The new anti-Semitism and its political roots
August 31, 2009 by yipbop · Leave a Comment
By S.B. (Ontario, Canada)
Anti-Semitism has a long history, often written in blood. Rather than dwelling on past tragedies, we should learn from the dynamics that led to them and try to identify shifting patterns at an early stage.
Traditional anti-Semitism originated in Church teachings and propagated itself up to the Nazi period. The anti-Jewish edicts, ranging from the earlier Church synods of the 4th century to the councils of the 15th century, and the striking parallels found in the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and later Nazi ordinances are chilling. Traditional anti-Semitism is different from all other hatreds in that it is entirely irrational: based on wild accusations, often self-contradictory (Jews are too powerful; Jews are a miserable vermin), or on hereditary and collective guilt (Jews are Christ killers) in defiance of the most basic logical principles. Thankfully, this form of virulent anti-Semitism has been largely stamped out and is no longer a main concern.
The new anti-Semitism is of a different nature. It is essentially fuelled by anti-Zionism and the main difference with the old brand is that it presents itself as convincingly rational. This pseudo-rational narrative can be summarized as follows:
“Israel has been illegally occupying foreign lands since 1967, if not since 1948, and the Palestinian indigenous population are the victims of this relentless occupation, oppression, colonization, spoliation, racism, Nazi-like treatment and apartheid practices at the hands of foreign Jewish settlers who stole their lands and make Arab lives miserable in spite of their courageous resistance.”
The cornerstone of this web of lies is the notion of “illegal occupation.” As long as this notion remains unchallenged, whatever is built upon it will stand because “occupation” is vilified all over the world and all occupied territories have been liberated from their colonial powers in the past century. “Occupation” has no redeeming value. Persistent occupiers are bound to be pilloried, mercilessly. And the blemish of “occupation” will not be circumscribed to political leaders and their government policies; the blemish will naturally spread to all “Zionists” and, by extension, to all Jews.
The falsehood of this “occupation narrative” has been crawling, spreading and bursting with the same tenacity and the same slanderous fury as the famous “calumny” tirade in the Figaro of Beaumarchais. Surprisingly, Israelis and Jews have remained inexplicably passive to this deadly onslaught, while pouring a few buckets of water on the raging forest fire. But now that this evil has turned into a “universal chorus of hatred and exclusion” in universities, in the media, in boycott campaigns, in Islamist calls for genocide, in UN resolutions, and in threatening policy shifts from our most trusted allies, it would be suicidal not to react. And react forcefully.
This is a time for action for both Jews and non-Jews. Manifestations of anti-Semitism are the proverbial canary in the mine: they are a harbinger of deep social and political upheavals which affect all sections of the community. Even though everyone should be concerned, the Jewish community ought to be particularly vigilant and proactive in fighting this scourge. Jewish leaders should first recognize the problem and fully appreciate its ramifications and its magnitude. They should set aside any trivial, internal divergences and speak with a unified voice. And they should not be bashful in attacking the cornerstone of the anti-Zionist propaganda machine which fuels the new anti-Semitism. Demolish the myth of “occupation” and the whole edifice of hateful propaganda will start to crumble.
For this to happen, Jews around the world together with their non-Jewish friends must be aware of the assault on the truth that a masterful Arab propaganda has been conducting for the past decades. Distorted narratives and intentional omissions of fundamental historic and legal facts have gradually led to false accusations, delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish State of Israel. If the Arabs have been able to peddle these lies and to drag public opinion to their side, especially the left-leaning advocates of social justice and human rights, why would the Jews and their allies be incapable of restoring factual truths?
For too long, Israel has demonstrated her desire for peace by offering concession upon concession in a “peace process” that all but ignored her legal rights as they have been recognized in international law since 1920. Israel’s peace driven approach has boomeranged in the most vicious ways, turning a political stalemate into racial hatred and growing anti-Semitism. Even the so-called “moderate” Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority is openly intransigent to any Jewish national presence in the region. It is high time to say “enough is enough.”
A broad effort aimed at restoring the truth is required. It should be carried out on many fronts. At the international level, Israel should put an end to the charade of the “two-state solution” as it has been defined in the Oslo process, and come up with a made-in-Israel plan that accounts for her acquired rights in international law and her strategic needs of self-defence. Diaspora Jews and community leaders of all political hues should embark on a proactive campaign of education/information targeting students, academics, the media and political figures in a pattern faithful to factual events of recent history and consonant with the renewed position of the Israeli government.
We should understand that the current wave of the new anti-Semitism has not only political overtones but is largely fuelled by Middle East politics, the Palestinian construct and, ironically, the ongoing “peace process.” Those who believe that this process should be pursued, in the way it has been shaped since 1993, will encourage the creation of a new sovereign Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria with Jerusalem as its capital and will usher, perhaps unwittingly, the demise of Israel. Those who oppose pursuing such a process that flies in the face of international law; that makes a mockery of the legal rights of Israel to the lands that harbour 90% of the Jewish historic patrimony; and that places Israel in existential danger, should stand firm and make their voices heard. The former will hope in vain to appease the anti-Semites. The latter will stand for truth and justice as prerequisites of a lasting peace.
S.B. is a guest writer from Toronto, Canada for our site.
THE ILLUSION OF PEACE
August 10, 2009 by yipbop · Leave a Comment
As expressed in the last essay, the Fatah 6th General Assembly held in Bethlehem in August 4, 2009 should alert Israel and, especially the international community that their real inclination continues to be towards violence and maintaining their status quo as a “national liberation movement,” rather than a government body with proper institutions and infrastructure for a future Palestinian State. This behavior is indeed to be expected by virtue of President Obama’s latest sweet-talk with the Muslim world in his historic Cairo speech and his State Department’s unrelenting calls for freezing settlement activities in Israel with no quid pro quo from the Palestinian faction.
