Monday, September 1, 2014

A Zola-Like "J'Accuse" in The Telegraph: Jew-Hate (Zionhass) Is NOT Acceptable

Mick Davis writes:
The right to protest is treasured in all democracies. It is a right which should be fiercely protected from the sometimes malign forces of the powerful and the elite. It is a right to be nurtured and guarded by the passionate embrace of ordinary citizens, who are conscious of its affirming power.  
But the protests I have seen in recent weeks over the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas have filled me with dread. Banners attacking the legitimacy of Israel, chants of accusation of massacre and genocide and flagrant abuse of Jews and Israelis, are not the stuff of acceptable protest but the actions of bigots determined to demonise a democracy and its people. They have scant regard for the existential dilemmas Israelis face, nor the true nature of Hamas.  
 It is not acceptable to constantly single out Israel for unrestrained and uncritical condemnation without any acknowledgement of the disproportionate role that Israel has played amongst the Community of Nations in building a more prosperous and fairer world. Nor is it acceptable to march constantly against Israel while being silent on the horrors playing out in the Middle East and North Africa every day by purveyors of terror and evil.  
It is not all of the protesters, nor even a majority. But the malignant minority are not upbraided for their behaviour nor are they criticised or in any way held to account.  
It is not acceptable that the political discourse in this country allows a tragic and complex conflict to be reduced to the banality of domestic political infighting and a sordid grab for votes. Lord Prescott chose to lecture the Jewish people about not learning the lessons of the Holocaust? The Jews well understand the lessons of the Holocaust: that their faith in society to protect their rights and lives was catastrophically misplaced in wartime Europe, and that it is a mistake that will not be made again...
Oh, I dunno. I think there are plenty of Euro-Jews on/of the left who are counting on their rights and lives to be saved. Meanwhile, authorities who are terrified of the growing population of Jew-despising Muslims are more than willing to allow the angry haters to vilify the Jews.

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