The Russia-Ukraine Crisis: What You Need to Know
Palestinians in Israel exist within a system of entrenched Jewish supremacy and overt apartheid, forced to coexist with those who perpetrated the Nakba or who champion its continuation. Israeli politicians have made it clear that we are tolerated only because David Ben-Gurion—Israel’s first prime minister and the chief architect of the Nakba—failed to “complete the job” in 1948: the total ethnic cleansing of Palestine. I have lived in Haifa since 2010, following a childhood in Canada and subsequent years in Gaza, Nazareth, and Ramallah, where I served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team in the early 2000s. Despite my many years here, not a day passes without my ears catching anti-Palestinian racist vitriol from politicians and ordinary citizens alike. Well-meaning Jewish Israeli friends often urge me to disregard such remarks—“You know how Israelis are,” they say, as if attempting to convince themselves these are isolated incidents rather than the foundational reality of the Palestinian experience. They are not isolated; the racism and the threats are systemic, pervasive, and enduring.The Genocidal Frenzy
Since October 7, the genocidal fervor has reached a fever pitch. For seven months, Israeli politicians and analysts have broadcasted genocidal rhetoric daily on television and social media. Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister, who early in the war suggested a nuclear strike on Gaza, recently remarked that Israel must find ways to inflict pain upon Gazans “worse than death.” These are not merely empty words; they are being operationalized. Israeli violence has become so normalized that soldiers take to social media to boast of killing, maiming, and torturing Palestinians. Confident in their total impunity, soldiers film themselves detonating buildings in Gaza and dedicating the destruction to their children, proposing marriage against a backdrop of ruins, scribbling “mark the date” on bombed-out homes, and desecrating the intimate belongings of Palestinian women. The slaughter of Palestinians has become a point of pride, even appearing as a trope on dating apps where men flaunt photos of themselves armed for combat in Gaza.
The rot extends beyond politicians and soldiers. Popular Israeli songs—some garnering over 20 million views on YouTube—explicitly call for the annihilation of Gaza and celebrate the deaths of high-profile Palestinian supporters like Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa. Israeli comedian Hen Mizrahi performed a skit mocking the use of food airdrops as a means of killing Palestinians—a cruel irony, given that Israel is deliberately engineering a famine. Mizrahi later doubled down on national television, echoing the consensus of officials: “There are no innocent people in Gaza.”
The hostility is inescapable. One finds endorsements of Israel’s assault on every corner: storefronts and apartment windows display quotes from Nikki Haley, “Finish them,” calling upon Netanyahu to act. On highways, billboards depict Hitler alongside Hamas leaders.
But the defining slogan of this era, “Together we will win,” is ubiquitous—on billboards, commercial websites, and business cards. It is even printed on eggs—yes, eggs—complete with an expiration date, naturally.
“Your Neighbor Will Report You”
My Israeli neighbor has a “Together we will win” sticker affixed to his car. “What does ‘win’ mean?” I asked him recently. “You don’t know what ‘win’ means?” he retorted. “I honestly don’t. I want to know what ‘winning’ looks like. So far, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 15,000 children...” He shrugged, dismissively replying, “That is the price.” His reaction is symptomatic: a recent poll revealed that a vast majority of Jewish Israelis—94%—believe the military has used “appropriate or too little” force in Gaza. Nearly 88% believe the death and injury tolls are justified. Given the sheer scale of the devastation wrought upon Gaza, these figures are nothing short of chilling. A friend once cautioned me against speaking to neighbors. “Your neighbor will just report you to the police,” she warned. My friend was right. Alongside the genocidal mania, Israel has moved to crush any internal dissent, banning protests, passing legislation to shutter Al Jazeera, and targeting those who dare to speak out, such as Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian. Since October 7, hundreds of Palestinian citizens have been arrested for “incitement” and “support for terrorism” merely for expressing solidarity with Gaza or criticizing state crimes—even for quoting verses from the Quran. Students have been reported by classmates for “liking” social media posts, resulting in disciplinary action from their universities, while those openly cheering for genocide do so with impunity. Armed vigilante groups patrol Israeli streets, reporting Palestinians—including doctors and professors—to the police for their online activity. Dalal Abu Amneh, a Palestinian neuroscientist and singer, received death threats after posting “There is no victor but God” alongside a Palestinian flag emoji on social media. After reporting the threats to the police, it was she who was arrested, not those who had threatened her. Following her release, neighbors staged a month-long protest outside her home, chanting for her expulsion and issuing rape and death threats. The mayor of her city attended the demonstration to boost his own reelection bid, threatening her with eviction and renaming her street “Israel Defense Forces Street.” All of this is permitted; condemning genocide is not.Rewriting the History of the Peace Process
The purpose of this repression is transparent: to keep us fearful, to ensure our silence. We are expected to remain mute as our families, friends, and people are decimated in the occupied territories, and even as our neighbors and colleagues treat the unfolding genocide as a form of entertainment.— Diana Buttu. A Haifa-based lawyer and analyst, Diana Buttu served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team in the early 2000s. She is a frequent commentator on Palestinian and Israeli affairs and the author of the series "Life as a Palestinian in Israel," published on Zeteo.