Key Moments
Susan Abulhawa | This House Believes Israel is an Apartheid State Responsible for Genocide | 7/8
Oxford UnionKey Moments
Israel's early Zionist leaders planned to expel Palestinians, and modern Israeli figures advocate for killing them, highlighting a persistent colonial agenda.
Key Insights
Early Zionist leaders like Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion explicitly discussed removing Palestinians from the land, comparing them to 'rocks' and advocating for their expulsion.
Israeli figures such as Benny Morris have expressed regret that David Ben-Gurion did not complete the 'task of getting rid of all of us.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented a missed opportunity in 1989 to expel large numbers of Palestinians while the world's attention was on China.
After the discovery of significant natural gas fields off the coast of Gaza, a new discourse emerged, with figures like Colonel Efraim Eitan stating, 'We have to kill them all,' and Arnon Sofer urging, 'we must kill and kill and kill all day, every day.'
The speaker contrasts the treatment of Palestinians with a hypothetical scenario where Palestinians enacted similar atrocities against Jews, arguing that the debate centers on the value of Palestinian lives.
The speaker asserts that despite efforts to erase Palestinian identity and connection to the land, their historical and genetic links are indelible and will persist beyond current conflict.
Early Zionist rhetoric revealed a plan for displacement
The speaker begins by citing early Zionist leaders to establish a foundational intent to dispossess Palestinians. Chaim Weizmann, a Russian Jew, is quoted from a 1921 World Zionist Congress stating that Palestinians were like 'rocks of Judea, obstacles that must be removed from a difficult road.' David Green, a Polish Jew who later became David Ben-Gurion, is also quoted as saying, 'we must expel the Arabs and take their places.' The speaker posits that thousands of similar discussions among early Zionists reveal a systematic plan for violent colonization and the eradication of the indigenous population. While acknowledging partial success in expelling 80% of Palestinians, the speaker emphasizes that the remaining 20% continue to be an 'obstacle' to colonial ambitions, particularly after the 1967 occupation.
Regret over incomplete 'elimination' and missed opportunities
The persistence of the Palestinian population has led to continued discussions among Zionists about how to deal with them, including their birth rate, which they refer to as a 'demographic threat.' Benny Morris, a historian, is cited for expressing regret that David Ben-Gurion 'did not finish the task of getting rid of all of us,' which he believed would have resolved the 'Arab problem.' Further compounding this sentiment, Benjamin Netanyahu, identified by his original Polish name Benjamin Milikovsky, is quoted as lamenting a missed opportunity during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests to expel large numbers of Palestinians while the world's attention was diverted to China. These statements illustrate a consistent, albeit sometimes frustrated, desire for complete removal of the Palestinian population from the land.
Escalation of violence and dehumanizing discourse
Faced with Palestinian resilience, a new rhetoric has emerged, particularly following the discovery of significant natural gas fields off the coast of Gaza valued at trillions of dollars. This shift is exemplified by the words of Colonel Efraim Eitan, who in 2004 stated, 'We have to kill them all.' Arnon Sofer, an Israeli intellectual and political advisor, echoed this sentiment in 2018, insisting, 'we must kill and kill and kill all day, every day.' The speaker recounts personal observations from Gaza, including a nine-year-old boy whose hands and part of his face were blown off by a booby-trapped food can left by soldiers. Poisoned food was also allegedly left in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood. In the 1980s and 1990s, Israeli soldiers reportedly left booby-trapped toys in southern Lebanon, which exploded when picked up by excited children. This 'diabolical' harm, the speaker argues, is presented as justification for their victimhood narrative, invoking the Holocaust and shouting 'antisemitism' to deflect criticism and expect the suspension of basic logic.
