Unrelenting perniciousness…writes Michael Kuttner
George Orwell predicted that in an age of universal deceit telling the truth would become a revolutionary act.
Michael Kuttner
When one surveys the sorry state of the world in general these days and in particular the almost daily fixation that most have with the Jewish State, Orwell’s brilliant prophecy rings true. Deceit and its close relatives, double standards and hypocrisy, are alive, well and thriving in the international corridors of power. Living in Israel one tends to notice this because we are the targets of venomous vitriol, bare faced lies, blatant boycotts and incessant incitement. The assault on Israel takes many forms ranging from physical acts of terror, verbal abuse, and revisionist narratives to deliberate delegitimization. It is incessant and unrelenting and emanates from fair weather friends and implacable foes alike.
Most Israelis look with astonishment and incredulity at events currently taking place on the world stage and can only shake their heads in wonder over how despite clear evidence to the contrary our little country is continually seen as the source of all turmoil.
Some of this week’s examples should suffice to illustrate the age of deceit we live in.
First of all, consider two events on the “foreign front” which graphically illustrate current absurdity. Turkey invades Syria ostensibly to fight Islamic State but in reality to deal with the Kurds. The latter are supposedly “supported” by the Americans but in true Obama/Kerry style they have been sold down the river yet again. Note the absence of any international convulsion as Turkish tanks roll across the border. Do you discern a marked difference between this and the frenetic and hysterical outbursts by all and sundry when Israel retaliates against rockets and terror from Gaza or Lebanon?
Witness the French as they ban Muslim women from covering up at the seaside. With true Gallic hypocrisy the Republic’s cry of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, in defense of secular society is invoked and the fearless French swing into action by forcing these bathers to shed their clothes. This warped assault against human rights likewise raises nary a censure from the UN or the usual suspects who normally leap into action whenever the word Israel is mentioned. In contrast to France, the Jewish State does not dictate that Muslim or ultra Orthodox women need to strip down to their bikinis. If this was ever to be the case can you imagine the mayhem which would result? Every politician and media outlet would recoil with righteous indignation and resolutions would be passed at the UN condemning Israel and demanding sanctions.
This week I visited a health clinic and lo and behold one of the workers at the reception desk was a young Muslim woman wearing traditional modest clothes and a head covering. Nobody became excited over the fact that an Israeli citizen of the Islamic Faith was dressed modestly. It is an accepted part of living in a liberal and democratic country like Israel, unlike it seems the norm in certain countries which delight in censuring us on a regular basis.
Now to some examples of locally generated deceit and truth twisting.
This week marked the 47th anniversary of an attempted arson of the Al Aqsa Mosque by a deranged Australian Christian tourist. True to form the Palestinian Arab Mufti of Jerusalem issued a clarion call of incitement during a press conference. He urged all Muslims to “gather around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and protect it using whatever means possible.” He then “accused Israel of trying to turn Jerusalem into its eternal capital and cleanse out any expression of Arab and Islamic culture from it. He stressed, “It is not just Al-Aqsa and its domes which reflect the Islamic nature of the city, but each floor of the holy city, every remnant of the city, and every centimeter attest to the fact that it is an Arab and Islamic city, whose roots lie deep in history and culture.”
This is what passes for “peace gestures” on the part of our misnamed partners and which elicits nary a peep from those who are deliberately oblivious to reality.
The annual Jerusalem Wine Festival is about to take place at the Mamilla Mall. On cue a PA official has called it an” affront to Islam.” Maintaining falsely that the site was originally an old Muslim cemetery he launched into what has become the usual tirade of lies by asserting that the festival is “a dangerous escalating step” on the part of Israel in Jerusalem in its continual damage to historically and religiously significant Muslim holy sites. The wine festival violates the (non existent) cemetery and manifests a provocation against the feelings of the Arab Palestinians and Muslims world-wide” he concluded. Welcome to yet another day of deceit which no doubt the UN will need to meet in emergency session in order to deal with this serious threat to world peace.
Speaking of the UN brings to mind their condemnation of Israel this week for demolishing terrorist houses and permitting Jews to build in Jerusalem. In the same breath this corrupt organization has demanded that one of its employees who was caught supporting and financing Hamas be given diplomatic immunity and thus avoid prosecution by Israeli authorities. This breathtaking display of deceit and duplicity was dismissed outright but it highlights exactly the pernicious nature of those who purport to be guardians of international morality.
A final example of mendacious maliciousness (there are many more) should suffice to demonstrate the cloud cuckoo environment facing the Jewish State.
Saeb Erekat, the PA “peace negotiator” showed yet again what his and presumably his boss, Abbas’s definition of negotiations really means. Threatening to haul Israel in front of the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, this official from a criminally corrupt and terror supporting UN supported authority encapsulates everything rotten in the state of diplomacy.
Even worse however were the revelations which followed this threat. It transpires according to well informed sources that the UN and the EU are actively helping the Palestinian Arabs to build a “war crimes” case. The plan to take Israel to the ICC is funded by the aforementioned bodies as follows:
US$100,000 to document crimes against women by the “Israeli occupation.”
US$150,000 on preparing files of complaint.
US$129,000 for developing a monitoring mechanism.
US$202,500 to be set aside to build international coalitions against the Israeli “occupation” and for its “non compliance with international law.”
George Orwell again best sums up the lunacy we face today:
“The further society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those that speak it.”
What was true for 1984 is definitely valid for 2016.
The good news is that the Jewish People have in the past surmounted far more formidable threats. Without a doubt we will do so again.
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.
