Israeli historian says western powers are complicit in Gaza ‘mass slaughter’
Prominent Israeli-British historian Avi Shlaim conveyed to a London audience on Monday that the support from the US, UK and European Union for Israel, especially in military terms, implicates them in the “mass slaughter” in the Gaza Strip.
“The western response to the crisis is the usual hypocrisy and ruthless double standards, but this time it’s been taken to a new level. The western love of Israel has always been accompanied, has always depended on the erasing of Palestinian history and humanity,” he said at an event hosted by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.
“Deep concern for Israel’s security is reiterated at all times by western leaders - but not a thought is given to Palestinian security.”
Speaking on Monday, Shlaim, who is Oxford University’s emeritus professor of international relations, said that Palestinians’ resistance had been “decontextualised and dehistoricised” and that media and political coverage of the ongoing violence in Gaza largely ignored the situation prior to the Hamas operation in southern Israel on 7 October.
“So there’s no end to the bloodshed and the next war is always around the corner.”