It's not anti-Semitism?
It's a rare occasion, but I find myself disagreeing with David Bernstein. The hostility emanating to Israel emanating from these sources is not, primarily, a result of anti-Semitism or other Jewcentric mental maladies. Rather, it is a natural result of a cauldron of ideologies–pacifism, anti-liberalism, Third Worldism, hostility to the West, warmed-over Marxism, and so on, combined with a dash of naive human rights idealism–that dominates certain intellectual circles.Sorry, but no. The anti-Israel obsession of Turkey, the European Union, the American Left, Iran, the Arab countries... is unmatched on the face of the earth.
Israel receives more grief than almost anyone else from such circles for several reasons: (1) because of its precarious security situation, it uses military force more regularly than other potential targets; (2) because of its precarious political situation, it is far more vulnerable to such criticism than, say, the U.S. (which will studiously ignore criticism of the OBL operation); and (3) unlike in the U.S, Israel has a significant and influential domestic far left that encourages and magnifies such criticisms. Indeed, given universal military service among Jewish non-Haredi adults, Israel often faces criticism from its own leftist soldiers and reservists of the sort quite rare in the U.S.
That’s not to deny that some leftist critics of Israel are anti-Semites, and that an even greater number are content to play on anti-Semitic themes when they find it rhetorically useful. But let’s face it: if you can’t get the leftist Europeans, NGOs, etc. behind a surgical strike on Osama Bin Laden, they are hardly going to approve of much broader Israeli military action in Gaza or Lebanon.
The double standard that condemns Israel every time an Osama Bin Laden is rubbed out (remember Mahmoud al-Mabhouh) but could care less when an Arab Muslim kills an Arab Muslim can only be explained by anti-Semitism.
Yes, of course, the Far Left is lining up to condemn the United States for killing Bin Laden. In two weeks, it will die down. Two years ago, we killed about 1,000 Hamas terrorists in Operation Cast Lead and a couple of hundred human shields - one of the best terrorist to civilian kill ratios ever under the circumstances... and the World is still talking about the Goldstone Report about it (which came out more than a year and a half ago).
The obsession with Israel is unique. It's created by anti-Semitism.
Labels: anti-Semitism, Arab obsession with Israel, European obsession with Israel, State Department obsession with Israel, Turkish obsession with Israel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:45 AM
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