Israeli Capitalism: A Tale of Cultural Genocide and ‘Halal’ Profiteering

They took their lives. They take their lands.

They attacked the culture. Now they are after the money off the Muslim hands.

Israel’s vulgar leveraging of its capital power to appropriate the Arab, as well as Palestinian, culture has been a topic of discussion for a while now. From appropriating the cuisine and clothing to circulating distorted histories, there has been a constant attack on the Palestinian identity.

In Tel Aviv’s 2015 Fashion Week, Israeli designer Yaron Minkowski draped Israeli models with the keffiyeh — a symbol of Palestinian resistance. He proclaimed to “transform” the keffiyeh into a “symbol of coexistence,” conveniently ignoring that the same money would be used to sustain a brutal occupation on the Palestinians. Crassly making money off Kuffiyeh while attacking the history of resistance behind it does a poor job of “coexistence,” just as the Israeli forces batter the unarmed Kuffiyeh-clad Palestinians daily.

In Tel Aviv’s 2015 Fashion Week, Israeli designer Yaron Minkowski draped Israeli models with the keffiyeh — a symbol of Palestinian resistance. He proclaimed to “transform” the keffiyeh into a “symbol of coexistence,” conveniently ignoring that the same money would be used to sustain a brutal occupation on the Palestinians.

However, Israel continues to sustain its genocide, both on the people and their culture.

More recently, Israel has been indulging in brazen cultural theft of Palestinian and Arab literature and artwork. The arrogantly titled ‘Stolen Arabic Art’ held in Tel Aviv proclaimed, “We are showing the works in the exhibition in Israel, without the artists’ knowledge or content..” as an excuse to assimilate itself with the Arab world. This blatant disregard of the intellectual rights for the Middle Eastern artists’ work serves as a reminder of Israel’s continued expropriation and theft of culture, despite their insistence to peddle a more palatable narrative to the world. To deny the artists their consent in use of their artwork would have aroused great backlash across the world creatives and art activists. However, Zionism has ensured that the Israeli occupation could get away with this theft, while artists have to fend for themselves amidst crippling occupation.

However, their cultural theft doesn’t stop here. As reported by Middle East Eye, one Israeli publication recently published an anthology of short stories of women writers titled ‘Hurriyat,’ or ‘Freedom.’ This was done so even as many of the authors were unaware of their literary work being used. Make no mistake. This is blatant theft that the international community chooses to turn the other way. The irony isn’t lost on anyone. A book titled ‘Freedom’ has its content being stolen by the very occupational economy denying freedom and dignity to an entire nation and its nationals from the Arab world. While the Palestinian women make art of their wounds, Israel milks profits from them. Israel funds its capitalist occupation by leeching off the hard and soft resources of the Middle East, often stealthily, leaving the rightful beneficiaries unaware.

Meanwhile, the continued assault of Palestine’s culinary heritage continues. In March this year, Vice Canada featured a Toronto-based Israeli restaurant, named ‘Parallel,’ that serves Middle Eastern Tahini made from a special ground mill. Vice Canada’s own lack of nuance in its caption and Israel’s appropriation of Palestinian cuisine stands in sharp contrast to Israel’s participation in the recent Eurovision. So while on one hand, Israel expropriates Palestinian culture, its cosying up to Europe reminds us of its hypocritical politics and long-standing alliance with the appropriation of cultures and identities, even as it seeks to promote itself as a beacon of civilisation.

With Israeli restaurants like BurgerIM serving Halal burgers, this seems like a trap to lure Muslim customers and franchisees, and dilute the resistance.

From Tahini and Falafel to Hummus and Zaatar, Israeli restaurants have across the world tried to present these dishes as their own despite the outrage and clear disapproval of the cultures these dishes belong to.

However, they seem to have hit a new low. With Israeli restaurants like BurgerIM serving halal burgers, this seems like a trap to lure Muslim customers and franchisees, and dilute the resistance. It seeks to strip off Palestine of the long-standing Arab support for the Palestinian cause by establishing transactional relationships with Muslims and Arabs. Falling prey to this type of ploy are rising Arab stars like Mena Massoud, who legitimize these dubious narratives by endorsing the servings as Israeli.

By seeking to present itself as a marketer to Muslims and Arabs, Israel seeks to wash the blood of innocents of its hand. It seeks to wield soft power over the Muslim community by presenting itself as a ‘coexisting’ brand while denying existence in Gaza. Capitalism seeks to build on the money of the marginalized while using the same capital to oppress them. Israeli capitalism is the perfect imagery of this. It’s vital for Muslims to beware, vigilant and ensure they don’t contribute in the enabling or financing of genocide — both the cultural and civilian one.

In closing, this poignant excerpt sums up the workings of cultural genocide:

“The only pertinent allegation in the Zionist retort is ‘Palestinians don’t own chopped salad or za’atar.’ Yet, within the broader context in which Israel’s appropriation of Palestinian food takes place, the truth is that the Palestinians do ‘own’ these foods — not only historically, but also morally. As noted above, that greater context is one of purposeful destruction of the Palestinian people, and that makes all the difference. As long as the Israelis practice ethnic cleansing and continue down the road to apartheid state status (as they did with their recent nationality law), their claim on any aspect of Palestinian heritage — be it land or food — is a de facto act of cultural genocide. And, if this form of destructive racism is not to become ever more frequent, every aspect of Zionist appropriation must be fought, right down to the last ‘Israeli’ falafel.” – Redress Information and Analysis

from Muslim Girl https://ift.tt/3056hOy