Benjamin Netanyahu Credit: AFP/POOL/GALI TIBBON
The comments of the far-right candidate for the Republican Party Presidential nomination, Donald Trump, claiming he would ban all Muslims from entering the United States has been met with widespread condemnation, even from surprising sources such as UKIP leader Nigel Farage. However, no condemnation is more surprising than that from Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Trump claims he “decided to postpone” his trip to Israel following Mr Netanyahu’s comments yesterday, where a statement said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu rejects Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Muslims,”
The statement added “The State of Israel respects all religions and strictly guarantees the rights of all its citizens. At the same time, Israel is fighting against militant Islam that targets Muslims, Christians and Jews alike and threatens the entire world.”
Donald Trump. CREDIT: Gage Skidmore
Despite Mr Netanyahu’s faux-outrage, we would put it to him that Israel operates a policy very similar to the one suggested by Donald Trump. In fact, we wonder if Netanyahu’s regime was the inspiration for his Trump’s controversial policy? Only a few days ago Trump had stated “Very soon I’m going to Israel, I’m going to be meeting with Bibi Netanyahu who’s a great guy…I love Israel and will support it whole-heartedly.” Trump is so ignorant he probably doesn’t realize there are Christians as well as Muslims in Israel and Palestine. Netanyahu knows that only too well – he treats them all as second class citizens. In fact the Apartheid policies of the Israeli government have been heavily criticised by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who recently said they’re even worse than those that applied in South Africa!
In the face of the Syrian refugee crisis, the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War, that escalated this summer, Netanyahu defiantly refused to help one single refugee. He said in September “Israel is a small country, a very small country, that lacks demographic and geographic depth; therefore, we must control our borders.” This is despite that many of the people fleeing the horrors of Syria were originally refugees from Palestine.
Compare that to his statement in February this year, when the people potentially in need of refuge were not Muslims, following a shooting outside a Synagogue in Copenhagen and the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris: “This wave of terror attacks can be expected to continue, including antisemitic and murderous attacks. We say to the Jews, to our brothers and sisters, Israel is your home and that of every Jew. Israel is waiting for you with open arms.”
It is a near impossible task for any Muslim to move to Israel or Palestine. Whilst we are greatly encouraged by the, with exception of the extreme right, universal condemnation of Donald Trump’s overtly fascist policy idea to ban all Muslims from entering a country, a large portion of the world are turning a blind eye as Mr Netanyahu virtually enacts that very same policy in Israel.