By Justice (R) Markandey Katju (India)

After the massive destruction of lives and property in Gaza, leaving the place almost desolate and barren, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that there will be no Palestinian state any more.

One finds little difference between Hitler, who planned the Holocaust, the ‘final solution to the Jewish problem’ by extermination of European Jews, and the genocide of Palestinian Arabs planned by the blood thirsty Netanyahu.

The notion that the brutalities meted out to Jews by the Nazis justified the establishment of Israel is widely held. The horrors of the Holocaust provided a compelling narrative for the creation of a safe haven for the Jewish people.

But the Holocaust was committed by Germans and their European collaborators, not by Palestinian Arabs. Why should the latter have been punished for crimes committed by the former ? The establishment of Israel led to the Nakba–an Exodus and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs in or around 1948, who were subjected to horrible atrocities

The idea that Jews longed to return to Palestine, their ancient homeland which they had left 2000 years ago, is absurd and a fantasy.

So what was the real reason for creating Israel in 1948 ?

The real reason was that vast oil reserves in the Middle East were discovered during the first half of the 20th century, and these were necessary for the growth of the industries of Western countries. So Israel was created as a Western military garrison, to ensure control over this crucial resource. Backed by Western weapon supplies, Israel became a military outpost to ensure the safety of supply of middle East oil to Western countries, and this was the real reason for its creation.

So where have the remaining almost 70% Palestinians gone?

Some, including women and children, were massacred, while hundreds of thousands (Some estimate a million ) fled out of fear and terror to Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, etc. (an Exodus known as the Nakba), where their descendants are still living in horrible conditions, with massive poverty and unemployment, lack of proper housing, food, medicines, healthcare and education.

Now the genocidal Netanyahu intends to kill or drive out the remaining Arabs living in miserable conditions in the West Bank (i.e. the land west of the Jordan river), Gaza, etc.

Where will they go?

Be thrown into the sea ?

Netanyahu has gone mad, like Hitler

Author is a jurist, philosopher and Former Justice of Supreme Court of India.