Spot the differences
The pandemic of moral outrage, which has infected all and sundry as Israel finally asserts its sovereign rights brings to mind a famous quote by the late Golda Meir.
Michael Kuttner
Israel’s only female Prime Minister (so far) can hardly be described as an “extreme fascist right-wing fanatic” although by today’s woke standards of political correctness, she would certainly qualify for such an appellation.
Her statement, which is as relevant now as it was then, should be inscribed on the letterhead of every Government communication.
“If we have to choose between being dead and pitied and being alive with a bad image, we would rather be alive and have the bad image.”
Watching the spasms of outrage which are continuing to emanate from near and far over each and every move made by the new coalition, it is clear that insanity has overtaken any sort of rational thought.
The end result is the same whether this blows forth from frustrated bastions of the local left, frustrated international Jew and Israel haters or serial Islamic deniers of Jewish sovereignty.
Jews have always had a bad image as far as those opposed to our faith and national identity are concerned. Three thousand years and counting this phenomenon persists with increased intensity.
What is interesting, in fact absolutely fascinating, is the yawning ideological tunnel vision displayed by those currently erupting with rage. The obsessive determination to condemn every move by Israel as opposed to an aversion to acknowledge actual crimes by others is emblematic of how corrupt things have become.
Sifting through some of these situations will expose exactly how low the United Nations has sunk and to what extent various sectors have been seduced by the big lie of repeated untruths.
In the Middle Ages blood libels, which were spread via Roman Catholic Church prelates as well as Martin Luther, inflicted horrendous mayhem on Jewish communities throughout Europe. During the reign of the Tsars the Russian Orthodox Church also facilitated the same libels.
The amazing thing is that today in the twenty-first century similar slanderous accusations are circulating, this time courtesy of internationally promoted so-called “peace partners.” Here is a sample which illustrates exactly how poisonous wells and Passover plots have now transformed into even more exotic concoctions.
“Israel is training herds of wild boars to destroy Palestinian crops”
“Israel is breeding super rats immune to poison which attack Palestinians”
“Israel is training dolphins to attack”
“Israel is using eagles and other birds to spy”
“Israel is poisoning Palestinian wells”
This last one is a proven attention-getter of long-standing.
If everything was normal, these absurd claims would be dismissed out of hand and the accusers would be forced to retract them. However, as in mediaeval times, they are circulated far and wide. Thanks to social media and hypocritical member nations of the UN, the PA and its associated terror groups can spout libellous nonsense and be immune from any sort of censure. This lack of an outraged reaction from the international community gives validity to their statements and encourages them to proceed to even more outrageous anti-Jewish/Israeli conspiracy theories.
Contrast this lack of international reaction to the furore and apoplectic hysterics when a lone Israeli Cabinet Minister made a 15-minute visit to Judaism’s holiest site.
The Ramallah-based kleptocracy with the help of immoral UN supporters results in Israel being referred to the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and other threats to humanity.
Apart from a limp slap on the wrist by the USA and a few others the PA faces no adverse sanctions to this latest round of diplomatic terror tactics.
Unlike the previous Israeli Government, the present coalition has finally decided to show that terror of any sort will result in meaningful penalties. Instead of rhetoric which in the past achieved absolutely nothing, the reaction has been swift and clear. Funds which the PA used in the past to pay murderers of Israelis will now be redirected instead to the families of terror victims. PA officials who incite and support perpetrators of terror have had their VIP status removed which means they no longer can automatically enter Israel and engage in nefarious activities.
Needless to say the howls of outrage from Ramallah and elsewhere have been deafening and predictably they will be running to the UN in order to have Israel condemned yet again. They will do this because they know only too well that they can garner support for whatever they may do.
As proof of this, right on cue, the US State Department spokesperson has already articulated his administration’s views by accusing Israel of “exacerbating tensions.” There you have it in a nutshell. Our mythical peace partners can disseminate any sort of disinformation and engage in any sort of terror-related activity and confidently expect Israel to be censured when it retaliates.
An important and historic event occurred on 9 January this year.
Mahmoud Abbas, the internationally anointed dove of peace and champion of Palestinian democracy, commenced the 19th. year of his first four-year term as PA President. At the same time, it is noteworthy that there have been no elections to the PA Parliament since 2006.
Why is it necessary to take notice of these facts?
Have you heard expressions of denunciation of this perversion of democracy issuing forth from any Capital whether from Wellington to Washington and all capitals in between? Yet it is this internationally crowned apostle of democratic values who is being touted as our only hope. This personification of one-man rule and nineteen years of no elections as someone who will guarantee a democratic peace-loving Palestine is so ludicrous that only mentally demented politicians could believe it.
Yet, unbelievable as it may seem, every Monday and Thursday, we are being instructed to place our entire future in the hands of this man and his groupies.
Contrast the deafening international silence in the face of this perversion to the eruptions taking place after Israel held its umpteenth election. The double standards are so glaring that any normal observer must wonder if insanity has now reached pandemic proportions.
A recent news report mentioned that the US Embassy in Israel’s unrecognised Capital is considering barring Israeli Jews from obtaining a visa to visit America if they are “suspected” of advocating anti-Arab violence. Not convicted but suspected. Not mentioned is whether the same criteria will apply to Israeli Arabs suspected of inciting violence against Jews.
To round off this short summary is the news that the new Moderator of the Church of Scotland supported a document that suggests that the Jewish claim to Israel could be invalidated by their treatment of Palestinian Arabs.
Clearly, there is a major credibility gap that has been fostered by years of aversion to acknowledging reality.
At long last, much to the horror of the appeasers and disseminators of ancient and modern libels against Jews and Israel, we are fighting back.
That’s the big difference.
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.
