Not Harmful Weeds: The Soil That Grows Fascism and Violence Against Palestinians in Israel

An opinion article argues that fascism and violence against Palestinians in Israel are not merely isolated incidents, but the product of a political, social, and ideological environment. It cites an indictment against a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University for planning attacks against Arabs, and links the rise of extremism in Israeli discourse to the genocide in Gaza.

An opinion article on the Arab48 website discusses the phenomenon of fascism and violence against Palestinians in Israel, arguing that it is not just isolated incidents or the actions of lone extremists, but the product of a fertile political, social, and ideological soil. The article cites an indictment filed against a lecturer in the mathematics department at Bar-Ilan University for planning mass terrorist attacks against Arabs and Palestinians, including targeting women and children. The author argues that settling for an individual explanation diverts the discussion from the more difficult question about the conditions that allow the conception of mass killing of Palestinians as a feasible political program. The article links the rise of extremism in Israeli public and political discourse to the genocide in Gaza, noting that ideas once confined to priestly fringes are creeping into the heart of the dominant discourse. The article concludes that the boundaries between what is forbidden to say and what can be proposed, and between what can be proposed and what can be set in motion, are eroding.