Ms. Brown Almost Gets It All Right

Here are excerpts from an op-ed in The Independent by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown entitled, teasingly, Stop blaming Israel for every grievance in the Middle East but don't be too fooled. My comments in brackets []:

Successive Israeli governments and their global cheerleaders and backers across the world are guilty of crimes against the humanity and rights of the Palestinian people, they who were made to pay for the European Holocaust. Hitler's unspeakable annihilation project can't be laid to rest and shouldn't. But excruciating historical experiences do not entitle a nation to grab land, to humiliate, to destroy the livelihoods of others and to expect no censure; in effect to be above international law.

[no, they don't.  and since (a) the "Arab Palestinian" leadership in pre-war Mandate Palestine collaborated with the Nazis and (b) Jews have been returning to their historic homeland for centuries and since (c) already in 1917 (Balfour Declaration), 1919 (Versailles Peace Conference), 1920 (San Remo Conference) and 1922 (League of Nations), the international law bodies had decided a Jewish national home be reconstituted in the territory that Arabs had illegally conquered and occupied, Brown is either ignorant or a cheap propagandist (or maybe an expensive one since I don't know how much she is paid for her articles).  in any case, what does enable the Jewish people to reside in Judea and Samaria and the state of Israel are historical, religious, cultural and legal rights almost 4000 years old of the Jews]

I am as pro-Palestinian as the next leftie and try to do my bit;...All of us need to stop and think, to use this moment of upheaval to scrutinise ourselves and our habituated responses to the Middle East. For many years now, British and American Zionists have complained that progressives pick on Israel, expect higher standards from that government and most iniquitously, that any criticism of their land is in effect a lightly disguised and now approved expression of anti-Semitism. Using a combination of guilt, suggestion and aggression they have managed to, if not suppress, certainly inhibit fair and free debates on the Zionist nation.

[not really.  we haven't inhibited and certainly haven't suppressed the most vile, irrational and hateful expressions against Israel and Jewry.  remember that "shitty little country" phrase?  British MKs spiteful remarks and actions?  physical assault of a student?  verbal violence at other universities?]

These thoughts have been spooling round and round in my head this last month. As Gaddafi systematically massacres his people and the country descends into civil war, as armies slaughter civilians in Yemen and Bahrain, now Syria, I ask why good people have focused only on Palestine/Israel for more than half a century and not attended to the brutality and oppression endemic in the Islamic states...No flotillas for their victims?...More Muslims are killed by their brethren in religious and power struggles than are killed by foreign powers...It could be that some of the relentless focus on Israel does indeed rise out of a deep stream of anti-Semitism. It is also a useful displacement activity.

[could be?  nope.  it probably is.  and it is quite indicative of the mindset of those who pursue Israel with venom and an insidious determination]

...Why the double standards? We have an obligation to judge all governments and rulers by the same universal values, to listen to Zionists who complain of unfair treatment and open our minds as we enter a new era in the Middle East...We Muslims need to accept our burdens too. Whilst still holding Israel to account, we must stop dumping blame on it for all Middle Eastern grievances....Humans easily excuse themselves and their own for foul acts they condemn in their enemies.

[i congratulate Brown for her mea culpa]

The mulishness and narrow-sightedness of the most unrelenting Zionists is today almost matched by the mulishness and narrow-sightedness of their unrelenting counterparts, anti-Zionist activists.

[oops.  i take that congratulation back]

...It is no longer morally justifiable for activists to target only Israel and either ignore or find excuses for corrupt, murderous Arab despots. That kind of selectivity discredits pro-Palestinian campaigners and dishonours the principles of equality and human rights. It has enabled hideous Arab ruling clans to carry on disgracefully for too long.

[i again congratulate her]

Ms. Alibhai-Brown:

You can let her know your opinion:   y.alibhai-brown@independent.co.uk

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