This is a guest post by Tom Wonacott
European leftism, well represented in the media, academia and political organizations, has promoted hatred, intolerance and antisemitism in Europe in a malicious and dishonest campaign to cast blame on Israel for the consequences of the Israel-Palestinian (I/P) conflict. During Operation Cast Lead, for example, the European Jewish community was subjected to “a wave of reprisal attacks” which amounted to “collective punishment” for Israel’s war policies. The European left (Euro-left) is motivated by improving frayed relations between the West and Muslim-majority countries because of the prolonged and divisive war.
INTRODUCTION
Euro-leftism is dominated by a quest for world peace and a guilt associated with Western interference in the developing world. Today’s Euro-left seeks peaceful coexistence between all the world’s peoples, and this world view is defined by multiculturalism, cultural and moral relativism, a respect for other peoples and cultures, and the belief that democracy cannot be forced on third world countries. For these reasons, human rights, which once stood as a hallmark of the left, are often sacrificed for the sake of peaceful coexistence. The driving force behind the philosophy of the Euro-left, however, is demonization of the US and Israel which they view as the biggest threats and obstacles to world peace. Many on the Euro-left have a “contradictory” obsession with the US and Israel, almost to the point of exclusion of other world events such as the wars in the Congo and Sri Lanka. In practice, Euro-leftism is a policy of appeasement in the quest for a world based on tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Where support for Israel is very strong, such as in the U.S. and Canada, the Euro-leftist movement represents the “far” or “fringe” left in society. However, much of this article is devoted to the Euro-left where support for the Palestinian cause is much stronger.
THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT AND THE ARABS
A poll conducted in Europe in 2003 indicated that nearly 60% of Europeans believe that Israel is the biggest threat to world peace. The president of the European Commission at the time, Roman Prodi, said the results “may indicate a deeper, more general prejudice against the Jewish world, our repugnance is even more radical”. In fact, Europe has a long history of antisemitism which culminated in the Holocaust, and the murder of 6,000,000 Jews. Antisemitism in Europe has been primarily associated with right wing hate (Nazi Germany) and Christian persecution. Hate directed at Jews is still very much a part of the European culture. Jonathon Freedland wrote in the Guardian recently “I knew the day of Holocaust ‘debate’ would come. Just not in my lifetime”:
“……As for Latvia, no one can claim not to know that the Tories’ new allies are prime movers behind the annual parades which celebrate the Latvian legion of the Waffen-SS – a band of brothers that included men who roamed the country gunning down Jewish men, women and children in their tens of thousands……… where is the outrage? Where is the revulsion at David Cameron becoming partners with men who cheer those who fought for Hitler and against Churchill? The Guardian, the Observer, the New Statesman and now the Jewish Chronicle have been shining a light in this dark corner…..” [emphasis added]
Today, however, antisemitism is increasingly rooted in the Euro-left. Ironically, the Guardian may, themselves, be drumming up hatred of Jews because of their relentlessly negative coverage of Israel. One wonders what motivates the Guardian against David Cameron and the Conservative Party; concern for the Jewish community in Europe, or political posturing? Right wing hate should be condemned in the strongest fashion – but not for political expediency. But why would the Euro-left, which is obsessed with countering racism and hate, be willing to encourage antisemitism in their campaign against Israel?
The Euro-left considers the Israel-Palestinian conflict a grave threat to world peace (one manifestation being Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons). According to Diana Muir:
“……A couple of years ago the French Ambassador at the Court of St. James, Daniel Bernard, told his companions at a London dinner party that Israel is a “shitty little country,” “Why,” he asked, “should world be in danger of World the War Three because of those people?”
The Euro-left holds Israel responsible for the consequences of the I/P conflict. Although there is little doubt that the 60 year war has been a tension point between the Islamic world and western civilization, the Euro-left also attributes a plague of world-wide Islamist terrorism to the unresolved conflict. Indeed, many fault the so-called unconditional support of the US for Israel for the attacks against America on September 11, 2001. Today, the Euro-left views the settlements as the biggest obstacle to peace, and a land grab by the Israeli government which forestalls peace in an effort to usurp Palestinian land.
