media in Israel as well as the West, primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

16/ From the beginning of the war, Israel has waged an information campaign that emphasized the horrors of the Oct. 7 attacks with both reliable and unreliable information,

17/ discredited critical voices outside Israel, limited information flows from Gaza, and rallied the Israeli public around the war by curtailing domestic discourse. As a result, Israeli media and discourse are predominantly and uncritically pro-war.

18/ Mainstream media outlets in the US share much of this approach. In depth investigations of the Israeli smear campaign against UNRWA and the persistent doubts towards the Palestinian death counts reveal that both are cases of unfounded propaganda.

19/ All of the above legitimizes Israeli violence and actions, deflects attention away from many events in Gaza, and contributes to the de-humanization of Palestinians.

20/ The US’s almost complete support has been fundamental for Israel’s conduct of the war. This support took the form of military aid, deployment of US military assets, total diplomatic support & release of Israel from internal mechanisms of accountability.

21/ Dissent in the US - both in government and among sizable groups in American society - including the widespread campus protests in April/May - had little to no effect on US policy.

22/ The evidence is sufficient for me to believe that what Israel is currently doing to the Palestinian population in Gaza is consistent with the definition of genocide as I understand it. In an appendix, I explain my reasoning for using this term.

23/ Pages 1-4

24/ Pages 5-8

25/ Pages 9-12

26/ Pages 13-16

27/ Pages 17-20

28/ Pages 21-24

29/ Pages 25-28

30/ Pages 29-32

31/ Pages 33-36

32/ Pages 37-40

33/ Pages 41-44

34/ Pages 45-48

35/ Pages 49-52

36/ Pages 53-56

37/ Pages 57-60

38/ Pages 61-64

39/ Pages 65-68

40/ Pages 69-72

41/ Pages 73-76

42/ Pages 77-80

43/ Pages 81-84

44/ Pages 85-88

45 and END/ Pages 89-92.