Category: Genocides

Warmongering Netanjahu

I am against giving power to any single individual – be it a monarch, a president, or prime minister. I prefer the government of Switzerland, where power is diffused among seven members of a Federal Council.

The history of wars is predominantly a history of single leaders.

The current war against Ukraine is the decision of one man: Putin.

And the current genocide of Gaza is also the decision of a single leader: Benjamin Netanjahu, the Prime Minister of Israel.

But he has recently tried to deflect world attention from his genocide of Gaza by destroying the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1, 2024. This was a deliberate attempt to get Iran to respond, which it did.

For many years now, Netanjahu has tried to get the US to attack Iran for harboring a nuclear weapons program – akin to the charge against Iraq for harboring a program for weapons of mass destruction.

If this lunatic is not removed, he may plunge the world into World War III.

Gaza and Genocide Deniers

In my opinion, of all the scholars of the Palestinian-Israeli relations that I know, Norman Finkelstein is the best informed and the most reasonable in his recommendations — which are to follow the international law, the United Nations resolutions. and to pay attention to human rights watchdogs — like Amnesty International.

I agree with him, and I also agree with the International Court of Justice that a plausible case can be made that a genocide is taking place in Gaza.

With the ICJ finding in mind, I have watched various debates on this issue on Youtube, taking note on who affirms and who denies that a genocide is taking place in Gaza.

The most scholarly debate on Youtube is the following:

The participants were Norman Finkelstein and Mouin Rabbani, on one side, and Benny Morris and Steven Bonnell (aka Destiny), on the other.

Commentary: Since the debate was set-up by Lex Fridman, he must be held responsible for including Destiny, who was obviously in a company beyond his competency, and who Finkelstein, during the debate, called a moron and an imbecile.

Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine

In a recent artickle, “Who caused the Russo-Ukrainian war, NATO or Russia?”. Alexander J. Motyl answers the question better than do the Pope, John Mearsheimer, or Jeffrey Sachs by placing the cause on Russia instead of on NATO.

But his question is not revealing enough. Although we do speak of countries as if they were agents, this kind of talk is misleading. It is the governments of countries which are the responsible agents, and we must understand the structure of governments before we can locate the responsible parties. For example, the recent Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe vs Wade was decided by the majority members of the nine-member Supreme Court, and we can name them. But Russia is not like, for example, Switzerland with a seven-member executive; it is a country with a permanent leader – a dictator: Putin, who does not need to consult anyone in order to take action. It was Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. Putin – not Russia – is the cause of the genocidal invasion of Ukraine.

See also: Why Mearsheimer is wrong about Russia and the war in Ukraine. Five arguments from Alexander Stubb.

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