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The Army That Photographs Its Own Contempt
An Israeli soldier brings a hammer to the face of Christ in a Lebanese Christian village after spending long enough in a world where the sacred things of subjugated people are available for whatever use he finds amusing.
Apr 28, 2026
On April 19, 2026, an image circulated of an Israeli soldier standing before a statue of Jesus Christ in Debel, a Maronite Christian village in southern Lebanon, bringing a hammer down upon the sacred face while another soldier recorded him. The image spread within hours because it seemed to compress a moral education into one gesture.
Tucker Carlson was furious. So was a segment of the American right that has, for years, supplied the political and theological conditions that produced this soldier. That is the story the image tells, if you are willing to read it past the shock.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli soldiers have assembled one of the most extensive self-incriminating records in the history of modern warfare. They posted thousands of videos to Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook under their own names—soldiers posing with Palestinian women's underwear in the ruins of their homes, filming the humiliation of detainees, torching food supplies, demolishing houses while comrades cheered. The Israel Defense Forces chief of staff eventually issued a communiqué instructing troops to stop filming what he called "revenge videos." That such an instruction had to be issued is the revelation.
A soldier films his contempt after the contempt has been sanctioned. He brings a hammer to the face of Christ in a Lebanese Christian village after spending long enough in a world where the sacred things of subjugated people are available for whatever use he finds amusing. The camera reveals how comfortable the contempt has already become.
Here is Islamophobia in one of its oldest disguises: Muslim injury must first pass through a Christian icon before Christian power agrees to see a wound.
That comfort has been built over decades, through laws and habits that operate below the threshold of outrage. Palestinian life under Israeli rule is managed through permits withheld without explanation, military courts where the accused often faces a sealed file in place of evidence, and detention orders renewed in six-month increments until time joins the punishment. At Sde Teiman, a desert detention facility established after October 7, five soldiers were charged in February 2025 with beating a Palestinian prisoner, breaking his ribs, puncturing a lung, and causing a perforated rectum. When the soldiers were arrested, far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition stormed military facilities in protest. The defense minister called the prosecution a blood libel. In March 2026, Israel's top military lawyer dropped all charges. Netanyahu declared that Israel must spare its "heroic fighters."
The United Nations special rapporteur found in March 2026 that torture had become a structural feature of the ongoing genocide, extending from prisons into bombardment, starvation, forced displacement, and the terror of soldiers and settlers. B'Tselem has described Israel's prison system as a network of torture camps for Palestinians.
The same contempt moves through sacred space. Gaza's only Catholic church was struck by Israeli fire in July 2025, killing three people. In February 2026, during Ramadan, Israeli settlers vandalized and set fire to a mosque near Nablus, spray-painting insults against the Prophet Muhammad. The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs said settlers had attacked 45 mosques in the West Bank in the previous year. Israeli authorities condemned the incident and promised a search—which is how impunity often speaks when it wishes to sound like law.
The deeper scandal lies in the moral conditioning of recognition. A violated Muslim sanctity can be treated as a security matter, a disputed incident, another complication in a place supposedly fated to brutality. Then a soldier raises a hammer against Christ, and men who had tolerated the pulverizing of Gaza discover that their theology has been disturbed. Here is Islamophobia in one of its oldest disguises: Muslim injury must first pass through a Christian icon before Christian power agrees to see a wound.
Tucker Carlson weeps for the statue in a world his own political allies helped construct. Mike Huckabee, the United States ambassador to Israel, told a television audience in February 2026 that it would be "fine" if Israel took over the entire Middle East. He had already stated that there is "really no such thing as a Palestinian." He is a Christian who calls on the Bible. The president he serves stood beside Netanyahu in February 2025 and announced that the United States would "take over" Gaza and that its 2 million inhabitants should "go to other countries." The United Nations said this constituted ethnic cleansing.
The United States has been a co-author of this order—replenishing the arsenal, shielding Israel at the Security Council, resisting the jurisdiction of international courts, treating Palestinian death as a cost to be managed after the weapons have done their work. In March 2026, the administration bypassed congressional review to approve a $650 million bomb sale to Israel, invoking emergency authority while Palestinians were still living under ruins made by earlier emergencies.
Christian Zionist theology has blessed this map from the beginning: a map in which Palestinian land, Lebanese land, and Syrian land can be folded into sacred entitlement. That theology sanctifies the conditions, the army carries them out, and supremacist politics rewards the result. The soldier with the hammer grew inside that order. He filmed himself because he believed the record would survive as proof of victory.
