Benjamin Netanyahu as Cult Leader
The horror, the unbelievable horror of this merciless slaughter and destruction continues. How can anyone defend it? These radical Israelis are doing what extremists in the US would do if they were in power. This is unadulterated, inexcusable evil. Hamas leaders are not nice guys, either, but to compare them to the the IDF is like comparing Michael Brown if he indeed did shoplift a few cigars in Ferguson to the Ferguson Army Police Force.
I had thought to try to figure out what caused Netanyahu to become so despicable. It’s not worth my time. He is despicable, he has ordered that death and destruction rain down on the people of Gaza. He must answer for his crimes.
La Jornada reports that he “affirmed this Sunday that the offensive in Gaza will continue for the time necessary to achieve its objectives in spite of Egypt’s call for a cease fire to permit negotiations for a durable peace. Netanyahu said, ‘Operation Protective Barrier will continue until it meets its objectives, which could take time.’”
La Jornada says that altogether “88 Palestinians and one Israeli have died since the cease fire expired last Tuesday night.”
The article continues, “’Hamas will continue to pay dearly for its crimes,’ said Netanyahu this Sunday in reference to the first death in this conflict of an Israeli child, four years old, killed Friday by a cohete in the south of the country. ‘I call on all the inhabitants of Gaza to immediately abandon the places where Hamas carries out its terrorist activities against us, because you are targets for us,’ he added.
“‘There will be no impunity for anyone who shoots at Israeli citizens [wherever they come from],’he said in an apparent reference to the shooting of rockets from Lebanon and Syria since Saturday.
“Since 8 July at least 2105 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip according to local sources.
“On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and 4 civilians have died.
“According to the UN, 70% of the Palestinians killed were civilians and 478 children are among the dead.
“Furthermore. 460,000 people have had to abandon their houses in Gaza, more than 25% of the total population of Gaza.” Translation is mine.
People have taken to comparing the Israeli government to Nazis. Netanyahu reminds me of a leader of a dangerous religious cult. See if some of the characteristics below don’t describe current Zionism and current conflation of criticism of Israeli actions against Gaza with anti-Semitism. This list is a shortened version of that which appears on the web pages of the International Cultic Studies Association.
- The group exhibits excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader.
- Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
- The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail how members should think act and feel.
- The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself…
- The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality which may cause conflict with the wider society.
- The leader is not accountable to any authorities.
- The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group.
- The leadership induces feelings of shame/guilt in order to influence and/or control members.
How can Netanyahu and other Zionists dare to call people who protest his hideous policies anti-semitic?
And how can the US government continue to supply Israel with weapons and money?