While the war in Ukraine has engulfed most of our attention, the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied territories, and Jerusalem has grown dramatically worse. Almost every day, one or multiple Palestinians are killed.

The paragraph I just wrote is no different from what you might read in any mainstream paper. What is missing from that paragraph, however, particularly in the last sentence, is the grammatical agent: Killed by whom? Why?

Well, the mainstream media will probably not be accused of anti-Semitism even if they admit that the killers are Israeli, although they would never dare use the word “killers” about Israeli soldiers or settlers. And they will always add that the Israelis naturally have a right to defend themselves. Remind me now: How many Israelis have been killed by Palestinians?

The Ukrainians have a right to defend themselves, we are told; the Israelis have a right to defend themselves, we are told; do not the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves? It’s just that they can’t. No way. The Israeli stranglehold on the Palestinian people is deadening.

Yet, the EU does not seem to get the point. Ursula von der Leyen recently held a speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Israeli state. In her speech she made no mention of the roughly 750,000 people who were driven off their land and/or killed to make way for the Israeli state.

Her speech included two very provocative sentences:

” …Today we celebrate 75 years of vibrant Democracy in the heart of the Middle East.” Vibrant Democracy? VIBRANT DEMOCRACY!!!! Von der Leyen lives on the moon? Or is Von der Leyen an abject liar?

and

” …You have literally made a desert bloom.” Really? I believe the Palestinians who used to live in the part of Palestine that is now Israel engaged in agriculture (e.g. oranges and olives) before they were chased away like vermin..

The conditions under which the Palestinians who still refuse to move from what little remains of their land are unbelievably harsh. They are treated not like dogs – anybody treating a dog that way would be prosecuted under laws prohibiting cruelty to animals – but like white folks treated the indigenous peoples whose lands they had stolen 400 years ago, i.e. much, much worse. It’s a wonder they are still alive.

If you are in any way in doubt about my assertion, please take the time to look at the following two videos.

About Hebron in the occupied West Bank

About Jerusalem

As for Gaza, more than 40 Israeli war planes carried out attacks for two hours, starting at 2 at night on 8 May, killing 13 people including women and four children and wounding at least 20 others.