A thousand Palestinian mothers will cry: Israeli MK Zvika Fogel
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“And as far as I'm concerned, the concept of proportionality must cease to exist”, says Israeli lawmaker Zvika Fogel.
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A wounded five-year-old Palestinian child is rushed to hospital after an Israeli air strike on Gaza. (AFP)
Far-right Israeli lawmaker Zvika Fogel expressed his comfort in the settler colonial rhetoric in an interview with British broadcaster Channel 4, saying that “if it is one Israeli mother crying, or a thousand Palestinian mothers crying, then a thousand Palestinian mothers will cry.”
“Anyone who wants to harm me, I will harm him back. And as far as I'm concerned, the concept of proportionality must cease to exist,” said Fogel.
“So I will tell you something that is very unpleasant to say. If it is one Israeli mother crying, or a thousand Palestinian mothers crying, then a thousand Palestinian mothers will cry,” he added.
Such statements stand as clear proof that the Israelis have recently lessened their 'liberal' rhetoric and escalated their shoot-to-kill rhetoric.
16-year-old Fulla Al-Masalma was murdered early Monday morning by Israeli gunfire open on a civilian vehicle in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia, near Ramallah. She died on the eve of her birthday.
"A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing": Not anymore
On December 3, extremist Knesset Member Itamar Ben-Gvir told an Israeli occupation soldier who had just shot and murdered a Palestinian in a widely circulated video that his "quick and rigorous" actions were "honorable."
Ben-Gvir reiterated his plan to forcefully displace Palestinians from their lands to bring more illegal settlers, a plan to further expand Israeli colonialism and occupation of Palestine.
He is one of the most notorious Israeli politicians, as he is infamous for constantly carrying out provocative tours in the Al-Aqsa mosque and rallying illegal Israeli settlers that call for the death of Arabs and Palestinians alike while chanting racist slogans and slurs against Muslims and Arabs.
In a similar context, the leader of the so-called "religious Zionism" party Smotrich referred to Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations calling for an end to atrocities against Palestinians as "swarms of mosquitoes" and vowed to crack down on them.
The mask is now off
An Israeli advocacy group stressed last week that Benjamin Netanyahu's government is a clear example of the rise of fascism and racism.
“Netanyahu’s coalition government gives power to violent, right-wing extremists who seek to incite political violence and who will put lives at risk…from the top down. Netanyahu and his new coalition endanger both Israelis and Palestinians," the group’s CEO Rabbi Jill Jacobs said.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, who will serve as ministers in the new coalition, are fanatics who want to incite violence, he continued. According to Jacobs, their participation in the incoming government may also contribute to advancing measures like annexing sizable portions of the occupied West Bank and growing illegal settlements.
Although the IOF’s shoot-to-kill policy was already flexible and frequently resulted in killings of Palestinians without justification or proportionality, the new statements made pulling the trigger easier for the Israeli soldiers, giving them a shield from any accountability.