While the West (with increasing desperation) tries to resolve the conflict and bring peace to the region, the Euro-left wing media has leveled an unrelenting barrage of criticism at Israel. The Guardian, in particular, has viciously attacked Israeli society in an attempt to apply international pressure to isolate Israel, and placate Muslims for the benefit of peace and peaceful coexistence between the West and the Islamic world. In their world view, the Palestinians are the victims who bear no responsibility because, among other reasons, the Euro-left views the establishment of Israel as a product of Western intervention (colonialism).
In retribution for the travesty of justice directed at the Arabs in 1948, nearly one million Jews have been expelled from the greater Middle East. Their only crime? They were Jews. The Euro-left’s silence on this issue is deafening. It’s a rare occasion, indeed, when a Euro-leftist even acknowledges this ongoing process, let alone condemns the Arabs for their “collective punishment” of Jews – because, to many on the Euro-left, this is justice.
OPERATION CAST LEAD AND ANTISEMITISM IN EUROPE
Operation Cast Lead received world-wide attention. During the three-week conflict, incidents of antisemitism spiked sharply in Europe, and indeed, world-wide. European Jews became the convenient targets of protesters as the IDF responded with “disproportionate” force to rockets launched by Hamas into Israel. According to Soeren Kern,
“……[a] second front to the conflict in the Gaza Strip has opened up in Europe, where a wave of reprisal attacks against Jewish targets is stoking fears of a wider resurgence of anti-Semitism on the continent………Much of the blame lies with Europe’s left wing mass media establishment………Thus European publics are being bombarded with round-the-clock, knee-jerk, anti-Israel political bigotry disguised as news coverage. By making such deception fashionable, European media are inciting anti-Semitism….”
In 2007, Dennis MacShane, a British Labour Parliament member, wrote about the rising fear in the British Jewish community in the following terms:
“Hatred of Jews has reached new heights in Europe and many points south and east of the old continent……..Our report showed a pattern of fear among a small number of British citizens — there are around 300,000 Jews in Britain………On campuses, militant anti-Jewish students fueled by Islamist or far-left hate seeking to prevent Jewish students from expressing their opinions. More worrisome was what we described as anti-Jewish discourse, a mood and tone whenever Jews are discussed, whether in the media, at universities, among the liberal media elite or at dinner parties of modish London. To express any support for Israel or any feeling for the right of a Jewish state to exist produces denunciation, even contempt……..”
According to the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs, “[d]uring Israel’s Operation Cast Lead ……anti-Semitic incidents in Britain increased eightfold to 220 compared to the same period a year earlier”.
And the Euro-left is clearly a part of the problem. In Spain, perhaps one of the most antisemitic countries in Europe, the blatant bias exhibited by Spanish academia and the media against Israel should be condemned, not encouraged by the head of a European country. Yet, Socialist Prime Minister, José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero, made an anti-Semitic slur about the Holocaust more characteristic of Ahmadinejad than a European Prime Minister:
“ ….Zapatero loosed a tirade of extreme anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic rhetoric that ended with the phrase: “Es que a veces hasta se entiende que haya gente que puede justificar el holocausto” which means: “At times one can even understand that there might be people who could justify the Holocaust.”…..”.
Zapatero surely understood the potential consequences to the small Jewish community in Spain with his remarkably insensitive outburst. Citing a study conducted by Two Connecticut professors which found a correlation between very harsh critics of Israel and antisemitism, Diana Muir wrote,
“…..In a survey of 5,000 Europeans in ten countries………… [a]nti-Semitism and anti-Zionism flourish among the few, but those few are over-represented in Europe’s newspapers, its universities, and its left-wing political parties…..”
One would have to be blind or willfully ignorant to be unaware of the hatred displayed by the Euro-left towards Israel – inspired and promoted by the left wing media, academics, and even the Prime Minister of Spain. No one can deny the influence of the Euro-leftist “elite” on the negative perception of Israel, and the consequences to the Jewish community which was held hostage to demonstrations, violence and intimidation during Operation Cast Lead.
