Glaring inconsistencies

Another week witnesses yet more mind-boggling contortions by so-called friends and declared foes alike.

Michael Kuttner

Surely by now, we should not be shocked or startled by the outbursts of duplicitous double standards and hyperventilated hysterical fear-mongering issuing forth from all and sundry. Unfortunately, experience should have taught us that there is no limit when it comes to anything to do with Israel and Jews.

Is there really any point in continuing to shine a spotlight on these manifestations of irrationality? Perhaps one should just ignore them in the hope that common sense will prevail.

Our history regrettably demonstrates that doing so is a lethal mistake.

As the forthcoming commemoration of International Holocaust Day proves, remembering murdered Jews has become, for many nations, an annual occasion to spout politically correct rhetoric while glossing over a complete failure to save Jews or prevent their demise. How many politicians have apologised for their past Governments’ failures to rescue the victims pre-war? Who will condemn the prejudices which caused borders to be shut? Who will call out the callous UK mandatory policy of barring Jewish refugees from entering Palestine because the Arabs of the time demanded it?

It’s all very well to wax eloquently about the Shoah and its devastating effects, but when the sins of the past are by direct and indirect inference transmitted onto the nation State of the Jews today, then red lines are crossed. In the warped minds of those who view Israel as the embodiment of evil and a pariah among the nations, the glaring inconsistencies couldn’t be clearer.

Crocodile tears shed at the 27 January ceremonies are so much more hypocritical when rampant Judeophobia in the Arab and Islamic world as well as UN-sanctioned incitement, are ignored.

Supporting or abstaining on UN resolutions detaching Jews from their ancient homeland and holy sites makes a mockery of Shoah commemorative gatherings.

It gets worse than that.

Today there is a move to dilute the Shoah’s core meaning by minimising the fact that the main aim of the Germans and their willing helpers was to eradicate every single Jewish man, woman and child. True, others were also targeted for elimination, but it was only the Jews who were to be systematically isolated and slaughtered. A Welsh politician has issued invitations to a Holocaust Day vigil that omits any reference to Jews.

With Jew/Israel hate once again becoming endemic, the conundrum is, what can be done to combat it? Education of a woefully ignorant generation today would seem to be a worthy objective. Some countries commendably, including the United Arab Emirates, have instituted Holocaust studies as compulsory features of their history curricula. It is shameful that still, far too many so-called enlightened democracies have yet to do so. Bear this in mind when you hear your politicians spouting forth.

Trying to educate those already infected by the virus, worthy as it is, and reaching others about to be influenced by millennia-incubated hate will merely be a drop in the ocean. In a recent survey in the Netherlands, nearly a quarter of young adults responded that the Shoah is a myth. If this is the level of knowledge in a country that was under German occupation, just imagine the ignorance level among the same age group in nations unaffected.

Contributing to the upsurge in hate is the incitement pouring out of the mouths of those who deny Jews the right to pray and freely visit the holiest site of Judaism. This stream of invective and lies is given official sanction by the cowardly utterances of diplomats and officials from various nations. The UK Minister for the Middle East, Lord Ahmed, stated on a recent visit that “the Temple Mount should remain under Jordanian control.”  Similar sentiments from others completely ignore the shameful past and present records of the Jordanians when it comes to religious freedom for Jews. That is par for the course in the twisted reality of today’s international diplomacy.

What are we to make of these inconsistencies?

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards have been exposed multiple times as the enforcers of internal repression and external facilitators of terror. The European Parliament declared them by an overwhelming majority to be a terrorist group and, therefore, worthy candidates for international sanctions. This move has been denounced by the Iranian regime, which in turn threatens to classify European armies as terror organisations.

In response to this blatant chutzpah, the European Union Foreign Policy Chief, in full-blown appeasement mode, declined to follow through on the EU’s Parliamentary vote. Citing mumbo jumbo legal objections once again, the response to Iranian bully threats harks back to the good old appeasement days of the 1930s.

However, surprise, surprise, when it comes to condemning Israel, there is no hesitation. All it takes is for the Israeli Government to punish the terror tactics of the PA, and the wrath of Europe descends in an instant.

Palestine Media Watch reported that the PA President for life, Abbas, in a telephone call to terrorist murders of Israelis said: “you are a role model of the nation and this people and you are symbols of the Palestinian people.”

What has been the EU reaction?

The PA Prime Minister has been invited to be the guest of the EU. No doubt the red carpet will be dusted off and rolled out, and after the usual litany of PA lies is reeled off, the EU will stress that there is no better peace partner. Meanwhile, the rest of the UN democracies are mute or else they are convulsing over Israel’s new coalition.

The hysterical reaction to Israel’s new democratically elected coalition continues unabated. Although few policies have yet been enacted, the doomsday reactions pour forth. When so-called elites of the left prophesy that “darkness has descended” and that “the sky is falling” the media hyperventilate. It does not take much for international groups to join in, and that is why we can witness a festival of fevered agitation. Measured opposition and cogent, calm discourse is a natural part of democratic societies. What we are witnessing these days is an irrational campaign of vilification.

Indicative of the insanity which has now infected all and sundry is the statement of a US Jewish Congressman. In what one can only describe as gross interference in the choice of the Israeli electorate, he proclaimed, “the makeup of the Israeli Government is corrosive to support in the Democratic caucus.” In other words, unless Israelis elect a coalition which is acceptable to the Democratic Party, it will lose the support of the USA.

Faced with these glaring inconsistencies, I can only quote the reported words of Michael Medved, a US author and political commentator. He speaks about Americans but his remarks can also be applied to others suffering from the same symptoms.

“A quick glance at the American left reveals a movement in the midst of a nervous breakdown, displaying behaviour that goes beyond inconsistency into the realm of bipolar moods and multiple personality disorder.”

 Looking at the collective insanity happening all around us, it would seem that psychologists have a major pandemic to deal with.   

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 and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.