Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angered Palestinians and their defenders Friday after presenting a map of "The New Middle East" without Palestine during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Speaking to a largely empty chamber, Netanyahu—whose far-right government is widely considered the most extreme in Israeli history—showed a series of maps, including one that did not show the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or Gaza. These Palestinian territories have been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967, with the exception of Gaza—from which Israeli forces withdrew in 2005, while maintaining an economic stranglehold over the densely populated coastal strip.
Middle East Eyereported Netanyahu also held up a map of "Israel in 1948"—the year the modern Jewish state was established, largely through the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs—that erroneously included the Palestinian territories as part of Israel.
Palestinian Ambassador to Germany Laith Arafeh said on social media that there is "no greater insult to every foundational principle of the United Nations than seeing Netanyahu display before the UNGA a 'map of Israel' that straddles the entire land from the river to the sea, negating Palestine and its people, then attempting to spin the audience with rhetoric about 'peace' in the region, all the while entrenching the longest ongoing belligerent occupation in today's world."
As Middle East Eye noted:
The inclusion of Palestinian lands (and sometimes land belonging to Syria and Lebanon) in Israeli maps is common among believers of the concept of Eretz Yisrael—Greater Israel—a key part of ultra-nationalist Zionism that claims all of these lands belong to a Zionist state.
Earlier this year, Netanyahu's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, spoke from a podium adorned with a map that also included Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria as part of Greater Israel. In the same event, he said there was "no such thing as Palestinians."
The use of such maps by Israeli officials comes at a time when Netanyahu's ultra-nationalist government has taken steps that experts say amount to the "de jure annexation" of the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu used the maps in an attempt to illustrate the increasing number of Arab countries normalizing relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords brokered by the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
"There's no question the Abraham Accords heralded the dawn of a new age of peace," the Israeli prime minister said. "But I believe that we are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough, an historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will truly create a new Middle East."
ritics have countered that peace between apartheid Israel and Arab dictatorships has come at the cost of advancing Palestinian rights. In the case of Morocco, the United States recognized the North African nation's illegal annexation and brutal occupation of Western Sahara in exchange for normalization with Israel.
Netanyahu's props on Friday reminded numerous observers of the time during his 2012 General Assembly speech when he used a cartoon drawing of a bomb to illustrate Iran's progress on advancing a nuclear weapons program that both U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies said did not exist.
It's funny how Israel is doing their own ethnic cleansing bit
Excuse me but where is not accepting a "country" a genocide?
Are we talking about "not accepting a country" or "bulldozing Palestinian homes to build Israeli homes?"
i’ll spell it out really slow like for ya if it’ll help.
israel’s treatment of the palestinian people is that of an ethnic cleansing.
they are removing their heritage sites.
flooding their farmlands during winter so they’re fucked in the spring.
constantly boxing in all palestinians that live in any of the palestinian territories that still exist.
shooting palestinian women, children
shooting journalists and medics that choose to help or report on the situation.
bulldozing their land and homes to make room for new israeli settlers that will happily steal that land from the palestinians.
responding with disproportionate force after palestinians are goaded into defending themselves. one molotov should not equal days of missile strikes.
they have consistently “accidentally” targeted school buildings and hospitals for missile strikes during disproportionate responses.
basically all of these actions amount to ethnic cleansing, which is a facet of genocide.
israel’s M.O. is to act like nazi lite, then when the world takes notice and outrage occurs, they back off. during that time, they lobby the US government and pull strings and make threats.
and if you criticize israel at all for their behavior on the world stage? well then you’re just a fucking antisemite, and they’ll be quick to call it that.
they spend some of the most money of any world government using social media teams to protect their country’s interests.
you’re looking at smarter nazis with better PR and lots of money.
The part where they bulldoze homes, blockade shipments, steal land, and restrict rights. Want more?
Don't forget about shooting kids.
Is this the most egg you’ve had on your face?
What egg to the face? I say my opinion people don't like it, i block them, they can cope to themselves.
Either you’re okay with being a piece of shit or your ignorant to the facts. Either way, you look like an idiot. That’s the egg on your face.
Im German and LGBT. I just don't give a single fuck about people that want to genocide Jews and or LGBT people, wich means i absolutely do not give a fuck about "Palestine"
Yep every person in Palestine hates you because you’re gay.
You can have compassion for people and still not like them. You’d think someone in your position would understand that. Nobody deserves oppression.
Oh i don't support oppression, wich is why im very pro Israel, as its a democracy.
Ah so you’re a garbage person. Got it.
„garbage person“ wow, well done. I wouldn‘t want you on my side
If you’re taking their side of this then you aren’t on my side.
Take care.
It wasn‘t about that of course. I don‘t understand why you’d want to call that person that. Because you think what he said is garbage?
Or you could try learning from the responses people give you, maybe even recognizing the new information they have given in response to your question. After all, asking a question invites answers.