Israel Prime Minister has sparked controversy and faced a backlash over a bizarre tweet he posted on Sunday on “race science”.
In a 3-tweet thread, Benjamin Netanyahu went to indicate facts about the origins of ancient Philistine and Palestinians citing a DNA recovery from one of the ancient Philistine sites confirming that the origin of Philistine’s people is from southern Europe.
A new study of DNA recovered from an ancient Philistine site in the Israeli city of Ashkelon confirms what we know from the Bible – that the origin of the Philistines is in southern Europe. https://t.co/bwmcPax9Jp
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) July 7, 2019
The tweet was followed by a link for a study by National Geographic explaining there might be new details on the Philistines’ DNA and their origins, which does not belong to the current Palestinian lands but to southern Europe, according to the report.
Netanyahu concludes his thread by confirming that Palestinians’ connection to the land is nothing when compared to the 4000-year connection of the Jews.
The Palestinians’ connection to the Land of Israel is nothing compared to the 4,000 year connection that the Jewish people have with the land.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) July 7, 2019
While the facts stated by Netanyahu might actually be true based on different historical facts and religious interpretations, it sort of ignores the point.
Israel’s PM uses such facts for political means to prove there is no connection between the modern Palestinians and the land in a bid to justify the decades-long Israeli occupation.
The tweet sparked a massive backlash among Israelis left wing and liberals who considered Netanyahu’s tweet as a direct incitement against Palestinians.
The far-right de facto king of Israel (the longest-serving leader in its history) is going full on eugenicist.
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) July 7, 2019
After Bibi formed a coalition with a literal fascist party, he is now trying to use race "science" to justify colonization of Palestinian landhttps://t.co/6mC0Zqug4s
Others condemned the PM’s attempt to classify people according to their races or origins historically.
Someone alert the Mongolians. Based on Netanyahu's analysis, they might have a claim to Hungary. https://t.co/c3nk1PbCu0
— Lisa Goldman (@lisang) July 7, 2019
This tweet came a day after a video went viral for Yair Netanyahu, the PM’s son, in Alabama who was speaking to a crowd about why there's no such thing as a Palestinian people.
Yair Netanyahu - amateur historian, philosopher & linguist - explains why there's no such thing as a Palestinian people. Sign up to his upcoming lectures about how vaccines cause autism, why the earth is actually flat & who really shot JFK.
— Maya Ilany (@MayaIlany) July 5, 2019
h/t @TalOferpic.twitter.com/uOyRe97h3j