Historian Omer Bartov: Israel Committed Genocide in Gaza and Zionism is an Ideology of Racial Superiority

In a striking intellectual and historical shift, Israeli-American historian Omer Bartov, one of the leading experts on the Holocaust and genocide at Brown University, announced his conclusion that Israel has effectively committed the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip. This announcement came after two years of hesitation and research, during which Bartov documented his views in articles published by The New York Times, sparking widespread reactions in global academic and political circles.

In his new book, 'Israel: What Went Wrong?', Bartov argues that what is happening in Gaza is not merely an accidental malfunction or a temporary deviation from the state's path, but rather the product of an ideology that embraces racial and national superiority. He pointed out that Zionism, in its current form, has become an obstacle to Israel's transformation into a normal state, emphasizing that this ideology's capacity to produce genocide makes its continuation impossible and illegitimate.

Despite the sharpness of his criticisms, Bartov faces an internal struggle in defining his political identity, as he still refuses to describe himself as 'anti-Zionist,' even though his arguments directly lead to this conclusion. Observers attribute this hesitation to a deep Zionist upbringing that makes abandoning this label an act of betrayal or heresy in the Israeli consciousness, even for intellectuals living in exile.

Analytical readings of Bartov's positions indicate a gap between his belief in a 'pure Zionism' of the past and the current bloody reality. The historian assumes that a deviation has affected the path of a state once described as 'noble.' However, historical facts indicate that the roots of exclusion and dispossession began since the dawn of Zionism, and were not a product of the moment or solely linked to the rise of the far-right represented by Netanyahu and Ben Gvir.

The core of the crisis lies in the belief in the superiority of an ethnic or religious group between the river and the sea, which makes Zionism similar to previous totalitarian ideological systems that did not accept questioning their principles. Bartov asserts that Israel's continuation under this umbrella will prevent it from integrating into the context of normal states, especially since its practices in Gaza have shattered the moral barriers it had tried to hide behind for decades.

In conclusion, Bartov's stance represents a cry from within the academic establishment associated with Israeli identity, and a call to break the ban on criticizing Zionism as a political thought. The demand for the disappearance of this ideology is no longer an intellectual luxury, but a necessity imposed by human and legal reality after the atrocities witnessed in Gaza, which places the international and academic community before new challenges to confront definitions of racial superiority.

Zionism must disappear, and Israel under it will not be a normal state. If it is capable of causing genocide in Gaza, it will not be able to endure as an ideology.