Common Sense is not so Common…writes Michael Kuttner (and Voltaire)

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The above quote by Voltaire is manifest on a daily basis especially when it concerns Israel. This week has proved no exception and therefore I would like to share with you a few of the latest examples to demonstrate as if any proof was really needed that the sky is the limit for all those who think they know it all.

Michael Kuttner

The first incident revolves around the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations.

Apparently at this time of the year it is the tradition for the United Nations General Assembly to meet and formally approve each member’s credentials. This would seem a rather routine and normal event and so it generally proves on an annual basis. This year, however, there was an added twist to the ritual because the Iranian Ambassador stated loudly and clearly that he and the Islamic Republic do not recognize the existence of Israel and therefore they would not be approving its credentials to be a member of the United Nations. Did this declaration result in any condemnation from other members or did it cause any outrage that a fellow member in good standing is unrecognized as not just a member of the world body but also as a legal nation? I have not been able to find any such reaction nor have I heard of any country denouncing this blatant piece of hate.

There is no other situation where a UN member declares another member to be a non existent country. The fact that Iran is neither censured nor indeed expelled from the UN merely reflects on the prevailing double standards and hypocrisy in that world body and indeed in the foreign ministries of the international community. Think about the implications for a moment. If Iran does not recognize Israel as a legitimate country then it logically follows that any steps it takes to eliminate this illegitimate entity calling itself Israel is perfectly legal. In the absence of action by the UN to punish Iran for this flagrant violation of all UN protocols it follows that any action taken to destroy the Jewish State must also be tolerated. Wouldn’t you think that all this is enough reason for the USA and others to reconsider their headlong rush to appease the Mullahs of Tehran and thwart in a more meaningful manner their unimpeded march towards nuclear terror?

The perfect quote to describe the above situation comes from Albert Einstein who once said…” two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity and I am not sure about the universe….”

The second classic example really follows on from the above example. Within a few days of the Iranian declaration, our President, Shimon Peres, made the following pronouncements:…” I have no problem meeting Rouhani. I don’t have enemies. It’s not a matter of a person but of a policy. The purpose is to convert enemies into friends. There was a time we didn’t meet with Arafat. Enemies are defined by their policy which can change,….”

Here is a classic case of insanity which is defined as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Despite both Peres and Arafat receiving the Nobel Peace Prize one would think that by now, after spectacular results and hordes of murders and mayhem, the light may have dawned as to the true intentions of those who vilify Israel. The fact that his Nobel peace partner stabbed him and us in the back obviously has had no effect and both Peres and his assorted bunch of disconnected acolytes carry merrily on as though reality never hit them in the face. That is why they embrace Arafat’s successor, Abbas, as another partner and prefer to interpret Iran’s threats and announcements as an irrelevant sideshow not to be taken seriously. Chamberlain thought he could convert Hitler into a paragon of peace. Have some of us learnt nothing? Obviously not.

As though to reinforce my thesis, in the last few days the PLO chief negotiator to the farcical misnamed peace talks, Saeb Erekat, is quoted as having told foreign supporters that the Palestinians will never accept Israel’s right to exist. This closely followed a statement by another PLO executive member that no concessions will be forthcoming. How much clearer can the situation be made?

John Kerry is back here again and once more we will have to listen to the same tripe all of it oblivious to realities on the ground.

The last two examples of common sense deficiency syndrome illustrate not only how ignorance drives politicians and entertainers alike but also how the media gleefully propagates the slanders and lies.

The South African Ambassador to Israel stated this week that his countrymen & women do not hate Israel (a debatable point) but they do hate oppression. According to the Ambassador, the late Nelson Mandela thought that Israel has problems relating to human dignity and until human dignity is respected by the Jewish State there will not be peace or reconciliation. Anyone with only a smattering of intelligence knows that in the overall scale of human dignity, Israel rates amongst the top. The fact that real serial abusers of human dignity did not feature merely illustrates the depths to which those who make these statements have fallen.

In the same vein and displaying an equal share of gross ignorance, moral bankruptcy and undisguised hate, Roger Waters, former British Pink Floyd performer, in an interview this week, compared the Israeli treatment of  Palestinians to Nazi Germany and decried the “powerful” Jewish lobby in the US.

He went on to say regarding the Palestinians  that “the parallels with what went on in the 1930’s in Germany are so crushingly obvious.” Needless to say the vile pronouncements of this former rock star have gone viral and that is exactly how this poison spreads to all corners of the globe. Oscar Wilde summed up the likes of Waters, when he said …”I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying..”  The trouble is that many in this situation do know exactly what they are saying and moreover have no problem in letting all their hate hang out publicly.

These few examples are merely the latest manifestations of the same venom which infected the international community not so long ago. Unless we speak up and tell these purveyors of hate to shut up, unless we take active steps to discredit those who spread it, we will be accessories to the delegitimisation of not only the Jewish State but also Jews everywhere. Those so called enlightened individuals who think that the problem can be ignored or wished away and who think that they alone possess the wisdom to convert enemies into buddies need to think again.

Albert Einstein had it correct again when he said:”the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits”

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 where he is J-Wire’s correspondent.