Gleefully the Guardian (among others) has reported with a predictably celebratory tone that over 3,000 European Jews have signed a petition claiming that unconditional support for Israel is dangerous. Well 3,000 is hardly a very noteworthy proportion of the over one and a half million Jews currently living in Western Europe. Of course it wouldn’t really have made a lot of difference if even 300,000 Jews had have signed the petition, it still would have failed to make it any less nonsensical.
Firstly one would rather assume that the message of the petition should be too glaringly obvious to be worth stating. After all if the Israeli government started mowing down its own people in the streets or pumping toxic chemicals into the Mediterranean I’m sure the vast majority of observers would have no qualms about condemning such acts. Secondly it could hardly be said that Europe’s political leadership is currently transfixed by an air of blind unwavering support for the Jewish State. What seems especially bizarre is that much of the text is primarily concerned with condemning Israel for construction in Jewish settlements, but as everyone knows Israel has already frozen building in all settlements as of late autumn of 2009. In short this petition was entirely unwarranted and clearly says far more about the mindset of those who initiated it than it does about anything else.
In one sense the supporters of this petition may have a point. Unbridled support for Israel regardless of its conduct would hardly be a wise policy for any foreign government to pursue. Yet surely there must be far more dangerous failings in the foreign policy of Europe’s powers than not being critical enough of Israel. I imagine it might be slightly more dangerous if the world fails to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weaponry for instance. And what about failing to prevent Sudan or Yemen from turning into an Al-Qaeda hotbed? What about allowing Hezbollah to have become more heavily armed than many of the surrounding nations in the region or permitting China to continue shoring up a nuclear armed senile dictator in North Korea? How about preventing civil war from breaking out in Pakistan or America emboldening the rogue regime in Syria through continued diplomatic rewards? And isn’t there the slight issue of ever further legitimising the Islamo-facist terror polity Hamas is creating in Gaza by continuously condemning Israel every time she attempts to defend her citizens from attacks emanating from the Strip?
Clearly there are some rather more dangerous prospects currently looming on the world stage, but the Jews that penned this statement seem to think reminding an already highly critical Europe that they shouldn’t fail to criticise Israel is the most pressing priority of all.
Where the loyalty of those who signed this petition really lies is hardly difficult to discern. Yet it is telling that they should choose to release such a petition at a time when Israel has just made major concessions so that it can engage in yet another round of peace talks with the Palestinians. Clearly attempts to undermine Israel, whether they come from Jew or Gentile, have little if anything to do with Israel’s conduct and far more to do with these peoples problem with Israel itself.
Firstly one would rather assume that the message of the petition should be too glaringly obvious to be worth stating. After all if the Israeli government started mowing down its own people in the streets or pumping toxic chemicals into the Mediterranean I’m sure the vast majority of observers would have no qualms about condemning such acts. Secondly it could hardly be said that Europe’s political leadership is currently transfixed by an air of blind unwavering support for the Jewish State. What seems especially bizarre is that much of the text is primarily concerned with condemning Israel for construction in Jewish settlements, but as everyone knows Israel has already frozen building in all settlements as of late autumn of 2009. In short this petition was entirely unwarranted and clearly says far more about the mindset of those who initiated it than it does about anything else.
In one sense the supporters of this petition may have a point. Unbridled support for Israel regardless of its conduct would hardly be a wise policy for any foreign government to pursue. Yet surely there must be far more dangerous failings in the foreign policy of Europe’s powers than not being critical enough of Israel. I imagine it might be slightly more dangerous if the world fails to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weaponry for instance. And what about failing to prevent Sudan or Yemen from turning into an Al-Qaeda hotbed? What about allowing Hezbollah to have become more heavily armed than many of the surrounding nations in the region or permitting China to continue shoring up a nuclear armed senile dictator in North Korea? How about preventing civil war from breaking out in Pakistan or America emboldening the rogue regime in Syria through continued diplomatic rewards? And isn’t there the slight issue of ever further legitimising the Islamo-facist terror polity Hamas is creating in Gaza by continuously condemning Israel every time she attempts to defend her citizens from attacks emanating from the Strip?
Clearly there are some rather more dangerous prospects currently looming on the world stage, but the Jews that penned this statement seem to think reminding an already highly critical Europe that they shouldn’t fail to criticise Israel is the most pressing priority of all.
Where the loyalty of those who signed this petition really lies is hardly difficult to discern. Yet it is telling that they should choose to release such a petition at a time when Israel has just made major concessions so that it can engage in yet another round of peace talks with the Palestinians. Clearly attempts to undermine Israel, whether they come from Jew or Gentile, have little if anything to do with Israel’s conduct and far more to do with these peoples problem with Israel itself.
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