A brief history of genocidal rhetoric in Israel BEFORE Oct. 7th, 2023. A 🧵 Zionist leaders have convinced themselves Palestinian Arabs were genocidal since the 1920s. Yosef Hecht (leader of the Haganah in the 1920s) confided in his diary, “we are always persecuted [&] murdered by the majority of ‘civilized’ peoples, or savage & cruel [peoples] like the Arabs…their intention toward us is not only to humiliate but also to destroy [us] physically.” haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

Was Zionism about rescuing Jews from persecution? A 🧵 Zionists believe Zionism was primarily about saving Jews fleeing persecution. Yet key Zionist leaders from the 1880s-1948 rejected this idea, believing the interests of the state-to-be trumped the interests of persecuted Jews. This 🧵 is a history of the #1 Zionist myth today.

A brief history of Zionism (@harari_yuval style) 🧵 Zionism is about 500 years old. To tell a history of Zionism Harari style, we thus need to spend 2/3rds of the story on the pre-1850s period.

2/3rds of our story is before there were very many (any?) Jewish Zionists.

Is Zionism is racist? A 🧵 Zionism says Jews should have a Jewish State in Palestine.

When Jewish Zionists developed this idea (1870s-1890s), Palestine was 90-95% non-Jewish.

At the time, 0 Zionists believed it was possible to establish a Jewish State in a land that was 90%-95% non-Jewish.

On Jewish rejection of Zionism. A 🧵

https://x.com/_ZachFoster/status/1701993280450224539

A brief history of Israel's use of poisonous chemicals to take over Palestinian land & kill Palestinians. A 🧵 Sep. 13, 2024: Israeli settlers killed dozens of sheep belonging to 2 Palestinian brothers in the Bedouin community of Arab Al-Malihat (near Jericho in West Bank), by pouring poison into the water that the animals drink from. middleeastmonitor.com/20240913-israe…

How Israel kills aid workers in Gaza. A 🧵 Nov. 18, 2023: Israeli forces attacked a convoy of clearly-marked @MSF vehicles, killing 2 MSF staff members, even though MSF coordinated their movement w/the IDF. msf.org/msf-convoy-att…

How many Jews need to die for the sake of Zionism? A 🧵 A common misconception about Zionism is that it is all about protecting Jews. Yet, Zionist & Israeli leaders have consistently put Jews in danger, sacrificing Jews for the goal of establishing & maintaining a Jewish State.

Meet the Palestinian hostages kidnapped by Israel (part 2 out of 602) 🧵 In March '24, Israeli forces kidnapped Al-Araby journalist Muhammad Arab. In prison, he was blindfolded 24/7 & hands tied 24/7, forced to sleep hunched over w/no bedding. He became "nearly unrecognizable." His detention has been extended indefinitely. 972mag.com/sde-teiman-pri…

Meet the Palestinian hostages kidnapped by Israel. 🧵 On June 27, '23, Israeli forces abducted the journalist Mohammed Muna, 41, from his home in Nablus for the 7th time. He worked at "Hawa Nablus" radio & w/Quds Press. On Dec. 27, his detention was extended by another 6 months. His whereabouts are unknown. france24.com/en/middle-east…

15 Israeli (former) leaders call it Apartheid. A 🧵 For decades, Israeli political & military leaders have wondered, will Israel become an apartheid state? Then, once their tenure in office ends, and their title is former something, they find the courage to say, alas, Israel has become an apartheid state!

A brief history of ceasefire talks between Hamas & Israel. A 🧵 On 19 June 2008, Israel & Hamas agreed to a truce:

Hamas & other militant groups agreed to stop firing rockets at Israel if Israel agreed to halt air strikes & other attacks & ease its blockade of Gaza. theguardian.com/world/2008/jun…

Israel doesn't have a constitution. Instead it has 14 basic laws whose purpose is to establish "the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish & democratic state.”

So Israel's purpose is to be both Jewish & democratic. But what if the majority becomes non-Jewish? A very short 🧵 This fear drives public opinion in Israel. To cite just one example, according to the 2010 Israel Democracy Institute (@IDIisrael) poll, 53% of Israeli Jews believed the state should be entitled to encourage Palestinians Arabs to emigrate from Israel adalah.org/uploads/oldfil…

Today, Hamas & Fatah agreed to form an "interim national reconciliation government" aimed at maintaining Palestinian control over Gaza once Israel ends its war on Gaza. How will the US & Israel respond?

Some lessons from history. A 🧵 On 19 Mar. 2005, 13 Palestinian groups (Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, DFLP) signed the Cairo Declaration, affirming the status of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. It was a step towards a peaceful resolution. haaretz.com/2005-03-18/ty-…

The 8 Tiers of Israeli Apartheid, A 🧵 Tier 1: Jewish citizens of Israel (7.2 million people)

A brief history of how Israel responds to unarmed Palestinian protestors. A 🧵 Oct. 19th, 2023: Ahmad Khalifa & Mohammad Abu El Taher Jabareen organized a peaceful protest against the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza. They were arrested & imprisoned for 110 days in a torture dungeon. adalah.org/en/content/vie…

A brief history of Israel's policy of torturing Palestinians. A 🧵 Oct. 7-present. Israel tortured 4,000+ Palestinians at the Sde Teiman prison: systematic beatings, sexual violence, electric shocks, electric sticks up anuses, sleep deprivation, psychological torture. 35 have "died" while in the prison since Oct. 7. nytimes.com/2024/06/06/wor…

A Brief History of Israel's Use of (Israeli) Human Shields. A 🧵 In 1919, the Zionist militia, HaShomer declared “the need to begin widespread settlement close to the existing boundary lines for the purpose of defending the country.” The idea was to establish new colonies in the border areas, to put civilians in harm’s way. Source: p.45 ⤵️

A brief history of Israel's use of human shields, a 🧵. June 2024: Israeli soldiers used an aid truck to enter central Gaza, killing 276 Palestinians & releasing 4 hostages. A survivor of the massacre reported: the aid truck stopped in Nuseirat, Israeli soldiers got out of the truck & sprayed him w/3 bullets.

https://x.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1799470775579079087

Antisemitism is on the rise.

But much of the antisemitism is being perpetrated Zionists, who are increasing posing a grave threat to Jewish safety & security. A 🧵 In this video, Jewish protestors are being harassed & attacked by Zionists. (video shared today by @YousefAlhelou on IG).

"There is no moral equivalence between Israel & Hamas."

This talking point has been regurgitated ad nauseam by Israel's supporters since the @IntlCrimCourt has begun the process of issuing arrest warrants for Israeli & Hamas leaders.

But is moral equivalency argument true? 🧵 International humanitarian law boils down to 3 principles:

1 No targeting civilians
2 No indiscriminate attacks, even if there are combatants nearby
3 No disproportionality: the incidental harm caused to civilians must not be excessive relative to the military advantage gained