All We Are Saying Is Give Israel A Chance

I am not Jewish, but for as long as I can remember I have had strong feelings about the problem of anti-Semitism. I have never visited Israel, but I have long noticed that Israel is treated unfairly by much of the world's media and opinion makers as well as by many so-called intellectuals. There can be no doubt that many people do not demand the same standard of behaviour from Israel as they do from other nations; the default position nowadays seems to be that Israel must be at fault even before the full facts are known, and that Israel has no right to defend itself.

The European Union has defined what it regards to be a manifestation of anti-Semitism; this includes:

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self­-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
• Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
• Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
• Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

The recent case involving the Israeli commando raid on the so-called aid flotilla to Gaza is a case in point. Much of the news media, many politicians and commentators, and even sadly even people who should have known better, rushed to condemn Israel out of hand. The event was talked about as if the Israeli commandos had simply landed on the vessels and started shooting unarmed peaceful activists. But, as revealed in the recent BBC Panorama documentary, Death in the Med , the reality of the situation was not at all what the shrill Israel-haters would have everyone believe. The Israeli commandos had not launched an unprovoked and gratuitous attack on unarmed non-violent aid workers delivering much-needed aid to Gaza. The truth of the situation was quite the opposite. And it is all the more telling that it was actually the BBC, an organization not exactly known of late for being overly sympathetic to Israel - quite the opposite in fact - who provided the documentary proof that a hard-core element of the so-called peace activists had set out with the sole intention of manufacturing a violent confrontation at sea; a confrontation that was manufactured so that it could provide more anti-Israeli propaganda.

Some of the so-called peace activists were shown to be akin to drunken sailors, intoxicated by their desire to be shahids, or Islamic martyrs; driven on by their pure hatred of Israel and Jews. The documentary showed footage of some of the activists chanting hateful comments about Jews. Also shown was evidence that some activists on the Mavi Mamara used cutting equipment to extract metal railings surrounding the ship's deck to be used as weapons in preparation for the desired violence . And indeed, the sharp and heavy metallic railings were later used to attack the Israeli boarding party, in some cases nearly to lethal effect. Metal chains, a form of medieval weaponry, was also used by some of the activists against the Israeli commandos. The attacks were all captured on film.

If it wasn't for the fact that some of the activists did have some human decency, the badly injured Israeli soldiers would have been beaten to death as they lay wounded by some of the frenzied hate-filled activists; I found this aspect quite moving, and felt encouraged that a few of the activists acted this way. One injured Israeli commando later commented that it was clear the activists were divided into two groups: one hard-line and the other relatively moderate. It should also be noted here that Israel had offered to deliver the so-called aid to Gaza; this was clearly not what was wanted by the hard-line activists.

Following the airing of the BBC's Panorama programme on the Gaza raid, there was a predictable outcry that it was "all lies" from the usual suspects: the Israel-haters as well as Islamic and far-left extremists (who now feel very comfortable in each others company, since they have a common feature uniting them for the time being: a hatred of Israel). Incensed that the truth was now being revealed, the extremist Israel-haters tried to hold a demonstration outside the BBC's offices claiming that the programmed was "biased". Looking at pictures of the demonstration, I noticed that some of the demonstrators were ironically holding up copies of the far-left newspaper, The Morning Star, whose headline was about the supposed bias of the BBC's Panorama programme. Given that The Morning Star is a newspaper - if one can call it as such- which slavishly reported Soviet communist propaganda during the era of the Soviet Union then pots and kettles spring to mind.

It is depressingly easy to find on the internet truly hateful sentiments directed against Jews and Israel in general. And hatred of Israel, some of it downright shrill and irrational, seems to be getting worse. I find this extremely worrying and believe that it does not augur well for for the future of mankind; it certainly doesn't augur well for the future of the Jewish people especially given the tragic events of the past century. Apparently even Fidel Castro voiced some concerns about growing anti-Semitism; the apparent target being Iran's lunatic holocaust-denying president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Israel, like every other nation state past or present on the face of this earth, is not perfect; it sometimes makes mistakes. When Israel does get things wrong, it is rightfully criticized; and much of this criticism comes from within Israel itself, because it is, after all, an open and democratic society with a free press and a transparent legal system; all of which stands in stark contrast to almost all those nations who have enmity towards Israel.

Isn't it strange how armed-terrorist organizations, Islamic thugocracies and pseudo-democracies in the Arab and Islamic world effectively get a free pass from many Israel haters in the West; the same people who seem to spend all their time bashing Israel whilst practically ignoring genuine injustices in the world. The double standards and hypocrisy when it comes to treating Israel are truly breath-taking.

Some cowardly and unprincipled left-wing academics in the UK and elsewhere, much to their eternal shame, have pushed for an academic boycott of Israel. This type of action is manifestly unfair in the way Israel is singled out; but as was pointed out earlier, this obsessive focusing on Israel is one tell-tale sign of the true anti-Semite. Israel is an important member of the international scientific community; it carries out, for example, important medical research. How galling is the possibility that some important breakthrough in the treatment of, say, cancer could potentially be jeopardized because the likes of some otherwise useless, bearded-goofball-Guardian-reading sociology lecturer has a monomaniacal dislike of Israel whilst maintaining at the same time a starry-eyed admiration of Hamas? Sadly, there are truly people like this.

Jewish people have always made outstanding contributions to mankind in all its endeavours, from the sciences to the arts. In the sciences, one just has to look back at the previous century to see how many important intellectual figures were Jewish. Albert Einstein, for example, was Jewish; and whilst he was a non-religious Jew, he certainly was a Zionist who supported Israel's right to exist. It is well-known that Einstein was once invited to be the president of Israel. The list of Nobel Prize winners in science reveals that a staggering proportion are of Jewish origin.

The fact that a small minority of misguided and obstinate people, in some cases downright eccentric, also of Jewish origin chose to play the role of useful idiots by joining in on the banshee chorus calling for Israel's death does not detract from anything said here; all societies have such people.

Many Israel haters, including high-profile ones in the UK such as the Glasgow blowhard, George Galloway, and the former Taliban-hostage and convert to Islam, Yvonne Ridley, have openly given moral and material support to anti-Semitic terrorist organisations like Hamas, as well as to the openly anti-Semitic and holocaust-denying regime in power in Iran. For people of this ilk, no hyperbole is too hyperbolic when it comes to whipping up anti-Israeli hysteria; they have no qualms about turning a blind eye to the excesses and crimes of those they support as Israel's enemies.

Another grotesque slander against Israel is that it is doing to the Palestinian Arabs exactly what the Nazis did to the Jews during World War II. I have personally heard this said by otherwise perfectly sane and well-educated people. It is such an utterly stupid thing to say, insulting and patently untrue, monstrous in fact, that it is difficult to really know how to react.


So, how about a picture of Miss Israel (who is, incidentally, an Israeli Arab).







Or perhaps, a picture of an Israeli banknote (note the Arabic script).






I'd like to conclude with:

Shalom aleichem
עֲלֵיכֶם שָׁלוֹם
السلام عليكم