World leaders must believe Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli leaders without hesitation and benefit from the established method that provides the international community with extraordinary experience in how to act. One of the benefits of what is happening is that Netanyahu the pillars of his government and his war leaders have removed useless burdens from the leaders of countries and armies such as the need to adhere to international law or comply with human rights which the &ldquofriends of Israel&rdquo are not mentioning today. When any army wants to carry out the mission of crushing civilians it is now able to divert attention from these useless obligations and principles using some easy propaganda efforts and gain the sympathy of its allies as well just as Netanyahu and his military leaders do.
The leaders of countries governments and armies around the world have a definite self-interest in believing what Netanyahu and his war leaders are saying these days. This innovative Israeli method provides world leaders with ideal options in justifying all their wild desires during the management of conflicts and to skillfully avoid the slightest responsibility for it as well as not being scolded for it the next day. There is no need to adhere to the outdated rules and red lines that the international community imposed in vain after the end of the two world wars because the method of blaming the victim takes care of what is needed. If any army in the world is interested in overcoming the outdated legal and moral restrictions that prevent it from committing mass massacres for example all it needs to do is listen carefully to what Netanyahu and his war team are saying these days and repeat it where needed.
Why would they need to spare hospitals schools kindergartens United Nations facilities and humanitarian organizations from the scope of bombing if they can hold the victims responsible for their tragedy as long as the leaders of democratic countries and the editors of reputable media outlets do not hesitate to adopt narratives intended for those with limited intelligence? There is no problem at all even if children and their mothers were killed wounded and maimed in large numbers in a desired bombing because it is enough to fabricate a narrative before this mass killing begins such as that &ldquohuman animals committed a heinous massacre in which infants were beheaded&rdquo making sure to give a specific number to suggest accuracy and generating images with artificial intelligence. This would make any atrocity committed by any army merely a reaction to a shocking narrative designed to shed tears.
Netanyahu proposes to the leaders of states and armies a flood of ideal plots that are renewed every day so that no one has time to scrutinize any of them. These are plots designed to justify military invasions forced occupation ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide because the people under occupation are the attackers of the occupying authority and everything that the army does including crushing densely populated areas with tons of lethal munitions does not go beyond exercising its &ldquoright to self-defense&rdquo which world leaders tirelessly claim Israel has the right to do day and night. Who among the leaders of democracies are saying that the people under occupation whose land and homes were stolen have any rights at all other than continuing to enjoy the benefits of living inside refugee ghettos surrounded by high walls and strict control systems for water food medicine electricity fuel and crossings? Instead of all this anger and rebellion against the fortified walls and settlements built on their occupied land the Palestinian people should be expressing their overwhelming joy with this occupation which represents &ldquothe forces of civilization in the face of the forces of savagery&rdquo and the generations of Palestinian refugees should have sent bouquets of roses and greeting cards to the armed soldiers and settlers that are suffocating all of their lifelines.
Then Netanyahu opened a huge floodgate for everyone when he suddenly lifted the ban on the possibility of making comparisons between the practices of the present and the horrific atrocities of the Nazis when he claimed that the Palestinians were Nazis. He even attributed this eloquent argument to the timid German Chancellor Olaf Schulz and repeated it in the presence of the Master of the White House and then the British prime minister in Tel Aviv (19 October and 20 October). Netanyahu suggested to the conflicting parties in our world that using the method of likening crimes to Hitler’s crimes had become possible after it had been considered a taboo method until then because it simply belittled the Nazi atrocities. Before that the world mocked the Kremlin’s propaganda as one of its justifications for the invasion of Ukraine was the &ldquodenazification&rdquo of Kyiv but now the method of the brilliant actor Netanyahu now inspires those who are trying to wage wars and rob other peoples of their right to self-determination and maintain the status quo by committing war crimes. Indeed the Israeli prime minister went further than that when he shifted responsibility for terrible crimes from Hitler’s shoulders by impersonating a historian and declaring that the idea of the Holocaust was essentially Palestinian according to his famous statement years ago (20 October 2015) in which he held Palestinian leader Amin Al-Husseini responsible for inciting Hitler to do so.
Credit must be given when credit is due and credit is due to former US President George W. Bush for inspiring many countries and armies to attach the stigma of terrorism to their opponents &ndash states peoples organizations and liberation movements &ndash to the extent that accusing someone of terrorism has become a worn-out and used argument across the world in various wars conflicts and acts of repression and persecution. Now Netanyahu is opening a new door wide for everyone who wants to label their enemies as &ldquoDaesh&rdquo and it will be a brilliant trick to disrupt international humanitarian law and remove unnecessary moral obstacles through the necessary military campaigns to &ldquodefend civilization.&rdquo This new trick was blessed by President Biden who now behaves like a robot repeating phrases that Netanyahu whispers in his ear even if they are fake news that embarrass White House spokespeople. He did so even when he appeared to be disoriented after a long plane ride during his visit to Tel Aviv and seemed unable to recall the propaganda phrases he had intended to repeat.
There is no need for world leaders to engage in coming up with justifications and excuses after this innovative experience that Netanyahu and his political military and media team are displaying publicly in any other war or repressive campaign that they may like. All it requires is changing a few basic terms to adapt it as needed in other conflicts between countries wars between armies and campaigns of oppressive regimes.
As for the difference that distinguishes Netanyahu’s method from George W Bush’s experience before the Iraq war it is that the administration of the former US President exhausted itself in presenting complex arguments and fabricated supports to convince the world of the legitimacy of the invasion of Iraq and claims that there was &ldquoproof&rdquo of the existence of weapons of mass destruction. Today there is no need to go through all that trouble because even these naive justifications that the Israeli army’s confused speakers come up with after the daily massacres they commit are enough to inspire politicians in Western democracies and gain the coverage of the most prominent media outlets and international press in an unquestionable manner.
Leaders of states and governments are not the only ones learning the new art of promotion as artificial intelligence is also adapting to this remarkable achievement in the public relations that these ethnic cleansing campaigns cannot do without. Apps will volunteer to suggest impressive immediate results on questions such as: How can one justify a terrible war crime? What are the best justifications for ethnic cleansing while ensuring immunity from international accountability? What are the most effective emotional and rational justifications for the inevitable acts of genocide? How can critical voices that stir up trouble in parliaments universities civil society and social media in the name of protecting civilians and preventing collective punishment be silenced? What are the ideal formulations for spokesmen of wartime governments and army commanders after completing an annihilation mission?
We can guess what Vladimir Putin is doing these days after discovering this amazing new experience. We can imagine him banging his head against the Kremlin wall after he realized that he failed to come up with this effective method when he moved his forces towards the Ukrainian border. He did not think of easy arguments like they are &ldquousing civilians as human shields&rdquo while his missiles were pounding Ukrainian cities. He missed out on calling out &ldquobeheaded by monsters&rdquo and ensuring that the free international press refrains from questioning the credibility of an unsubstantiated claim or the question about the significance of the number &ldquo40 beheaded infants&rdquo no more no less as if the slaughter campaigns were operating according to the logic of industrial production.
Shouldn&rsquot the leaders of countries and army generals hasten to applaud Netanyahu and his war team after all this and be inspired by this effective method for managing their ongoing conflicts in the 21st century?
– Hossam Shaker is a researcher and author consultant in media public relations and mass communication for a number of organizations in Europe and he resides in Vienna. He has an interest in analysis of European and international affairs as well as social and media issues. His article appeared in MEMO.
