There was a powerful article by Leon de Winter in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. He analyses the fall-out of the flotilla incident and discusses what drives the selective hatred of Israel among European people.
De Winter begins with the Free Gaza group, which was behind the flotilla:
‘Well, Gaza is already free. Israel withdrew from the narrow strip five years ago. And there is also no need for any humanitarian aid. Well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel over the last 18 months, equaling nearly a ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza.’
He then turns to the absurd accusations of Israeli ‘genocide’ and tackles them with what he calls ‘lousy stubborn facts’, including infant mortality rates. De Winter also points out that:
‘Life expectancy at birth is 73.68 years in Gaza. And in Turkey, Gaza’s new protector, life expectancy is only 72.23 years. If the Israelis really wanted to make the lives of Palestinians short and nasty, then they are obviously doing something wrong.’
I would add that life expectancy in the West Bank has risen under Israeli ‘occupation’. It all adds up to a very strange kind of ‘genocide’.
De Winter then comes to a rousing conclusion about what drives Europeans to be so hateful towards Israel. I have to say that up until the flotilla incident I would have questioned his sort of analysis. But having witnessed the reaction to that incident I have to say that, with a heavy heart, I think his theory has weight:
‘Watching Israel’s demonization, the attack on its right to defend itself as Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said, it becomes clear that there is a deep need among Europeans to call the Jews murderers. This is why the Palestinians, as “victims” of the Jews, are more important than the numerous Muslim victims of Muslim extremists; this is why millions of other Muslims living under worse conditions than the Palestinians hardly get any mention in the media; this is why Gaza is compared to the Warsaw Ghetto or Auschwitz. By calling the Israeli Nazis, the original Nazis have been legitimized.’
‘What we have witnessed with the Gaza flotilla is the perfect execution of a masterful piece of Islamist theater. The media’s wild indignation, an orgasm of hypocrisy, marks the next chapter in the long story of European hatred toward the Jews. It is salonfahig again to be an anti-Semite.’
It reminds me of the statement attributed to an Israeli psychoanalyst that: ‘The Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz’.
You can read the whole of De Winter’s article here.
We are “murderers” but when President Obama bombs civilians in Afghanistan he is not. Can you tell me why?
Thanks Chas – This piece is now shared on my FB wall.
Then you should read the comments at the BBC Have Your Say regarding the enquiry that Netanyahu has convened. I thought that the BBC were supposed to ‘moderate.’ Didn’t appear to me that they were doing their job. Full of ‘criminals’, ‘Israeli apartheid,’ ‘Zionist lackeys.’ The usual. Pretty disgusting. Guess it was the usual fools who frequent Comment is Free.
So: life expectancy in Gaza is rising. No one goes hungry because enough humanitarian aid reaches the people.
Surely this means people will vote for Hamas again, since they seem able to deliver decent living conditions?
Interesting point.
What do you think of Hamas, James?
Arseholes. What about you?
My point is a realpolitik one: Hamas were elected in Gaza because they were providing material support to people living there. In the same way that the Black Panther movement in America in the 60′s and 70′s gained a foothold amongst black Americans through soup kitchens, welfare payments and a sense of shared identity, so too do Hamas maintain support in Gaza. The vast majority of the people who live there are no more extremist fundamentalists than people in Israel, it’s just that the failure of traditional Palestinian political movements to achieve basic material happiness or any lasting peace has paved the way for well-organised radicals to become a political force.
Just as the BNP (and by the way, as much as I have no truck for Hamas I wouldn’t categorise them as the same as British nationalists) will continue to do well when mainstream political parties appear not to be listening to people’s day-to-day concerns, Hamas will continue to be popularly supported as long as actions which detrimentally affect the population’s material well-being are enacted, and there’s a common ‘enemy’ to blame for the ills.
There has been virtual silence about the Israeli man murdered by Palestinian terrorists yesterday. It’s very sad.
Shuki Sofer and Einav Blum had nearly completed all the final details for the wedding, which was to take place on September 20. Their wedding was meant to be the start of a new life for the two in a new, large apartment. “He was going to get married and all the arrangements were made,” Shuki’s father said. “He waited a long time to find somebody. He was excited and happy about the wedding.”
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2010/Victims/Yehoshua_Sofer.htm
The class lines are drawn across this outpouring of hypocrisy and venom as well ; the middle class intelligentsia,who have appointed themselves as arbiters of popular values, are the most driven.
Look at the flotillistas from western countries : a recognisable type and earnestly self-righteous in their rather superior denunciation of Israel.
This truly is the Age of Stupid.
A suspension of rational thought and disbelief on an epic scale, and this is surely what happened in Germany during the 1930s.
I think we need to be careful here, there’s a trap in assuming that “every” European hates Israel and that just isn’t the case. The people that do hate Israel are, I’m sure, a very very small and vocal minority, but unfortunately they are having a disproportionate effect on policy.
