Israelis Celebrate Gaza Genocide

Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli soldiers have been happily posting what can only be described as snuff vids on social media platforms. 

 

In the recordings, soldiers can be seen – often gleefully – committing war crimes against Palestinians. In one clip, an Israeli soldier dressed in a dinosaur costume loads artillery shells into a tank and dances as the shells are fired in the direction of Gaza. In another reel, a soldier is filmed dedicating an explosion to his two-year-old daughter for her birthday. Seconds later, a Palestinian residential building behind him is blown up. 

 

Other videos show Israeli soldiers setting alight Palestinian food supplies during a starvation campaign and mocking stripped, rounded-up and blindfolded Palestinian civilians. 

 

There has been shock and outrage over these vids that have been published on social media platforms – in fact, these videos can be used as evidence in the case against the Israeli regime for genocide before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. 

 

In fact, this latest aggression on Gaza has been one of the most visually documented atrocities in history. And genocidal intent has never been so blatantly expressed by both Israeli soldiers and political leaders.

 

Indeed, the Israeli regime has yet to face any serious consequences from third states for the crimes it has been committing against the Palestinian people since its inception. Rather, it enjoys exceptional diplomatic and trade relations with much of the Western world and has been the largest recipient of United States aid. 

 

Yara Hawari (left), Palestine Policy Fellow of Al-Shabaka at the Palestinian Policy Network, in her Al Jazeera piece "Why are Israeli soldiers sharing snuff videos from their genocide in Gaza?" published yesterday, explains that another aspect of Israeli impunity is often overlooked: Israeli soldiers routinely admit to horrific crimes they commit against the Palestinians to clear their conscience and absolve themselves of personal responsibility but never face any accountability. 

 

Israelis themselves describe the practice as “yorim ve bochim”, which translates from Hebrew as “shooting and crying”. A favorite pastime of the Zionist left, it takes centre stage in dozens of Israeli movies and documentaries.

 

Take the widely celebrated 2022 film "Tantura", named after a Palestinian fishing village that was subjected to a massacre in 1948. In this film, several Israeli veterans talk with ease about the fact that they killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. Others openly admit to participating in ethnic cleansing, yet all are portrayed as complicated individuals who are traumatised by the trauma they inflicted on Palestinians.

 

The reality is that over the last seven and a half decades, there has been complete impunity for brutalising and slaughtering Palestinians. The ongoing genocide in Gaza and the way in which it is being so brazenly shared on social media by the perpetrators is a manifestation of that impunity. 

 

The only way to make sure that it stops and never happens again is to hold not only those who have taken part in the genocide accountable but also those who are complicit. 

 

They must pay for their war crimes!