What struck the statue was already striking everything else. The violence became visible to a new audience. A conscience that required the face of Christ as its activation point had been choosing all along.
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Jurists Urge ICJ to Remove 'Christian Zionist' Judge from Gaza Genocide Case
International Court of Justice Vice President Julia Sebutinde recently told members of her church in Uganda that "the Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel."
Aug 26, 2025
A global legal advocacy group on Monday called on the International Court of Justice in The Hague to "immediately remove" ICJ Vice President Julia Sebutinde from the ongoing Gaza genocide case following the publication of remarks in which the judge said that God wants her to support Israel.
Santiago Canton, secretary general of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, sent a letter to ICJ President Justice Yuji Iwasawa citing an article published by the Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor, which reported that Sebutinde delivered remarks on August 10 at Watoto Church in Kampala.
Sebutinde discussed the ICJ's January 26, 2024 issuance of six provisional measures, including orders for Israel to do everything possible to prevent genocidal acts, ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gazans, and preserve evidence of Israeli crimes committed in the strip. The Ugandan was the sole member of the 17-judge panel to vote against all six measures.
"There are now about 30 countries against Israel," Sebutinde said. "The Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel. The whole world was against Israel, including my country."
Indeed, in January 2024 the Ugandan government issued a statement clarifying that Sebutinde's votes were her "individual and independent opinion" and did "not in any way reflect the position of the government of the Republic of Uganda."
Sebutinde told members of her church—which gained international infamy as its pastor pushed for the current nationwide law punishing "aggravated homosexuality" with a death sentence—that Israel's annihilation and starvation of Gaza is a sign of the biblical "End Times," a period of great suffering followed by the "second coming" of Jesus Christ, a climactic battle between the forces of good and evil, and God's judgment of all people living and dead.
Many Christian Zionists believe that the restoration of Israel as a nation—which occurred in 1948, largely via the ethnic cleansing of Arabs from Palestine—is a prerequisite for Christ's "return."
"I have a very strong conviction that we are in the End Times," Sebutinde told Watoto's congregation. "The signs are being shown in the Middle East. I want to be on the right side of history. I am convinced that time is running out. I would encourage you to follow developments in Israel. I am humbled that God has allowed me to be a part of the last days."
Canton's letter states: "Should it be confirmed that these are accurate quotes of her remarks, the International Commission of Jurists considers that Vice President Sebutinde's continued role in the context of ongoing proceedings before the court, such as South Africa v. Israel, and at least any other proceedings concerning Israel or the state of Palestine, would be profoundly damaging to the court's impartiality, propriety, and integrity, or to perceptions thereof, as well as to the to public confidence in the court."
"These remarks raise serious concerns as to whether her decisions were taken solely on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, but rather may have also been taken under 'improper influences,' specifically her religious and political beliefs regarding
Israel and the purported approaching of 'End Times,'" the letter continues.
"While the vice president certainly enjoys the right to freedom of expression, this right is not absolute, and there are certain limitations on the right that are particularly applicable to members of the judiciary," Canton stressed. "I therefore respectfully urge you and the court to conduct an investigation into these allegations, and if substantiated, undertake remedial actions."
"In the interim," he added, "I would request that you act to immediately remove Vice President Sebutinde from participating further in proceedings in the South Africa v. Israel case."
Canton's letter follows similar calls by the Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and international jurists including Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch—one of a growing number of organizations accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza—who urged Sebutinde to recuse herself from the ICJ case.
Michael Becker, a professor at Trinity College Dublin's School of Law and former ICJ associate legal officer, told Middle East Eye that "it is never a good idea for an ICJ judge to share their own views on a pending case in a public forum."
"It is worse to suggest that your position is to be 'on the side' of a specific party to the case," he added.
Sebutinde has also come under fire for apparently plagiarizing much of her dissenting opinion in the ICJ's July 2024 advisory opinion that Israel's occupation of Palestine, including Gaza, is an illegal form of apartheid that must end as soon as possible.
South Africa filed its genocide case against Israel in December 2023 and subsequently submitted thousands of pages of evidence including alleged statements of genocidal intent by prominent Israelis including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fugitive from the International Criminal Court wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and forced starvation.
More than two dozen nations and regional blocs are supporting South Africa's case, which is not expected to produce a ruling for years.
