Israeli MK: Ben Gurion ‘didn’t finish the job’ of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- A member of the Israeli Knesset said the presence of Palestinians in ‘Israel’ is a “mistake”, calling Arab lawmakers “enemies” and “terror supporters.”

The 41-year-old leader of the religious Zionist Party and a MK, Bezalel Smotrich, made the remarks during a heated exchange in the Knesset on October 13.

He said that Palestinians exist in ‘Israel’ because Israel’s first prime minister David Ben Gurion did not “finish the job” of clearing out the territory of its indigenous populations.

Ben Gurion was the architect of the Nakba.

In an angry exchange during a debate, Smotrich said to the Arab Knesset members, “I am not talking to you, anti-Zionists, terror supporters, enemies. You’re here by mistake because Ben Gurion didn’t finish the job and didn’t throw you out in 1948.”

His remarks have triggered a discussion over what the Palestinians call the Nakba and the rise of fascism in ‘Israel’.

The occupation state is often accused of being in denial over the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes prior to its founding.

Some 750,000, more than half the indigenous, Muslim and Christian population, were expelled in what many historians have descried as deliberate ethnic cleansing, designed to artificially construct a Jewish majority in historic Palestine.

During comments on a contentious immigration bill, Smotrich shouted about the need to maintain ‘Israel’ as a Jewish state. “Yes, Jewish, with a Jewish majority,” he called out. “With security for the citizens of the State of Israel.”

In response, Joint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman slammed Smotrich’s “fascist” remarks.

“We are subject to this fascist filth almost every day in the Knesset,” said Touma-Sliman.

“But don’t think about us. Think about how every Arab citizen feels when a statement like this is made casually in the parliament. Think about how every young [Arab] feels when the right-wing threatens a second Nakba,” she added.

Smotrich has a long history of making inflammatory and outlandish statements.

In April, he said during remarks at a faction meeting that “Arabs are citizens of Israel, for now, at least. They have representatives, MKs, for now at least.”