Fascism Anyone?

"Gaza" by Nancy Ohanian

-by Dr. Stephen Frantz

Who would have “thunk” it? Today’s Palestinians are the “Jews of yesteryear,” and today’s Israeli government has become the “Nazi Germans of the 1930s and 40s.” How is this possible?? Some of the tenants of fascism with comparisons follow.

LEADERSHIP OF A DICTATOR OR SMALL GROUP OF ASSOCIATES WITH RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT INTERTWINED: As many of us are aware, the Nazis did this quite effectively. And what else might we call Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his administration who extol Zionist ethno-nationalism? Cronyism and corruption are extensive with Netanyahu fomenting war in order to avoid criminal trial and incarceration. Palestinians are forcibly suppressed through racist, apartheid and genocide policies.

IDENTIFICATION OF ENEMIES AS A UNIFYING CAUSE: Nazi’s had many “enemies,” including intellectuals, Jews, Roma, etc. In the case of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Hamas is the targeted enemy even though Hamas (and others) have been fighting 100+ years of Palestinian suppression. Hezbollah in Lebanon is targeting Israel in their support of Palestinians in Gaza and provides another IDF target. It’s worth noting that thus far, Hezbollah has only targeted military sites whereas the IDF has targeted highly populated areas causing vast civilian casualties.

SUPREMACY OF THE MILITARY: Germany had several levels of their

military, including the much feared SS troops. The IDF (Israeli Defense

Forces (called by many the Israeli Offensive Forces) is touted as

“Safeguarding the State of Israel,” a charge that might be disputed

considering the history of the region since the late 1800s; and the reality of

Israel being the aggressor in this war. The barbarous IDF is one of the

world’s supreme fighting machines… all with massive help from U.S.

taxpayers (billions of dollars in munitions, intelligence, U.N. vetos, and

most recently 100 troops). This supremacy is reinforced through endless,

vicious military actions in Palestinian territories, and now in Lebanon,

Syria, and, increasingly, in Iran.

CONTROLLING MASS MEDIA: Germany had Joseph Goebbels as the

mastermind of Nazi propaganda and was generally accounted responsible

for presenting a favorable image of the Nazi regime to the German people In Israel, propaganda flows constantly and government has full censorship

of what is allowed on Israeli media. The message is that the war is right

and justified. Israelis do not see on their TVs: medical workers handcuffed

and shot; people buried alive; children burned to death; whole families

massacred; men, women and children with multiple amputations; and

people dying for lack of essential or advanced medical services and

starvation. Independent media is forbidden in IDF war zones where at least

173 journalists and media workers have been killed (many directly

targeted) by IDF forces since 07 OCT 2023. The U.S. corporate media has

basically forgotten about Gaza and focuses on the ‘next best thing’, what’s

happening in Lebanon.

STATELESSNESS: In fascist Germany, people were kept stateless on the

basis of ethnicity without the rights that come from a direct relationship to

a state of their own. Hitler’s National Socialist government took citizenship

from Jews, Roma, and persons of color. Netanyahu keeps about 5 million

Palestinians in the IDF-occupied territories under cruel control, stateless

and without citizenship. In most cases, Palestinians are not allowed to

freely pass from one area of Gaza to another or will be shot. At times,

massive numbers of people are forced to move from one area to another,

often multiple times. According to the U.N., this is a war crime.

ELIMINATION OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS: Another feature of fascism is the

elimination of individual rights; Germany eliminated the rights of its

“enemies”. Approximately 11,000 Palestinian men, women (and even

children) have been arrested, many without charge or trial or habeas

corpus, and can be held without charge for months or years. The

treatment of detained Palestinians, includes a myriad of horrific torture

methods. Israel is guilty of the gross violation of human rights (the U.S. is

aware, but does nothing significant).

