The groundwork for the far right riots of the past few days had been prepared over several years by mainstream politicians and the media demonizing immigrants and, particularly those fleeing by boats across the Channel. But that these riots come against the background of Israel’s war on Gaza, is not a coincidence. Since October 7th, the right as well as the far right have rallied in support of Israel as a battle against Islam. Tell Mama reported, in February, a 335% increase in Islamophobic incidents.
Support for Israel has its taproot in racism. For the past ten months, Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people has been widely portrayed as a war against Hamas, designated by the British government as terrorist and by right wing internet “influencers,” as Muslim fanatics. Netanyahu, shamelessly played this racist card last week when addressing the US Congress. His speech framed Israel’s war as fighting the West’s battle against “barbarism.” Not a single leading US or British politician expressed disagreement. The IDF have murdered 40,000 Palestinians, injured nearly 100,000 and turned Gaza into rubble but Netanyahu was repeatedly applauded for inciting against Iran and Islam: “Now, ask yourself,” he asked, “which country ultimately stands in the way of Iran’s maniacal plans to impose radical Islam on the world? And the answer is clear: It’s America, the guardian of Western civilization and the world’s greatest power. That’s why Iran sees America as its greatest enemy… Today, as Israel fights on the frontline of civilization, I too appeal to America: “Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.”
Netanyahu’s argument is as old as the Zionist movement itself. In 1896, Teodor Herzl, its founding figure, in arguing the case for setting up a Jewish state in Palestine, wrote: “We should there form a portion of a rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism.” Read more
