Key facts
- Israel plans to deploy Nile crocodiles as prison guards for Palestinian political prisoners.
- The initiative is inspired by a US migrant detention center called 'Alligator Alcatraz'.
- The program will begin at Ketziot Prison in Israel's Naqab desert.
- The crocodile has been officially classified as a 'cultivated wild animal' to facilitate its use.
- The article argues this is part of a historical pattern of 'animal warfare' against Palestinians, including dehumanizing comparisons and the literal use of animals.
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has announced a plan to use Nile crocodiles as prison guards for Palestinian political prisoners, beginning at Ketziot Prison. This initiative, inspired by the 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention center in Florida, is framed by the article as part of a broader strategy of 'animal warfare' against Palestinians.
The Environmental Protection Minister, Idit Silman, has declared the crocodile a 'cultivated wild animal' to facilitate its use in moats around prisons. The article argues that this is not merely metaphorical, as Israeli leaders have historically compared Palestinians to animals, including 'human animals,' 'wasps,' 'dogs,' 'cockroaches,' and 'grasshoppers.'
Beyond metaphors, the piece details instances where animals have been used as instruments of oppression. This includes the alleged theft of native Palestinian vipers and snakes, the weaponization of wild boars against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and the use of dogs by British colonial forces against Palestinian revolutionaries. The article also highlights the reintroduction of species like Persian fallow deer and Asiatic wild asses, which has led to fines for Palestinian Bedouin whose camels encroached on the animals' new territories.
Furthermore, the article notes that Israel has criminalized the practice of keeping goldfinches, birds prized in Palestinian culture. The author contends that Israel's actions, including killing Palestinian dogs and expelling camels, mirror the displacement and oppression of the Palestinian people, all in service of making the land 'biblical and Jewish again.'