In recent days, Israeli courts have approved the uprooting of whole Palestinian communities -- from Sussiya in the West Bank to Umm al-Hiran in Israel -- so that Jews can live in their place. It has also backed government plans to confiscate arbitrarily Palestinian properties in East Jerusalem.
Where is the humanitarian concern for these Palestinians, including those who have Israeli citizenship, as they are left displaced and homeless? They have never fired a rocket and most have never voted for Hamas.
The answer is provided by members of the new government. Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, the minister overseeing the occupation bureaucracy, has called Palestinians "beasts, they are not human." The new justice minister, Ayelet Shaked, urged a genocide last year, demanding the slaughter of Palestinian "snakes."
Another large group of non-Jews in Israel is faring barely better. In violation of international law, Israel is jailing and deporting African asylum seekers, often returning them to regions they fled in fear of their lives -- over the protestations of UN officials.
Reuven Rivlin, Israel's president, described the soldiers in Nepal as "ministering angels" representing "the universal values of our people and our country."
Nothing could be further from the truth. Israel's government and its army represent not universal values but a tribal allegiance to a state that always asks first: "What is good for a Jewish Israel?"
When most Israelis sanctify a Jewish fortress-state, the decision to send soldiers half-way around the world to offer help in front of the TV cameras is an easy generosity. It is far harder to recognize the humanity of fellow human beings who share the same small patch of land Israel claims as its exclusive home.
The efforts of Israeli soldiers to save children in Nepal should be commended -- but not if it gives them and their compatriots an excuse to turn a blind eye to Palestinian children suffering amid the rubble of Gaza.
A version of this article first appeared in The National, Abu Dhabi.(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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