Israel Matzav

The US excuses anti-Semitism

A European Jewish Union gathering in Brussels this week was shocked to hear US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman excusing growing global anti-Semitism.

A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Gutman said. He also argued that an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.

The American envoy, a lawyer by training, is Jewish and played a major role in fundraising for the Democratic Party. He was appointed to the post by President Barack Obama.

Gutman was speaking to European Jewish lawyers and the next speaker offered a scathing rebuttal.

“The modern Anti-Semite formally condemns Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and expresses upmost sympathy with the Jewish people. He simply has created a new species, the “Anti-Zionist” or – even more sophisticated – the so-called ‘Israel critic,’” Germany attorney Nathan Gelbart said.

“The ‘Israel critic’ will never state ‘Jews go home’ but is questioning the legality of the incorporation of the State of Israel and therefore the right for the Jewish people to settle in their homeland. He will not say the Jews are the evil of the world but claim that the State of Israel is a major cause for instability and war in the region,” he said. “There is no other country, no other people on this planet the ‘Israel critic’ would dedicate so much time and devotion as to the case of Israel.”

“For no other country he would criticize or ask to boycott its goods or academics. And this for one simple reason: Because Israel is the state of the Jewish people, not more and not less,” Gelbart said.

But Gutman apparently left as soon as he finished speaking. Read the whole thing.

As if that wasn't enough, on Friday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a Saban Center forum at the Brookings Institute that Israel and the 'Palestinians' have to get back to the 'damn negotiating table.' Very nice Leon - tell it to the 'Palestinians' who have been refusing to sit at the negotiating table for nearly three years.

But Panetta also scolded Israel about 'taking risks for peace.'

"I understand the view that this is not the time to pursue peace, and that the Arab awakening further imperils the dream of a safe and secure, Jewish and democratic Israel. But I disagree with that view," Panetta said.

He said Israel needed to take risks, including by breathing new life into moribund peace talks with Palestinians. When asked by a moderator what steps Israel needed to take to pursue peace, Panetta said: "Just get to the damn table."

"The problem right now is we can't get them to the damn table, to at least sit down and begin to discuss their differences," Panetta said.

This country is a democracy and according to the polls, if elections were held today, the current government would be reelected with a larger majority. Obviously, most Israelis don't see this to be the time to be taking more 'risks for peace.' Unlike Panetta, we have been there and done that.

Panetta also wants us to make more 'gestures.'

Panetta said that while Israel is not solely responsible for its isolation, it could more actively attempt to reverse the trend: "For example, Israel can reach out and mend fences with those who share an interest in regional stability – countries like Turkey and Egypt, as well as Jordan," he said.

"This is not impossible. If the gestures are rebuked, the world will see those rebukes for what they are. And that is exactly why Israel should pursue them."

Someone please tell me there's going to be change in Washington in November 2012 and that the nightmare known as the Obama administration will be gone.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Barack Hussein Obama, Howard Gutman, Leon Panetta

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:29 PM