The debate centers on the value of Palestinian lives
The speaker asserts that the core of the debate about whether Israel is an apartheid or genocidal state is fundamentally about the value placed on Palestinian lives. This includes the worth of their schools, research centers, books, art, homes built over lifetimes, and their very humanity and agency. The speaker then poses a hypothetical: if the roles were reversed and Palestinians had spent eight decades stealing Jewish homes, expelling, oppressing, jailing, poisoning, and killing Jews, and if Palestinians had killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, targeted their intellectuals, bombed hospitals and universities, and corralled Jews into flimsy tents only to bomb them in 'safe zones' and burn them alive. If Palestinians had forced Jewish children to collect body parts, sleep on their parents' graves, and beg for death, if their children lost hair, memory, and minds due to terror, and died of heart attacks at five years old, or were left to die alone in hospital beds. If Palestinians used flour trucks to lure hungry Jews and shot them, or burned down shelters with food trucks inside, or if a Palestinian sniper boasted about injuring 42 Jews in the knees in a single day, or if a Palestinian confessed to running over hundreds of Jews with a tank, their bodies still stuck in the treads. If Palestinians systematically raped Jewish doctors, patients, and detainees with heated metal rods, barbed sticks, and fire extinguishers, sometimes to death. If Jewish women were forced to give birth in filth and undergo surgeries without anesthesia, or if their children were killed and their tanks decorated with toys. If their women were killed or abandoned, and photos taken in their underwear. The speaker contends that if such atrocities were broadcast live, there would be no debate about terrorism or genocide. The fact that such a debate exists, the speaker implies, underscores the differential value placed on Palestinian lives.
Palestinian presence as an inherent right, not a debateable issue
The speaker states they are not there to convince the audience about whether Israel is an apartheid state or responsible for genocide, arguing that such a parliamentary decision, while well-intentioned, is valueless in the face of 'our era's Holocaust.' Instead, drawing inspiration from Malcolm X and James Baldwin, the speaker aims to speak to future generations and record this 'exceptional time' where the 'mass bombing of defenseless native communities' is being legitimized. The speaker directly addresses Zionists, reminding them that Palestinians offered refuge when their countries were hostile, providing food, clothing, and shelter. However, when the time was right, Palestinians were expelled, killed, looted, and had their lives taken. The speaker claims Zionists do not know how to live without dominating others, exceeding all boundaries and feeding into the basest human tendencies.
The world is beginning to see the truth of Israeli actions
The speaker believes the world is finally beginning to glimpse the horror Palestinians have endured and is seeing the truth of who Israelis are and have always been. The speaker notes the astonishment at the sadism, glee, and enjoyment with which Israelis practice, watch, and applaud the details of breaking Palestinian bodies, minds, futures, and pasts daily. Regardless of future narratives, the speaker asserts that Israelis will never truly belong to the land. They will never understand the sanctity of olive trees that have been cut and burned for decades merely to inflict more pain, an act no one belonging to the land would commit. Such actions contrast with those who belong to the land, who do not desecrate ancient heritage sites like Baalbek or Battir, or ancient graves, unlike the destruction of Palestinian cemeteries.
An indelible connection to the land
The speaker contrasts the actions of those who do not belong to the land with those who do, stating that those who belong would not desecrate ancient heritage sites or ancient graves. The speaker's own family, for generations, guarded the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives as an act of faith and custodianship of their heritage. The implication is that their ancestors are buried in their true homelands of Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere, not on Palestinian land. The speaker asserts that the myths and folklore of the land will always remain alien to Israelis, who will never be able to read the symbolic language of Palestinian 'thobes' (traditional garments) that have evolved over centuries, imbued with local tales, plants, birds, rivers, and wildlife. The 'magic of old Arab houses,' as described by real estate agents, will continue to hold the stories and memories of ancestors who built them. Old paintings and photographs of the land will not contain Israelis. They will never know the feeling of genuine love and support from those who have nothing to gain from them, and everything to lose. The cheering crowds worldwide for Palestinian freedom are not because they are Jewish, but because Israelis are violent colonizers who believe their Jewishness grants them the right to homes built by Palestinians on land that has been in their families for centuries. Zionism is characterized as a stain on Judaism and a disconnection from humanity.