I think there’s quite a high proportion of people who are tacitly anti-Israel, just as there were in Germany and Poland. On that basis, I would estimate that 20% of the population are consciously pro-Israel. The rest are either actively or passively antisemitic. The active ones may be few in number but the passive ones provide zero resistance at best.
On what data do you base this estimate that 80% of Europe is ‘actively or passively antisemitic’.
You guys are just perpetuating an atmosphere of fear and dis-trust.
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm/blog_id/28076
This ,again,is off-message, but is an example of what Matt calls a small and very vocal minority. (Admittedly,the targets of their rage are a British regiment, but nevertheless it is an ugly example of what is happening in this country.)
My worry is that the vocal minority are manipulating public opinion too successfully.
The post you’re linking to is horrible – “The men and women of the EDL and allied groups were singing constantly – No surrender to the Taliban – with St George in my heart, and suchlike.” for example.
Regardless of what you think of those who came out to protest against the soldiers, suggesting the EDL are a peaceful campaign group trying to preserve some ill-defined British culture against a genuine threat from Muslims is racist nonsense. You should be ashamed at spreading such bigotry around the web.
Not racist bigotry and I am not ashamed :the article is a snapshot of events which took place in Barking,written by a concerned witness.
I am not a supporter of the EDL-about whom I know little-but I share the writer’s resentment of the aggressive mobs which took to the streets on this occasion and which all too frequently are the ones who take to the same streets to burn Israeli flags and shout anti-Semitic slogans.
Hear hear
Well, I don’t believe you that you don’t know anything about the EDL, they’ve been around long enough now for everyone to know that they are a racist organisation who go around the country stirring up hatred against Muslims. They are literally marching through the streets against Muslims: not against those who were out that day protesting against the regiment, against ALL Muslims. If you’re happy with this, indeed if you are actively glad people are doing this, you are a hypocrite and a bigot.
Here is a link to an expose of the EDL:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/28/english-defence-league-protest-bnp
And if you need to do more, do some research.
It’s grotesquely ironic that on a post about ‘Europe’s need to demonise Jews’, you have posters defending and supporting the racist bigots of the EDL,
James ,the aggressive and angry tone of your reply,including the implication that I am a hypocrite and a bigot is inappropriate and ,frankly, an uncalled for and personal attack.
I am quite entitled to post an article which reflects popular disquiet,whether or not you find yourself in agreement with the sentiments expressed in that article.The fact that you are so very angry about it worries me.
The fact is that many people in this country are scared and feel threatened and,as you pointed out in an earlier comment,this is when extremism can take a hold-especially if people feel that their concerns are being ignored.
Furthermore you should not be lecturing me in this rather high-handed fashion : I should have thought that we could be mature enough in this discussion to allow for differences of opinion without recourse to personal attacks.
I am not planning to go further with this; suffice it to say that I take great exception to your remarks.
“the implication that I am a hypocrite and a bigot is inappropriate and ,frankly, an uncalled for and personal attack.”
Look, the post is titled, “Europe’s need to demonise Jews”. You’ve posted an article supportive of a group who routinely (and I mean,every other weekend) march through towns and cities in the UK demonising Muslims. Not extremists, ALL Muslims. My point is, you can’t claim to be concerned by racism and antisemitism if you support a racist (and by implication, antisemitic) group. This is what I mean by ‘hypocrite’. So far you’ve done nothing to dissuade anyone that you don’t share their views.
“The fact that you are so very angry about it worries me.”
The fact that you don’t seem to care, after I’ve pointed out the extremist and racist nature of this organisation you seem to be promoting, worries me much more. Of course I’d be angry, genuine anti-racists should be angry.
“I am not planning to go further with this; suffice it to say that I take great exception to your remarks.”
Well, I think this says a lot more about your character than mine.
The EDL are a racist organisation. Your unwillingness to acknowledge this and brusque manner in which you closed down this discussion is worrying.
The EDL is closely tied to the BNP (in terms of supporters). The BNP has many members with a history of neo-Nazi ties. I think there is a cunning trick being played out. Groups are formed to generate a mistrust or hate towards a side in the middle-east conflict. So in effect you have groups who are ‘pro-Israel’ (anti-Islamist) linked to right-wing nutjobs who previously wanted to ‘revise holocaust history (sic)’. I think the entire middle-east is being duped by European misinformation bureaus. The goal is to create perpetual war in the middle-east, to create fear which numbs the minds of the masses. The seeds get planted by nutjobs, and then are perpetuated across the blogosphere by individuals. Bat Y’eor or David Duke they are all the same, with their sinister ministries.
Thanks, Chas (again).
The love affair between the left and Islamism is also discussed in the article I linked to in the original post. When you look at the way the modern left still idolises people like Fidel Castro, one can see the beginnings of this romance.
Fidel Castro’s comment that the “Fuhrer’s swastika is today Israel’s banner” has been denounced by Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor as “outrageous”. Palmor added: “Che Guevara must be spinning in his grave.”
