Israel, US, a different kind of 'rogue state'

Israel's parliament crossed a perilous threshold in its larger and longer dehumanisation project, by passing a law on Monday that makes death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of terror attacks. Palestinians convicted in Israeli military courts for 'acts of terrorism' - almost impossible to disprove in such 'special courts' - will now be executed by hanging within 90 days, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days. In theory, Jewish citizens could also be executed. But with the law to be carried out only where intention is to 'negate the existence of the state of Israel' - a cause that almost certainly will be ascribed only to non-Jewish Israelis - this is a 'Palestinians-only' legislation in practice.

A 'rogue state' describes a nation that breaks international law, supports terrorism (in its myriad forms), conducts genocide - intentional destruction of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. We have been attuned so much to 'rogue states' of a particular variety - Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, etc - that we have come to be blind of the other kind that ticks all the boxes while insisting that it is civilisation incarnate. Bombing schools and razing districts is as much of a crime against humanity when committed by the US or Israel as when non-state actors or state proxies do the same in Quetta or Manhattan.

The Knesset's timing is no accident. With war in West Asia providing a handy 'good guys vs Muslims' existential binary for the government - and society at large - Israel's moral standing will corrode it further. As will the US, which continues to hold the hand that strings the proverbial rope as part of what is state-sanctioned dehumanisation that makes it easier - even commendable - to liquidate people(s).