Bulldozer democracy.

ON the last day of February 20 years ago, 23-year-old American activist Rachel Corrie wrote to her mother from Rafah in the Gaza Strip: 'I think I could see a Palestinian state or a democratic Israeli-Palestinian state within my lifetime. I think freedom for Palestine could be an incredible source of hope to people struggling all over the world. I think it could also be an incredible inspiration to Arab people in the Middle East, who are struggling under undemocratic regimes which the US supports.'

A few days later, she asked her father: 'Let me know if you have any ideas about what I should do with the rest of my life.' It turned out to be her last email. On March 16, 2003, the rest of her life was stolen from Rachel. She was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer for standing in the way of a house demolition, a routine punishment for the families of purported or actual participants in the Palestinian resistance.

Last May, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead while doing her job: covering a raid by Israeli Defence Forces on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. The 'most moral military force in the world' first tried to pin the blame on Palestinian gunmen. When that fiction fell apart in the light of investigations by US media outlets, it conceded possible culpability for an 'accidental' shot, rather than the targeted killing that the evidence pointed to.

In both cases, the repercussions from Israel's chief sponsor added up to zilch. In March 2003, the Bush administration was invading Iraq and had no time for American humanitarians. In May 2022, the Biden administration remained unmoved, beyond the occasional mumble. After all, throughout his political career, Joe Biden has taken pride in being a more or less unquestioning enabler of the Zionist project, regardless of what it entails.

Pause is unlikely to halt Israel's drift towards fascism

The recent angst among the usual fans (with occasional reservations) of this project - from Thomas Friedman and even Alan Dershowitz in the US, to the likes of Labour MP Margaret Hodge in Britain - has been amusing to watch. Their quarrel with the latest Netanyahu administration is essentially restricted to its attempted judicial coup.

That was stalled on Monday, after Benjamin Netanyahu's dismissal of his Likud defence minister - a day after the latter advised a cautious pause in pushing the legislation because soldiers and reservists were rebelling - led to some of the biggest...