While Calling Iran A Theocracy, The U.S. And Israel Invoke Extremist Religious Language To Justify War.
The U.S. And Israel Call Iran A Theocracy To Justify War, But Are Both Invoking Extremist Jewish And Christian Zionism To Justify War.
The U.S. and Israel have repeatedly called Iran a religious theocracy in order to justify the current unfolding war, but the U.S. and Israel are both using religious language in an attempt to appeal to hard-line Christian and Jewish Zionists to justify the war.
Starting with Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu , speaking to IDF soldiers about the war on Iran, said, “We read in this week’s Torah portion, ‘Remember what Amalek did to you.’ We remember, and we act”.
This is in reference to the Hebrew bible passage, “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey”, which Benjamin Netanyahu previously evoked to justify the genocide in Gaza.
The UN’s report on the genocide in Gaza documented :
On 3 November 2023, Prime Minister Netanyahu published a letter to the Israeli soldiers and commanders in the war, in which he wrote, “Remember what Amalek did to you... This is a war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness…We constantly remember the sights of the horrific massacre on that Simchat Torah Shabbat, October 7, 2023.”
The descendants of Amalek, the Amalekites, were enemies of the Israelites in the Hebrew bible. In the Book of Samuel, God tells the Israelites, ‘Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’
The Commission notes that, in invoking Amalek in his speech, Netanyahu strengthened the idea that Israel’s war in Gaza is akin to the holy war of total annihilation commanded against the Amalekites.
This would be familiar to and compelling for the many thousands of Israeli military personnel who are religious Zionists, especially for those in military units whose personnel are wholly or predominantly ultra-orthodox. Indeed, such sentiment was referred to by many following the statement of Netanyahu, including the Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli soldiers who yelled and chanted direct references to Amalek as they launched attacks in Gaza.
Meanwhile, U.S. commanders have been apparently referencing the idea advanced by the Christian Zionist lobby in the U.S. that war with Iran will bring the rapture.
Journalist Jonathan Larsen reported that , “A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,’ according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer” adding that, “From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations, the MRFF told me Monday night.”
Mikey Weinstein, the president of the MRFF, said, “Since the start of the unprovoked American and Israeli war on Iran, this past Saturday morning, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been literally inundated with desperate calls for help from military members across all branches, organizations, and MOS/AFSC/SFSC designations (military occupational areas). Well over 100 calls have already come in and more keep coming.” adding, “These calls have one damn thing in freaking common; our MRFF clients report the unrestricted euphoria of their commanders and command chains as to how this new ‘biblically-sanctioned’ war is clearly the undeniable sign of the expeditious approach of the fundamentalist Christian ‘End Times’ as vividly described in the New Testament Book of Revelation.”
This is clearly a reference to the idea pushed by the in influential Christian Zionist lobbying group Christians United for Israel (CUFI).
Journalist Sarah Posner documented in 2020 that , John Hagee, who launched CUFI, “In his 2006 book, Jerusalem Countdown, imagined an elaborate scenario in which a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran would trigger an ‘inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon’” hoping it would bring “the Rapture and Second Coming”.
Israel and the United States have little room to call any other country a theocracy while they launch an illegal war of aggression in the name of wiping out the “Amalek” and bringing the Armageddon and second coming.
Note to readers: The Dissident is a reader-supported outlet. If you liked this article, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
d, “We read in this week’s Torah portion, ‘Remember what Amalek did to you.’ We remember, and we act”.
This is in reference to the Hebrew bible passage, “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey”, which Benjamin Netanyahu previously evoked to justify the genocide in Gaza.
The UN’s report on the genocide in Gaza documented :
On 3 November 2023, Prime Minister Netanyahu published a letter to the Israeli soldiers and commanders in the war, in which he wrote, “Remember what Amalek did to you... This is a war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness…We constantly remember the sights of the horrific massacre on that Simchat Torah Shabbat, October 7, 2023.”
The descendants of Amalek, the Amalekites, were enemies of the Israelites in the Hebrew bible. In the Book of Samuel, God tells the Israelites, ‘Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’
The Commission notes that, in invoking Amalek in his speech, Netanyahu strengthened the idea that Israel’s war in Gaza is akin to the holy war of total annihilation commanded against the Amalekites.
This would be familiar to and compelling for the many thousands of Israeli military personnel who are religious Zionists, especially for those in military units whose personnel are wholly or predominantly ultra-orthodox. Indeed, such sentiment was referred to by many following the statement of Netanyahu, including the Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli soldiers who yelled and chanted direct references to Amalek as they launched attacks in Gaza.
Meanwhile, U.S. commanders have been apparently referencing the idea advanced by the Christian Zionist lobby in the U.S. that war with Iran will bring the rapture.
Journalist Jonathan Larsen reported that , “A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,’ according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer” adding that, “From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations, the MRFF told me Monday night.”
Mikey Weinstein, the president of the MRFF, said, “Since the start of the unprovoked American and Israeli war on Iran, this past Saturday morning, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been literally inundated with desperate calls for help from military members across all branches, organizations, and MOS/AFSC/SFSC designations (military occupational areas). Well over 100 calls have already come in and more keep coming.” adding, “These calls have one damn thing in freaking common; our MRFF clients report the unrestricted euphoria of their commanders and command chains as to how this new ‘biblically-sanctioned’ war is clearly the undeniable sign of the expeditious approach of the fundamentalist Christian ‘End Times’ as vividly described in the New Testament Book of Revelation.”
This is clearly a reference to the idea pushed by the in influential Christian Zionist lobbying group Christians United for Israel (CUFI).
Journalist Sarah Posner documented in 2020 that , John Hagee, who launched CUFI, “In his 2006 book, Jerusalem Countdown, imagined an elaborate scenario in which a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran would trigger an ‘inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon’” hoping it would bring “the Rapture and Second Coming”.
Israel and the United States have little room to call any other country a theocracy while they launch an illegal war of aggression in the name of wiping out the “Amalek” and bringing the Armageddon and second coming.
Note to readers: The Dissident is a reader-supported outlet. If you liked this article, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
While the following was written with “Christians” in mind, it easily applies to ALL organized religions (Sinclair applies his words to all religions). A favorite phrase in all religions is some form of, “God’s Will Be Done”. This is quite disturbing for us, especially when “Christians” say it, but recently it has become equally disturbing to hear “Muslims” (primarily the aristocratic Sunni) quote similar in relation to Israeli perversions of Justice and Life. Just as Jesus of Nazareth would be ashamed of those “Christians”, Mohammed would be equally ashamed of those do-nothing “Muslims”. Using “God” to order laziness in thinking and compassion, crazed agendas, and perverted justice is exactly what Israel and its supporters utilize. Saying “God” told you to kill people is about as psycho as it gets.
https://griobhtha1.substack.com/p/x-rubicon-praying-for-slaughter
Excellent point!