Israel's 690-day assault and siege on Gaza have left at least 230,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Israeli forces are ramping up Operation Gideon's Chariots 2, a campaign to conquer, occupy, and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza amid a growing famine that has killed hundreds of people, many of them children.
The ICJ has issued a series of orders for Israel to prevent genocidal acts, stop attacking the southern city of Rafah, and allow the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel is accused of ignoring all of these orders, and has reportedly proposed building a concentration camp over the ruins of Rafah to house ethnically cleansed Palestinians.
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Jewish Safety and the Weaponization of Antisemitism
Jews are made safer by working with others for a world that works for everyone. Jewish safety must be grounded in calls for collective liberation, not defense of a murderous regime.
Jul 31, 2025
This is a very strange time to be Jewish. There is much talk about a rise in antisemitism, but all around me I see people doing things in the name of protecting Jews—such as dismissing criticism of Israel as antisemitic—that are likely to make us less rather than more safe in this world. The very notion of Jewish safety has been weaponized by people who are objectively enemies of the Jewish people.
Jewish safety matters for Jews, and it should matter for everyone. Jews have often played the role of being canaries in the coalmine of political health. A society that is safe for Jews is more likely to be safe for everyone than one that isn’t. Jews are made safer by working with others for a world that works for everyone. Jewish safety must be grounded in calls for collective liberation.
Conflating Criticism of Israel with Antisemitism Makes Jews Less Safe
Many of the mainstream organizations that purport to speak for Jews work actively to make the case that criticism of Israel is a form of antisemitism and to punish those who work to separate those things. It is difficult to know the extent of antisemitism because this conflation skews the data.
Many mainstream Jewish organizations continue to fight to get institutions to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition, in its fine print, defines criticism of Israel as antisemitism. In 2021, when Silicon Valley Hillel tried to get the student government of De Anza College, where I teach, to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, students organized and beat it back. In the process many Jewish people came to speak in favor of us adopting the definition and accused opponents of antisemitism. Through similar struggles throughout the country, the IHRA definition has been adopted widely, and it is now federal policy.
The conflation of criticisms of Israel with antisemitism makes Jews less safe.
The state of Israel is bombing and intentionally targeting civilians in Gaza. Over 60,000 defenseless people have been killed. People are dying of starvation. People are being killed as they line up for food. These actions are clearly violations of international law and the rules of war. Speaking out against these horrific crimes should be expected of all people of conscience. Many of us raised with calls of “never again” feel compelled to speak out in the name of our Jewish values. And yet our voices are often shut down by other Jews. Many mainstream Jewish organizations continue to actively target those who speak out against these atrocities, and they often do so with charges of antisemitism.
The conflation of criticisms of Israel with antisemitism makes Jews less safe. It associates all of us with the acts of a murderous regime. It obscures and confuses the very real and rising antisemitism associated with white supremacy. It leaves us without powerful mainstream voices to act on our behalf.
Friends of Israel Are Not Necessarily Friends of Jews
There are many good reasons why people support the state of Israel. Many Jews are deeply attached to Israel because of real lived family ties. Many feel that Israel was founded to keep Jews safe. And yet many people support Israel because it is a pro-Western outpost in a Middle East that is largely not aligned with Western imperial interests. Those motivations for supporting Israel are often opposed to broad notions of human rights and respect for national sovereignty. and so are not aligned with the kinds of policies that would make the world safer for Jewish people.
Even worse, are those who support Israel out of adherence to a deeply antisemitic theology. Christians United for Israel (CUFI) claims 10 million members and describes itself as “the foremost Christian organization educating and empowering millions of Americans to speak and act with one voice in defense of Israel and the Jewish people.” They say their goal is to “oppose antisemitism and stand with the Jewish people.”
Its leader, John Hagee, argues that Jews must inhabit all of the biblical Holy Land and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem in order to bring about the return of Jesus and the end-of-days apocalypse. At that time, Jews will either convert or be condemned to damnation. In other words: Jews are a means to a Christian end, and not a people to be valued for ourselves. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is a follower of this antisemitic theology.
In Alameda County in California, local residents have been organizing to get the board of supervisors to pass an ethical investment policy. This policy would outlaw investing in companies that do business with human rights abusers. Politicians’ in-boxes were flooded with letters opposing the divestment, on the basis that a policy that disallowed investment in companies that engaged in human rights abuses, might disallow investments in companies doing business with Israel. It turns out that the flood of email was coming from outside the county, and indeed from outside the state. The main group organizing opposition to the Alameda County divestment was CUFI.
