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Tsvi Sadan

Between a fair critic and an anti-Semite

The Turkish Flotilla filled with Western human rights and Muslim fanatics that attempted to break the naval blockade on Gaza in May 2010 marked a new phase in the war against Israel in which lies became more believable than truth. The people on this ship – from the IHH with its ties to al-Qaeda to the Free Gaza of Greta Berlin who tweeted that “Zionists operated the concentration camps and helped murder millions of innocent Jews” – came to free Gaza five years after Israel withdrew. The attempts to free an already free region, the refusal to condemn Gaza for its pledge to destroy Israel, and the constant claim that Israeli acts of self-defense were war crimes should have been a clear indication that the flotilla that came in the name of human rights was part of a large scale effort to turn Israel into a pariah state.

Unlike the way other countries are treated – where, for example, Saddam Hussein and his ministers were singled out from the innocent Iraqi people – the figurative flag on the Flotilla’s mast didn’t have Netanyahu face on it but a black map of Israel. This is the reason why people such as Raed Salah and Greta Berlin joined forces. This collaboration between particular type of Westerners and al-Qaeda sympathizers should have been a telling sign that these bedfellows share the same hopes and dreams of a peaceful world that, with the aid of fabricated narratives, will emerge out of the ruins of Israel.

While Islam is the basis of Islamic resistance to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, however, what is the basis of Christianity’s persistent denial of Israel’s right of existence? Islamic and Judeo-Christian civilizations do not share the same moral scale – which is why the first tries to overwhelm the second. Why, then, are millions of Americans, French, British, and Swedes asking themselves whether or not Israel has the right to exist but not questioning Gaza’s? The usual answer is that Israel has forfeited its right to exist by its actions. When we consider that no one doubted Egypt’s right to exist when it occupied Gaza or Jordan’s when it occupied the West Bank, this excuse is unconvincing.

The vehement anti-Israel stand of past and present Christians may be explained by assuming that Israel’s cruelty eclipses that of past occupiers. Greta Berlin hates Israel not because of its unwillingness to submit to sharia law but because she operates on the basis of Judeo-Christian values of peace and justice. Within these parameters, the pursuit of peace and justice demands the eradication of evil. This explains why Israel rather than individuals is singled out as evil. This is why Israel’s right to exist is denied instead of just, say, calling for withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders. But even if Israel is an evil country worthy of eradication, why do the same people who dream of Israel’s demise not dream of the downfall of Iran, Syria, China, and a host of other countries ten times crueler than Israel? Why Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire who compared Israeli nuclear weapons to Nazi gas chambers joins hands with the IHH leader Bülent Yildirim, who stands firmly behind Hamas’ vow to destroy Israel?

This kind of particular cooperation between two otherwise completely opposing forces tells us that the new crusaders and most of the Muslim world have one thing in common: resentment of Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land cleverly disguised as the delegitimization of Zionism. Though peace and justice are the last things that concern the Muslim world, it cannot gain the support of the West for its ideas unless it is able to convince people that Zionism equals evil. This has been achieved with amazing success, first by perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem and then by presenting terrorists as noble freedom fighters for a state that never existed. Although it took almost six decades to break through the Western moral fence distinguishing lies from the truth, the Arab countries were smart enough to capitalize on postmodern trends that replace truth with new narrative enhanced by fabricated history. In this way, Muslims have been able to persuade millions of Christians into thinking that the denial of Israel’s right to exist is a justified moral position.

Too many fail to realize that from their point of view anti-Semites are moral and decent people. After all, if Jews are as bad as people say they are, then being an anti-Semite is supporting humanity. If Jews are kill babies for their bloody rituals, killing Jews is a moral duty. If blood-thirsty Israelis enjoy murdering innocent Palestinian children, killing Israelis by any means is completely justified. What separates anti-Semites from critics must then be the perpetration of lies and the decision to believe them. Evidence of Palestinian mythology is so abundant that trying to prove it is needless. Still, after the recent abduction of three Israeli teenagers people are still willing to believe that it was staged by Israel. One BDS activist claimed that “the Mossad have abducted the boys.” Another said that “they are not kids, they are soldiers.” Israelis are also responsible for the Hamas rockets. A YouTube video “proves” that “they are Mossad rockets, they are actually being fired to blame Palestinians.”

The truism “by their fruits you will recognize them” can help those seeking to distinguish between anti-Semites and critics. Blatant lies and more sophisticated ones like the staging of Muhammad Dura’s death do not enhance peace but produce hate. Likewise, portraying Israel as an obstacle to world’s peace has nothing to do with peace and human rights. If they are given their wish, BDS and NGO type people will achieve a peace that will end all peace. Hitler believed that cleansing the world of Jews would usher in a new world peace. However, out of the ruins of Israel will emerge a beast that will devour everyone who refuses to bow down to it – including the peace loving crowd on board the “flotilla.”

About the Author
Ph.D. in Jewish history. Born in kibbutz; author of the book Flesh of our Flesh: Jesus of Nazareth in Zionist Thought (Carmel, 2008). Freelance writer for the monthly magazine Israel Today.