Fascism needs an enemy

The always-worthwhile Ran HaCohen has finally gotten around to writing another article.  I'll give you the punch line, and you can go read the setup:

The attack on Israel’s Palestinian minority has deep ideological roots in extreme nationalistic purism, but it is mainly politically motivated. The Israeli Arabs, despite six decades of discrimination, have been an incredibly loyal minority. The Israeli right-wing clearly wishes to put an end to this loyalty, hoping the incitement will lead Israeli Arabs to some form of violent resistance, from street violence to terror attacks. This would create the desired atmosphere of suspicion, fear, and hatred that fascism always needs in order to flourish. An Arab-Israeli Intifada is the wet dream of many Israeli right-wingers: nationally and internationally, it would enable them to present Israel once again as a threatened victim of Arab/Muslim/Gentile persecution, not as the rogue colonialist regional power it actually is.

Please, Ran, don't make us wait five months for the next one.

Comments

[NomadUK]

This is not at all dissimilar to the increasingly hostile attitude toward Muslims and other minorities here in the UK, which I'm quite certain is being perpetrated by precisely those elements who would love to instigate a backlash, thus giving them the green light to unleash the security services, the SAS, and anything else they need to in order to 'protect' us all. Vermin.

[john]

"An Arab-Israeli Intifada is the wet dream of many Israeli right-wingers."

I imagine this dream also manifests itself in a really dry way. Often with a twist. Then a snap. Then a...oh well. Wait. I'm confusing the sublimation of a sexual urge with that of a martini. And killing people.

[SteveB]

Is it just me, or do you get ads for a free trip to Israel when you go over to antiwar.com to read this story?

Now I'm off the to Holocaust Museum's website to see if there are ads offering a free trip to Germany.