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<<Previous -- Table of Contents -- Next>> THE NEW GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM: The
State of Jew-Hatred Almost 300 parliamentarians,
academicians, human rights activists and Jewish leaders from all corners
of the globe are participating in the Global Forum against Anti-Semitism,
held under the auspices of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs. [Forty-five] governments are
represented and have pledged meaningful cooperation with Israel to combat
the world’s oldest hatred. This commitment…reflects a growing
concern about a mushrooming of Judeophobia which would have been deemed
inconceivable just over a decade ago… Today the intensity of the
hatred has become so fierce that it is Contemporary anti-Semitism differs
from the traditional hatred Jews encountered throughout the millennia.
But the venom emanating from the Islamic world is no less lethal than In the West, Arab Judeophobia
has been refined and integrated with the long-standing religious, cultural
and racial prejudice which, due to Holocaust reverberations, had been
suppressed for over half a century. The newly resurrected blend of anti-Semitism
is thus no longer directed primarily against individual Jews. Israel,
the “Jew amongst the nations,” has become the new vehicle
for demonizing Jews.… This approach and other calumnies, Meanwhile, leading human rights
groups have been hijacked by anti-Israel bigots shamelessly applying
double standards against the Jewish state.… The United Nations
Human Rights Not surprisingly, European Jews in particular feel besieged….The most severe repercussions are visible at European universities, which have been transformed into centers of Israelphobia. To a lesser extent this is now also emerging on campuses in the United States.… Finally, it is a fact that since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Jewish state has failed to effectively make its case in the international arena. For political reasons, the government has also tended to understate the criminal anti-Semitic incitement and culture of death and martyrdom that to this day prevails in the areas administered by our purportedly moderate Palestinian peace partner. In order to create “the right atmosphere” for promoting the peace process, there has been an inclination to understate the fact that kindergartens, mosques, media and all levels of society under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority continue breeding future killers of Jews and sanctifying martyrdom…. Clearly the struggle of the Jewish people against the world’s oldest hatred will be ongoing. But we have overcome far worse situations. We must now employ our global assets in the most effective manner and join with others to expose, shame and discredit the bigots and barbarians who promote Judeophobia and racism and threaten to pollute the social hygiene of democracies. (Jerusalem Post, February 23, 2008. Isi Liebler will be honored at CIJR’s 20th Anniversary Gala in August 2008.) Shifting
the Blame in Gaza Over the weekend, al-Qaeda released an audio message purporting to come from its deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In it, the speaker called for attacks on American and Israeli interests in retaliation for Israel’s recent raids on the Gaza Strip, which Palestinians claim have killed nearly 100 residents…. Since 2001, there have been more than 6,000 rockets and mortars launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, an average of nearly three per day. Most have been aimed at the industrial-agricultural city of Sderot, whose 20,000 residents live under the constant threat of 15-second air raid warnings. Over 4,000 of the Palestinian-launched attacks—more than two-thirds—have occurred since the Israeli army forcibly removed nearly 7,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza, a gesture of good faith that, Israelis were repeatedly reassured, would end the bombardments. But in just the first two months of this year, there were nearly 900 attacks (15 per day). This was before Israel’s army and air force began their recent reprisals. Israel has shown tremendous patience and restraint in the face of this daily, deadly fusillade. Islamic fundamentalists, such as Dr. al-Zawahiri, have willingly misinterpreted Israel’s belated, self-defensive attacks as provocative first strikes… What puzzles us, though, is why so much of the world’s media so easily swallows this cynical spin without even trying to ascertain the reasons behind Israel’s counterstrikes… What response would Canadians demand of their government and Armed Forces if 6,000 bombs and missiles had been fired from Mississauga into Etobicoke in the past seven years, or from Surrey into Vancouver, or Longueuil into Montreal? It is unlikely we would have accepted such a long delay in reacting with force nor would we worry that some distant terrorist was threatening an escalation in attacks if we sought to stop the assault. So far this year, school disruptions in Sderot have been a regular occurrence. Lessons or recess have been curtailed by the need for students to run frantically to bomb shelters on at least 22 different occasions. Canadians who show sympathy for the Palestinian cause might well think differently of Israel using troops and gunships to take out mortar placements and rocket launchers if their own children were under constant threat of injury or death. Clearly, it is equally tragic when Palestinian children are hurt or killed by Israeli forces. But it is not the Israeli government that hides rocket launchers and mortars in apartment blocks and schoolyards, thereby making human shields of its own people.… [I]f Dr. al-Zawahiri and al-Qaeda are successful in carrying out acts of terrorism here or elsewhere in the name of Gaza, Westerners should blame the source rather than Israel. (National Post, March 25, 2008) <<Previous -- Table of Contents -- Next> |
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