Of course Mr Palmor is correct that Castro’s comment is outrageous. But Castro and Guevara never were the angels they are often presented as. Castro, for instance, persecuted gay people throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He locked them up in harsh labour camps and forced them into brutal aversion therapy. Some of them ‘disappeared’. Yes, attitudes were different everywhere then but that’s no excuse for such extreme treatment of people he described as ‘scum’.
As for Guevara, he lined political opponents up against the wall and shot them. He boasted that he ‘didn’t need’ evidence to execute anyone. He also bragged that there was not ‘a single discrepancy’ between his views and those of his hero Mao Zedong. He urged President Krushchev to nuke American cities, reasoning that even if Cuba was attacked in revenge it’s people would die feeling ‘completely happy and fulfilled’.
Shame on Castro for his horrible outburst this week. But shame on those who have ever held him or Guevara as heroes. One of their chief groupies is George Galloway, by the way.
And Gorgeous George Galloway has written a hagiography of Castro :’The Fidel Castro Handbook’,which receives glowing praise on amazon.
Chas, thanks as always; a great piece.
On the subject of Galloway, here’s a fine parody by blogger Ray Cook (actually, it’s a tad chilling, if we recall the adage that “Many a true word is spoken in jest”) about Galloway and chums if they came to power. I think it deserves to go viral!
The shape of things to come
http://bit.ly/baYb1K
Maybe Castro was in denial? According to George Galloway they went swimming together in the buff.
Maybe Castro was in denial? According to George Galloway they went swimming together in the buff.
Imagery to turn any man straight.
LOL! xx
Hey Chas – well presented and analyzed, as usual. The “genocide” in the “west bank” and Gaza under Israeli “occupation” can be attributed not to Israeli military operations but simply to the recruitment and training of more suicide bombers (including the education of young children into that death cult)… so if anyone is committing “genocide” there, it is their own leaders, not Israel!
A good piece by T. Dalrymple which I don’t believe has been posted here yet.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/this-was-not-a-humanitarian-voyage/article1601665/
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100043460/why-does-europe-hate-israel/
An interesting piece-written from a slightly different point of view-by Ed West.
Chas
The whole thing about the Western liberal obsession for Palestinian ‘victimhood’ is best illustrated by the disproportionate amount of charitable aid provided to them (and increasingly directly to Hamas in Gaza). Completely contrary to the myth perpetuated by Western media, charitable funding for Palestinians (most of which ultimately is paid for by taxpayers in the US and Western Europe and not by oil-rich Arab nations) is, by a huge margin, pro-rata more than is given in aid to any other nation or people in the world. In fact, no people in the history of the world have been so lavishly showered with charity as the Palestinians. I’ve just written a report on this here:
http://edgar1981.blogspot.com/2010/06/funding-poor-palestinians.html
Also, following up on your comment about the lack of media coverage of yesterday’s terrorist attack in Israel, I note that it was claimed by the ‘moderate’ Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade who are formally part of Abbas’s Fatah organisation NOT Hamas; even so the story received precisely zero coverage in any UK news outlet yesterday. Not a word either on google news or yahoo.
But, while the BBC news website did not consider this terrorist attack newsworthy, it had quite a big splash on its front page criticising Israel’s probe into the flotilla incident. Under the front page headline “Israel raid probe ‘not impartial’” was a link to an article with the more informative headline “Israel Gaza probe criticised by Turkey and Palestinians” . Of course, Turkey and the Palestinians are the objective people we need to be listening to here. I don’t remember the BBC running a headline “Nuremburg trials criticised by Nazi leaders” in 1946 but it would have made just as much sense.
The stuff of nightmares from Daniel Greenfield:
The Noose Around Israel’s Neck By Daniel Greenfield Thursday, June 17, 2010 …
canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/24375
Regarding de Winter’s comment about “Islamist theater” (reminds one of Pallywood…..
in a recent discussion with a friend, I suddenly realised that the kind of society in which Islam flourishes and cultivates – tyranny, hatred, power-politics, clan/tribal loyalites, the communal by fiat ethic – the only way to stay alive is to keep a very close eye on other people. Only by manipulation, lying and control of people’s emotions is one able to survive.
It is only natural that such people are masters of entrapment theatre – their skills are in reading and manipulating people.
Especially becaseu they have an agenda. this happens a lot in Western society too of course, but whereas in Islamic society is is a necessary tool, in Western society – to an extent – it is regarded as bit – tacky. (Not that the practitioners of it don’t flourish).
I’m just pointing out that this behaviour is an Islamic speciality – especially since they can’t and flourishes under tyranny and totalitarianism. The Russians were good at it too!
The Turks, of course, have form for jihad,. What price the Armenians? the Kurds? Past murders of Jews? And don’t they still occupy a bit of Cyprus?
Oops, missed a few words: I meant to add: Especially since they can’t do anything or invent or make anything for themselves – everything they have they learned from Westerners – Persians, Jews and Christians.
That behaviour flourishes under tyranny etc.