It makes us less safe as Jews when we ally ourselves with antisemitic voices simply because those voices support the state of Israel.
Project Esther and the Weaponization of Charges of Antisemitism for Right-Wing Politics
In 2024, the Heritage Foundation, which gave us Project 2025, launched Project Esther. It calls for a systematic campaign against protest in favor of Palestinian rights and opposition to the ongoing massacre in Gaza. It attempts to link criticism of Israel with support for terrorism.
Project Esther is part of the right-wing assault on freedom of speech and the right to protest. While masquerading as a pro-Jewish project, Project Esther actually has very little Jewish support. The project makes opportunistic use of the concept of Jewish safety for a deeply right- wing political project.
Having Jews persecuted for peaceful protest is not “good for the Jews.”
Sometimes it is difficult to understand what interests the current chaotic administration is serving. Its electoral strength comes from appealing to a sense of grievance among people struggling to make it in a difficult economy. The big money that helped the administration get elected comes from two sectors of the business class: the fossil fuel industry and the technology industry. Unlike the rest of business, those two sectors were not well served by the dominant neoliberal consensus. And so, they have appealed to people’s grievances to win popular support for unpopular policies. Those economic interests are served by shutting down protest and free speech.
Efforts to shut down the right to resist, and to shut down free speech on campus, in order to bolster an authoritarian government that acts in the interests of the fossil fuel and tech oligarchies, are not good for our democratic institutions and they are not good for Jewish people. We should not let them do those things in our names.
Jewish Safety Requires Protecting Jewish People of All Points of View
It is hard to say that you are working for Jewish safety when you are asking that Jewish students who speak out against the genocide in Gaza be thrown out of school. It is hard to say you are working for Jewish safety when you engage in policies that harm Jewish faculty and staff.
As one of very few Jewish faculty at my college, I was recently under a formal investigation for antisemitism. The accusation was part of a round of condemnation that began when my office invited a Jewish speaker to campus to speak about October 7 and the attack on Gaza. The event was critical of both Hamas and of the Israeli government.
Having Jews persecuted for peaceful protest is not “good for the Jews.” As with people from any group, Jewish people should be safe to express our opinions. Fighting for our rights to be safe—no matter what our opinions—needs to be part of the agenda for Jewish safety.
The Fight Against Antisemitism Needs to Stay Connected to Other Fights for Liberation
In California, mainstream Jewish organizations are pushing a bill through the legislature, AB715, which purports to make Jews safe by appointing a commission on antisemitism. The bill also would make it easier to punish teachers who teach things that are pro-Palestinian or critical of Israel. It would open pathways for the IHRA definition of antisemitism to be used, and so could help to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
Many of those opposing the bill, including Jewish Voice for Peace, have argued that putting antisemitism out as a separate and privileged form of oppression makes Jews less safe. There is, of course, antisemitism in California schools, just as there is anti-Black racism. The state of California and its schools have many policies in place that can be used to challenge discrimination. Those policies can already be used to fight antisemitism. More can, and should, be done to fight all forms of oppression experienced by California’s schoolchildren. But separating antisemitism from other forms of oppression, and giving it a privileged place, undermines the solidarity Jews have with other fights for liberation. That solidarity is crucial for increasing Jewish safety.
Jewish Safety Should Be Centered on Solidarity and Calls for Collective Liberation
Given that mainstream Jewish organizations continue to vehemently insist on conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism; given that Israel’s most powerful supporters in the U.S. right now are active antisemites; given the alignment of the state of Israel with right-wing forces that want to shut down rights to protest and free speech, including those of Jews; it is hard to see how supporting the government of Israel will make us safe.
Calls for the liberation of all people are deep in Jewish culture and theology. We thrive in societies that are pluralist and tolerant. We are often the consciences of society. We often feel it in our bones when danger is coming before others are even aware that the winds of destruction are starting to blow. It is a part of our cultural DNA to speak out and fight for justice. Many of us are willing to take risks to fight those evils because we know that when we all stand up, pogroms are less likely to happen.
Making the world safe for Jews is something that is good for everyone. We need to stay in alignment with those deeper values of justice and a world that works for all. We need to insist that we increase Jewish safety when we work for collective liberation.
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