Barack Hussein Obama’s ambitious negotiations in Middle East affairs are wrongly unjustified and center around the biggest lie since the Israel’s defensive war in 1967 against Arab aggression bent on Israel’s disappearance. What I am speaking about is the word “occupation,” and the invention of a before unknown Palestinian entity created by the defunct Oslo accords. Moreover, to take matters even further, as stated by the Jerusalem Post’s Sarah Honig, even the entire Jordanian state, nationhood and even identity are counterfeit. You may wonder, are the U.S. and Europe’s leaders intentionally disregarding historical facts, or are they so afraid of Islamic terrorism on their own shores that they are willing to sacrifice the microscopic Jewish state? This frightening situation is not about the territories that Israel unexpectedly gained in the 1967 war, that is Judea, Samaria, Gaza and East Jerusalem, but about the Arab’s ambition of obliterating the Jewish state in their midst. Although the inadmissibility of acquiring territory by war is codified in the U.N. charter, there was no authoritative sovereign nation to whom these territories could have been returned. Thus, there is no such thing as “occupied” territories and even the idea of Palestinian self-determination was not even included in the U.N. Security Council 242. And of course, let’s not forget the 1917 Balfour Declaration which favored the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
The demonization of Israel continues to take its toll throughout the world based on such lies as “occupation” and “Palestinians” which have been so constantly repeated and publicized ad nauseam since the reign of the late Fatah leader Yassir Arafat, that the world at large accept them as being true without even bothering looking into legitimate historical accounts. The Arabs’ unfair fabrications have led to a global chain of undeserved commentaries and activities each time Israel has to defend its citizens against terror attacks. For instance, most recently, criticisms still abound after Israel’s defensive war against the terrorist Hamas entity who previously showered Southern Israel with over 10,000 rockets over several years on innocent civilians; and human rights organizations’ reports illustrate clear evidence of disproportionate focus on Israel and reflect a hostile political agenda; and most importantly, let’s not ignore President Barack Hussein Obama’s unrelenting pressure on Israel to commit a suicidal path, thus relieving the Palestinian authority from promulgating peace and compromise as illustrated in their recent hideous General Assembly conference.
Unfortunately, the majority of people in the world are oblivious of historical truth, and cognizant of this sad fact, Israel has been the victim of the media war promulgated by the Palestinians, masters of virulent propagandas no one can match. The latest Fatah’s vociferous attacks against any type of peace with Israel should warn all of those concerned with justice and rectitude that Israel has absolutely no partner with whom to “live in peace and security,” and more importantly, a lasting peace will never have a chance to stand based on fabrications and lies. The leaders of the free world have no legal and/or justified right to demand the dismemberment of the Jewish State, and should instead wise up and focus their minds and eyes on the rampant Islamization of their own country and the steadfast nuclearization of a dangerously fanatic and theocratic government such as Iran.
IDIOT LEADERS IN THE MAKING
May 25, 2009 by yipbop · Leave a Comment
You all know that Barak Hussein Obama in collusion with Hillary Clinton and the State Department is demanding that Israel withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, and freeze natural construction of the settlements in Judea and Samaria, meaning that women in these areas are forbidden to have children or get married! This disturbing and bizarre demand entails not only withdrawing from strategic land that protects all borders in Israel, but also the Golan Heights, the holy city of Jerusalem, and the most sacrosanct of all sites in Judaism, the Temple Mount. All of these give away, in exchange for some kind of fictitious peace with the Arab world, just a flimsy piece of paper, so that Israel can disappear at the whim of surrounding terrorists in the not too distant future.
Talking about “occupied” territories, it seems to me that indeed the entire world is occupied. Why use Israel as the sacrificial lamb to placate terrorists and the Arab world? Let’s take as an example, the land of the United States of America. Bibi Netanyahu in his recent visit to the President of the U.S. should have said, in a most diplomatic way, without mincing any words, to stop interfering in Israel’s domestic affairs since Israel could also request the U.S. to disengage from parts of California as a goodwill gesture to Mexico. In fact, it is well known that there is a very large movement composed of Mexican Americans and native Mexicans who desperately seek the return of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado, and possibly other U.S. states to Mexican control either through the return of these territories to the Mexican government or the creation of a new Mexican country called Aztlan (nationalmecha.org, aztlan.net, mexica-movement.org and stolencontinent.org).
Besides the mantra of occupied territories, President Obama should instead focus his attention to the fact that the King of Saudi Arabia, to whom Obama recently bowed, is the largest financial supporter of terrorist organizations such as Al Qaida and the Taliban who are religiously obsessed and bent on controlling the Western world. This well known obsession is substantiated by the fact that Saudi Arabia is handing out a fortune to build thousands of mosques throughout the U.S. and Europe, mosques that preach hate and Jihad against the Free world. This Jihadist threat is slowly but steadily evolving throughout the U.S. and Europe and should be arrested before it is too late.
It is a sad circumstance that Saudi Arabia holds so much political and financial power in the U.S. It is no wonder that Obama preaches support for the Saudi plan to dismember Israel to indefensible borders. Money buys anything including pacts with the devil. And this is what is transpiring in the political corridors of the U.S. and Europe. Unless the minds leading the Free world realize that what they are facing is a murderous ideology that is using terrorism and demographics to subjugate and ultimately destroy the Western world, they are doomed to destruction along with the metamorphosis from freedom to Sharia laws.
The threats facing the world are too grave to ignore in comparison to the obsessive and strenuous efforts of Europe and U.S. to demand that Israel stop building extra bathrooms or bedrooms in the settlements. These leaders who are acting very stupidly should instead direct their efforts to stop Iran from becoming nuclear and the Islamization of the Western world so that the next generations will not inherit a doomed and medieval world.