Israeli pundits are falling over each other to explain why Hamas chose to release the video showing that captive Avera Mengistu is alive, when they normally don't give proof of life without demanding something in return.
But Hamas media has its own analysis, which is probably more accurate because, well, they are controlled by Hamas.
Majid Al-Zibda writes in Hamas' Al Resalah that Hamas is trying to exploit supposed Israeli racism against its Ethiopian Jewish population at a time when Israelis are already divided.
By publishing the video message of the soldier [sic] Mengistu, the Palestinian resistance succeeded in scoring a point in its favor in the context of its ongoing psychological battle with the occupation. On the one hand, it provoked Netanyahu's extremist government, which is keen not to raise the issue of the captured soldiers in light of the exacerbating internal conflicts it faces, and at the same time this message deepens sectarian conflicts within the entity by provoking the sect of "Falasha Jews" to whom the soldier "Mengistu" belongs, and who suffer from a state of deliberate marginalization from the occupation governments.
Other reasons are given: as a response to Itamar Ben Gvir's crackdown on Palestinian prisoner perks,
as a message to the incoming IDF Chief of Staff (which is explicit in the video,) to stoke Israeli hope that Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul might still be alive as well.
But stoking racism really seems to be Hamas' main goal. This video released by Hamas' Felesteen newspaper, "Who Is Avera Mengistu," claims that Israel negotiated for the return of other soldiers but not Mengistu, because they are racist and he is black. (Mengistu was never a soldier.)
The video also says that "racist rabbis" never accepted Ethiopians as Jewish.
Hamss has tried the race card before, tweeting in 2015 that Israel doesn't care about people of color.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
Iran, then and now
-
Wow! Here is a Dry Bones cartoon about Iran from back in 2006. Posted by
Sali, the LSW.
It is amazing how things don't change much in the Middle East. W...
New book: Zionism is in a long Sephardi tradition
-
Zionism is too often framed as a 19th century secular European movement,
but a new book recovers a Sephardi worldview, one in which Zionism emerges
orga...
Bundist Henryk Ehrlich on Ze'ev Jabotinsky
-
Poland's Bundist leader Henryk Ehrlich:
*"An eventual Jewish state cannot offer itself as a spiritual center to the
Jewish masses of the 'goles' lands, a...
Now What?
-
Today, Jews cannot walk down the street in North America, Europe, or even
Australia without the possibility of being spat on, beaten, or even
murdered. Cou...
Closing Jews Down Under Website
-
With a heavyish heart I am closing down the website after ten years.
It is and it isn’t an easy decision after 10 years of constant work. The
past...
‘Test & Trace’ is a mirage
-
Lockdown II thoughts: Day 1 Opposition politicians have been banging on
about the need for a ‘working’ Test & Trace system even more loudly than
the govern...