CARELESS DISREGARD OF CIVILIAN LIVES: The Nazis had their death

camps and extermination centers in which many Jews, Roma and people

of color perished. Netanyahu’s military campaign in GAZA has

demonstrated a reckless disregard for the lives of approximately 43,000

Palestinians killed (and approximately 98,000 wounded and maimed) -

largely civilian children, women and men. Survivors have been denied

places to shelter (refugee camps, tent encampments, schools, hospitals

and other “safe” places are regularly bombed), starvation is used as a

weapon, there’s largely no potable water or electricity, no sanitation services, nearly no essential medical care nor freedom from infectious

disease. Again, Israel is guilty of a gross violation of human rights.

DISDAIN FOR INTELLECTUAL AND THE ARTS: The IDF has destroyed

essentially every university, school, mosque/church in Gaza with many

professors and teachers and their students murdered via snipers, drones

and bombs. This has all occurred with knowledge of the U.S.

administration, and violates U.S. and international laws.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Historically, this totalitarian form of government and waging war is typical

of fascism due to its final elimination of the distinction between

combatants and noncombatants as the IDF and Israeli government

officials have amply demonstrated in Gaza, and now in Lebanon.. At the

end of January of this year, the International Court of Justice (IJC) charged

that Israel is waging a “plausible” war of genocide against the people of

Palestine. That plausibility has become reality, but arrest warrants for

Israeli and Hamas officials have not been issued. Thousands of

Palestinians in Gaza (now Lebanese too) are being wantonly killed whether

they are combatants or not, typically under IDF’s guise of targeting

combatants. Even humanitarian aid workers, medical staff and U.N.

workers are targeted! UNICEF has reported that a steep rise in

malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in

the Gaza strip poses grave threats to their survival. Acute malnutrition

(starvation) puts already traumatized children at highest risk of medical

complications and the worst of outcomes, death.

Partially due to Israel’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, Ireland,

Spain and France have suspended arms shipments and/or have called for

suspension of the EU free trade agreement with Israel. They have asked

the European Commission to reconsider relationships with Israel due to its

breach of the human rights algorithms embedded in the agreement.

Related to this, twenty-two countries now ban direct flights and overflights

to and from Israel. These are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh,

Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman,

Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and

Yemen. At least eleven countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, Turkey,

Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, Chile, Belize, Brazil, South Africa and Chad,

have recalled their ambassadors to Israel or severed ties, or suspended

trade, altogether. The U.S. administration continues to blindly support

Israel with full impunity for whatever it choses to do.

Clearly, access to humanitarian aid and security are urgently needed.

UNICEF, WFP (World Food Program), UNRWA (U.N. Relief and Work

Agency) and WHO all call for safe unimpeded and sustained access for

urgent delivery of multi-sectorial humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza

strip, including nutritious food services for at-risk children and women as

well as advanced medical services (e.g., mechanical ventilators, dialysis

equipment and CT scanners). Hospitals and health care workers all must

be safe from attack, snipers, drones, missiles and bombings so they can

safely administer critical treatment and care. This also holds true for

Lebanon where Israel has been internationally condemned for repeated

attacks on U.N. peacekeepers.

All of that said, of course, Netanyahu is not Hitler per se but his policies

are Fascistic as described herein, he is trying to eliminate a people

(Palestinians) because of who they are and the ancient history they

represent. Obviously, though not acknowledged by the Biden

administration (that is fully complicit in Palestinian and Lebanese deaths),

an immediate humanitarian ceasefire with exchange of prisoners/captives

would end the war almost immediately. It would provide the best chance

to save lives and end suffering on both sides in Netanyahu’s abhorrent

self-serving war. In addition, Israel must restore all human rights, with full

dignity, to Palestinians and reverse the occupation of Palestinian territories

if Palestinians and Israelis are to ever live side-by -side in peace.

These physical and mental damages of death and destruction everywhere

will likely accompany survivors, especially children, for the rest of their

lives. These all represent the many scars of fascism and I think Americans

in general do not want this war as their legacy— what about the upcoming

U.S. presidential election; does fascism have a place in American society?