Rise of far-right party shows racism deep-rooted in Israel

[Israeli]

Opinion: Many of us are taken aback when we come upon blunt racism, but it's likely because we simply prefer it in the form of policy, as it has been for the past 74 years

Gilad Grossman|
Published: 09.28.22, 00:03

The viral parody about far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir is yet another sin of the media for being part of what legitimizes him and the racism attached to his name.

Unfortunately, the media has once again chosen the easy way to cope, by focusing on the symptoms rather than the disease.

Ben-Gvir, who is continuing the ideology of racist Meir Kahana, was legitimized as a political figure by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his efforts to secure his government's survival.

In the same broadcast that showed a political parody of the racist member of Knesset, Israeli news reported on a story of Jewish youths' violent behavior in Jerusalem.

The report showed racist bullying that set out to inflict fear in the Palestinian residents of the city, with the aim of showing them who's boss. The reporter's tone was, unsurprisingly, filled with shock and horror.

One can ask: where do we stand, that our people are no longer embarrassed by being racist?
We can certainly offer explanations. We can blame the growing nationalism in the world, the influence of social networks, and the extreme religious elements in politics.
However, all these excuses cannot justify the extremist racists, who have already adopted the chant "burn their villages," as a rallying cry to others, to target Palestinians.

Continued @ https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkkiihpzo