In Gaza, ethnic cleansing is no longer just a risk, it’s a reality
Evoking the risk of ethnic cleansing or genocide against the Palestinian populations arouses irrational reactions in France among those who unhesitatingly demonstrate their unconditional support for the government of Israel. Also, the CFCM salutes the courage and intellectual honesty of the numerous journalists and analysts who spoke on LCI and Franceinfo.tv to shed light on the reality of this risk.
The Israeli Minister of Heritage, Amihai Eliyahu, who had already proposed dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza, has just declared: “Israel should find means more painful than death for the Palestinians.”
Recently, two Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, still in office, called for emptying Gaza of its inhabitants to allow the return of Israeli settlers to this territory. According to the Times of Israel newspaper, the Israeli government is in discussions with Congo and other nations to welcome thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.
Those who only want to see these statements as isolated remarks or provocations would do better to face reality.
This reality is first of all the dehumanization of Palestinians described as “animals” by the Israeli Minister of Defense, when other military political leaders and religious extremists have used the terms of ” cancer “ and of “vermin”.
Thousands of civilians have been displaced from the north to the south of Gaza where they continue to be bombed indiscriminately. According to the human rights organization Euro-Med human rights Monitor, since October 7, 2023, more than 30,000 tons of bombs, the equivalent of two nuclear bombs, have been dropped on Gaza by the Israeli army.
Thousands of children and babies were buried under the rubble or killed in the hands of their parents by Israeli army snipers.
It is the systematic destruction of homes and all civil infrastructure, hospitals, schools, places of worship, sources of drinking water, energy stations, sewage treatment plants, etc.
It is the inhumane blockade applied to Gaza as well as the bombing of its only supply point in Rafah, offering survivors only death through lack of care, thirst or starvation.
These are the attacks, raids and punitive expeditions by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, described as pogroms by Yehuda Fuchs, the Israeli general in charge of the West Bank.
Israeli officials no longer hesitate to pose as other extremists do behind a map of “Greater Israel” including Israel, Palestine, Jordan, part of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia with the legend : “Here is the map of my country as G-d gave it to the Jewish people more than 4000 years ago.”
On the LCI channel, many speakers talk about the constituent elements of a real process of ethnic cleansing and no longer hesitate to draw a parallel with that which was applied to the Jews of Europe or, in a more distant era, to Indians. of America.
We strongly condemned the inhumane atrocities inflicted on Israeli civilians on October 7 and the taking of innocent Israeli hostages held today in territory under incessant bombardment.
Those in France who lock themselves into Israel’s so-called unconditional “self-defense” still have a chance to make amends with History by unreservedly condemning this truly genocidal project of the extremist Israeli government. The latter must never be confused with the entire Israeli people and very rightly with our compatriots of the Jewish faith.
The warmongers serve neither peace nor truces which will leave room for dialogue and the search for a solution, as they are engaged in an escalation which glorifies violence against unarmed civilians.
It is more than urgent to give a voice to people who love justice and peace. It is time for the weapons and the bombings to stop and give way to the hope of a just and lasting solution.
Paris, January 6, 2024
French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM)