The inevitability of Palestinian liberation and return
The speaker concludes by stating that no matter how many Palestinians are killed, they will not be erased. They are not the rocks Chaim Weizmann envisioned, but the soil, rivers, trees, and stories of the land itself, nourished by generations of continuous habitation from Canaanites, Hebrews, Palestinians, and Phoenicians. This includes the legacy of every invader, pilgrim, settler, and enslaved person who has left a part of themselves in the DNA of the people. The historical and tumultuous stories of the land are literally in their DNA, and cannot be erased by propaganda or military technology. The speaker predicts an eventual end to impunity and arrogance, leading to the liberation of Palestine. They envision the restoration of its pluralistic, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic glory, with restored train lines connecting major cities across the region. The Zionist-American war machine based on domination, expansion, extraction, pollution, and plunder will end, and Israelis will either leave or finally learn to live with others as equals.
Mentioned in This Episode
●Organizations
●Concepts
●People Referenced
Common Questions
Early Zionists, such as Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion, viewed Palestinians as obstacles to their colonial ambitions and openly discussed expelling them and taking their land.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
Early Zionist leader who compared Palestinians to 'rocks of Judea' that needed to be removed.
First Prime Minister of Israel, who earlier advocated for expelling Arabs and whose failure to 'finish the job' of eliminating Palestinians was regretted by Benny Morris.
Israeli Prime Minister who regretted a missed opportunity during the Tiananmen Square uprising to expel Palestinians.
Palestinian who, along with the speaker, attended the debate to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ukrainian Jew who changed his name to Yitzhak Rabin and ordered the 'bone-breaking' policy in the 1980s and 1990s.
Writer and activist whose spirit the speaker invoked, comparing the historical struggle to his own.
Colonel who stated in 2004 that 'we must kill and kill and kill all day, every day'.
Israeli intellectual and political advisor who insisted in 2018 that 'we must kill and kill and kill all day, every day'.
Civil rights activist whose spirit the speaker invoked, comparing the historical struggle to his own.
A doctor who was allegedly tortured and killed, mentioned as an example of Israeli brutality.
Accusation leveled against Israel by the speaker and others, central to the debate.
A policy ordered by Yitzhak Rabin in the 1980s and 1990s aimed at incapacitating Palestinians.
A term used by Zionists to refer to the Palestinian population and birth rate, viewed as an obstacle.
Accusation leveled against Israel by the speaker and others, central to the debate.
A term used by real estate agents, which the speaker claims holds the stories and memories of Palestinian ancestors.
An ancient people from the region, mentioned as ancestors of Palestinians.
The overall political context of the debate, which the speaker aims to reframe beyond mere discussion of 'apartheid' or 'genocide'.
The ideology and movement that the speaker argues is responsible for the colonization and oppression of Palestine and Palestinians.
An ancient people from the region, mentioned as ancestors of Palestinians.
Symbolic of the Palestinian connection to the land, which the speaker claims Israelis have destroyed out of spite.
An ancient people from the region, mentioned as ancestors of Palestinians.
The group targeted by the speaker's hypothetical scenario of role reversal, and the group whose identity is claimed to be distorted by Zionism.
An ancient heritage site that the speaker claims Palestinians would not desecrate, unlike Israelis.
A neighborhood in Gaza where Israeli soldiers allegedly left poisoned food.
An ancient heritage site that the speaker claims Palestinians would not desecrate, unlike Israelis.
Mentioned in the context of early Zionist rhetoric comparing Palestinians to 'rocks of Judea'.
The central subject of the debate, accused of apartheid and genocide against Palestinians.
A place the speaker visited where a child had his hands blown off by a booby-trapped food can.
The homeland of the speaker and the people subjected to alleged Israeli aggression.
Where Israeli soldiers allegedly left booby-trapped toys that exploded when children picked them up.
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