THE JEWISH STATE
The goal of the Euro-left is simple: attack the foundation of the Jewish state, her Jewish people, her Jewish history and democracy, and provide an impetus for international actions against Israel including isolation and sanctions. Euro-leftist academia has been at the forefront of the fight to boycott Israel, promote the single state solution and present Israel as a racist, apartheid state. Besides the vile comparisons between Germany and Israel which are anti-Semitic to the core, the most damaging lie is the comparison of Israel with apartheid South Africa. Neve Gordon, Professor of Politics at Ben-Gurion University, is one such academic that has propagated this lie. In a “Time to Boycott Israel” published in the Guardian’s Comment is Free, Gordon wrote,
“…..Out of this population, 3.5 million Palestinians and almost half a million Jews live in the areas Israel occupied in 1967, and yet while these two groups live in the same area, they are subjected to totally different legal systems………The question that keeps me up at night, both as a parent and as a citizen, is how to ensure that my two children as well as the children of my Palestinian neighbours do not grow up in an apartheid regime……”
The Guardian has provided a convenient outlet for the Euro-left to promote hatred against Israeli society, and in the case of Mr. Gordon, against his own country. Just a cursory glance at the laws (apartheid legislation) which governed South Africa indicate that nothing like apartheid exists in Israel. Certainly, discrimination and racism are present in Israeli society (complicated by continuous war for the past 60 years), but Israeli Arabs have the right to vote, the right to an education, serve in the Knesset and so on. The comparison is false, but the lie is propagated to demonize the Jewish state. The Guardian, in particular, has depicted the Palestinians as the “victims” of a brutal racist state through a plethora of anti-Israel commentary. Don’t expect a change in this tactic anytime soon.
In addition, the Euro-left has relentlessly criticized the demographics of Israel, maintaining that a state founded on an ethnic or religious majority must be exclusivist or racist. Additionally, because there is only a small population of Jews world-wide, Jews must create laws to maintain their demographic majority. Ali Abudimah, a political activist who advocates a unitary state in Palestine, assaulted the “Jewish” state in a prototype article used by the Guardian to undermine the legitimacy of Israel, “Democracy: an existential threat?“,
“…..But whereas transforming a regime of institutionalised racism, or apartheid, into a democracy was viewed as a triumph for human rights and international law in South Africa and Northern Ireland, it is rejected out of hand in the Israeli case as a breach of what is essentially a sacred right to ethno-religious supremacy (euphemistically rendered as Israel’s “right to be a Jewish state”)……..”
Has Mr. Abudimah noticed that the West helped create Pakistan and Kosovo exclusively for Muslims? Also, is it any wonder that the initiation of the academic boycott against Israel began with an open letter to the Guardian?
CONCLUSION
The Euro-left has condemned Israel in every way possible – proclaimed in the name of Palestinian human rights – but this amounts to a farcical ploy couched in an agenda by the Euro-left wing media, academia and the political left to promote anger, intolerance and anti-Semitism in a bid to isolate the Jewish state internationally. Ironically, the Euro-left is motivated by peaceful coexistence with the non-democratic Islamic world which adheres to the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam – a document which promotes bigotry in the name of cultural relativism.
The Euro-left considers the fleeing of 750,000 Palestinian Arabs (during Israel’s war of independence) a debasement of the entire Arab population. However, the ongoing process (Yemen) of Arab retribution against Middle East Jews has not only been condoned in silence by the Euro-left, but the Euro-left has encouraged a policy of hatred and incitement against Jews amounting to a collective punishment of the Jewish community in Europe.
Left wing political activist and supporter of the one-state solution, Virginia Tilley, warns her fellow activists supporting a boycott of Israel:
“……….Don’t tolerate the slightest whiff of anti-Semitism in your own group or movement. Anti-Jewish racists are certainly out there, and they are attracted to these campaigns like roaches….”
Indeed.
Tagged: Antisemitism, Comment is Free, Guardian, Guest Post
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