No Will No Way writes Michael Kuttner

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In the midst of the turmoil enveloping European Jewry during the early 1940’s, a man by the name of Jan Karski was dispatched by the Polish underground to tell western allies about the atrocities being committed and planned in Nazi occupied Poland especially the slaughter of its Jewish population. Karski took his message to London and Washington but (in his own words) “failed to persuade them..”
Despite overwhelming proof and eye witness accounts he was a messenger who delivered the message but was not heard. It was not that he failed to articulate the urgency of the situation. It was entirely a case of those in positions of power being totally unwilling to face facts, disinterested in the fate of Jews and moreover determined to shut their ears and eyes to realities.

I mention this true event because today we are witnessing a rerun of history with the same scenario albeit with different actors.

The International Community represented by the United Nations fiddles while Assad hides and transfers his chemical weapons to terror groups. No doubt when the inspectors eventually get around to doing their job they will find small quantities left for them while the remainder of the stocks will be safely hidden elsewhere. Once the inspections are over and the Syrian regime pronounced clean, all concerned will congratulate themselves on a job well done, Assad and his fellow perpetrators of gassing innocent civilians will once again have pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and normal business will be resumed. The appeasers in Europe, the isolationists in the USA and the cynical hypocrites in Russia and China will heave a sigh of relief while the Syrian refugees wallow in misery and the thousands suffering from the effects of gas will be left to endure years of pain and intolerable after effects.

This brings us to the question of Iran. After years of ignoring warnings and mountains of evidence, a reluctant effort to impose sanctions was initiated. Although they are having some impact they are too little and too late. There are still too many porous holes through which certain countries and corporations pour much needed supplies. Finally the Iranians pulled a rabbit out of the hat and to the delight of those who were grasping for any straw there appeared on the scene a new President whose soothing message is designed to lull the willing and the gullible into a state of ecstatic euphoria.

Just as Chamberlain and colleagues were seduced by the mirage of a seemingly reasonable Hitler willing to offer worthless promises so today’s world leaders hail Rouhani as the shining messiah who is going to bring peace, brotherhood and everlasting joy. Like drowning individuals grabbing lifebelts, Washington, London and the capitals of Europe have wasted no time in succumbing to the same rhetoric as their predecessors did way back in the 1930’s. This time around of course we are all assured that they are wiser but is that really the case? While more time is taken up with diplomatic double talk and political spin, the Iranian centrifuges are spinning night and day.

The Israeli Prime Minister has been to the UN and addressed the General Assembly. His message to a partially empty hall was clear and direct. He was a party pooper who had the audacity to articulate the stark message that behind the smiles and sweet talk of the Iranian President lay a sinister reality. The media, led by the New York Times which has demonstrated its ability to be wrong on numerous occasions, blasted Netanyahu for using belligerent language and not following the correct party line of excited ecstasy at the façade of moderation paraded forth to the international community. Shades of appeasement are once again discernable. Back in the 1930’s it was Hitler’s vow that he had no further territorial ambitions which was hailed as a portent of everlasting peace. Today it is Rouhani’s vow that despite covert efforts to manufacture nuclear weapons, it is really a mirage and the Iranian Mullahs only wish to spread brotherly love and enlightenment to the infidel west. The fact that Israel is still the evil Satan which needs to be eliminated continues to fall under the radar of most of the United Nations. In fact Iran has just been elected to the UN Committee on Disarmament which is about as relevant as appointing the Mafia to a committee for the elimination of crime.

Like Jan Karski whose warnings about the genocide in Europe were ignored, the warnings and evidence supplied by Israeli officials about the real intentions of the Islamic fanatics in Tehran are also dismissed. Party poopers always ruin the most politically correct affairs and this is no exception.

It is pathetic to see how the US President tries to tie the Iranian situation in with the Israel-Palestinian Arab negotiations. His assertion at the UN that Israel’s security depends on the creation of yet another Iranian sponsored terror State on territory originally allocated as part of the Jewish Homeland demonstrates not only an absolute deliberate ignorance of historical and legal reality but also reveals something far more worrying. Israel is being set up to take the blame for any forthcoming failure to prevent Iran acquiring the bomb. Doesn’t that sound familiar? When dirty stuff hits the fan the Jews have always been blamed.

North Korea is a classic case of a rogue country thumbing its nose successfully at the rest of the world. Without a will there is no way to stop Iran from treading the same path. So far the will has been lacking and just as the League of Nations failed in its mission to protect small democratic nations from the demonic designs of fascist dictatorships so the United Nations is abdicating its responsibility in this regard.

The difference then was that the Jews were powerless and ignored. Today at least the Jewish State can ensure that there will be consequences for those who plot our demise.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel andis J-Wire’s correspondent in Israel.