Israel’s Minister May Golan expresses pride in the “ruins” of besieged Gaza and claims that Palestinian babies will grow up to tell their grandchildren what the Jews did.” “I am personally proud of the ruins of Gaza and that every baby even 80 years from now will tell their grandchildren what the Jews did when their families were murdered, raped and their civilians were kidnapped,” she said during a Knesset session held on last Monday, February 19, after the motion to impeach MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) was defeated.
The ruins of besieged Gaza, February 22, 2024 (Photo: WAFA)
Addressing Communist lawmaker Cassif, Golan said, “You can keep dreaming that we will end the war without victory. You can keep shouting ‘peace now’ and ‘elections now’ from Kaplan [Street in Tel-Aviv] to Gaza let them hear you. We have a mission and the last thing we will allow is for Ofer Cassif to go up to the temple [Al-Aqsa Mosque compound] with the flag of Palestine and for Yahya Sinwar [Hamas leader in Gaza] to be the minister of defense of the Palestinian state like his brother [Yasser] Arafat.” “Not a dove and not an olive branch, only a sword to cut off Sinwar’s head, that’s what he will receive from us,” she said.
During the debate in the Knesset plenum, Cassif said: “The voice against the war, the voice against the carnage of innocent civilians, the voice for the immediate release of the hostages, the voice for peace and justice will not be silenced – My voice will not be silenced! While I’m happy that the motion to expel me fell, I’m appalled that 86 Members of the Knesset voted in favor of an unlawful impeachment. It shows the horrid and fragile state of the institutions of the government claiming to be the ‘only democracy in the Middle East.’ My colleagues and I, democratic Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians, will keep our struggle alive and loud – for the end of the brutal occupation and war, and for the wellbeing and prosperity of both peoples in their independent sovereign states. I’d like to thank countless people who supported me from abroad, Members of Parliament and diplomats. We shall prevail!”
This was not the first time that Golan, a new minister from the far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government made such statements. In December, Golan made the headlines in Israel for saying she would like to see “dead bodies of terrorists around Gaza.” “I don’t care about Gaza; I literally don’t care. For all I care, they can go out and just swim in the sea,” Golan said in an interview with an Israeli TV channel.
According Palestinian press, during the last week intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Ground operations and heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups also continue to be reported, particularly in Gaza city, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. Between October 7, 2023 and 10:30 on February 22, 2024, at least 29,410 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 69,465 Palestinians were injured, according to Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31607
