Claudia de Breij mentions Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the same breath as Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It is cruel and fuels centuries of hatred and revenge.”
Israel was attacked by Hama terrorists for two and a half weeks and since then the country has responded with retaliatory actions, which also resulted in many deaths and injuries. Pressure is being put on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure minimum civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.
Putin and Netanyahu
Claudia de Breij believes that Netanyahu is going too far, as she makes clear in her column in the VARA guide. “You have countries that bomb civilians, destroy land, scorch the earth, because they feel that that country, that earth, those citizens are theirs. Think of the Ukrainians. Think of the Palestinians.”
She continues: “What Netanyahu is doing, what Putin is doing, it’s so illogical – but unfortunately that’s the least bad thing about it. It is cruel, it is fodder for more years, perhaps centuries, of hatred and revenge.”
In one breath
The comedian therefore mentions Netanyahu in the same breath as Putin: a clear position. And while she actually tries to avoid that. “The endless conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, I have stayed away from it for years because you know that whatever you say will always be misunderstood.”
She continues: “And I also think it is a luxury to sit and find something about it from here. I’m not a party. If my friend was kidnapped by Hamas I would hate them. If my child had been bombed by the Israelis I would hate them.”
‘You’re wrong’
The greatest suffering is currently taking place in the Gaza Strip, Claudia continues. “I sit here at home, I see all the human rights of the people in Gaza being violated, hospitals being hit, children being deprived of everything they deserve and it makes me furious.”
She concludes: “If you have to destroy something because you think it is yours, then that is a sign that you are wrong. That it was never yours.”