Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invoked World War II to rally support for his colonial expansion and genocide in Palestine.
Netanyahu: invoking WWII
Netanyahu said:
During World War II, Churchill told the United States ‘give us the tools, we’ll do the job’. And I say ‘give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster’
In the address, he claimed that Joe Biden’s administration is “withholding” weapons from Israel. But the US is Israel’s largest arms supplier and plans to send an additional $1bn weapons package to the state.
George Bush also invoked World War II to drum up support for his colonial war against Iraq. Quoting Canadian WWII prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, he said in 2004:
We cannot defend our country and save our homes and families by waiting for the enemy to attack us… We must also go out and meet the enemy before he reaches our shores.
Bush and Tony Blair’s aggressive attack on Iraq was illegal, according to the UN, and based on the infamous ‘dodgy dossier’. The invasion was widely condemned as a way to to extract oil from the country. BP has now pumped £15.4bn worth of oil from Iraq since 2011.
Israel’s assault on Gaza is also a colonial endeavour. Amid Israel’s genocide against Palestinian people in Gaza, Israel has licensed gas drilling in Palestinian territory. Israel’s occupation of Palestine, meanwhile, has blocked Palestinian people from accessing oil and gas reserves worth billions.
While the climate crisis means we should leave such reserves in the ground, Israel is clearly motivated to exploit the oil and gas.
You can’t make it up
Biden is a complete supporter of Israel’s onslaught against Gaza. As well as supplying weapons, Biden has removed US funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
Biden also was a supporter for the invasion of Iraq. The now-US president rejected resolutions that would have required UN oversight for greenlighting the invasion. He also voted to launch the attack.
Israel’s offensive against Gaza is yet another colonial war. And again, politicians are invoking WWII to rally support for – not against – fascist expansionism and genocide. You can’t make this stuff up.
Featured image via Netanyahu – X
