Europe’s Continuing Assault on Israel

France, Germany, and rest of the European Union are in the news these days, as largely Muslim migrants flood their countries, leading to economic crisis, rising ethnic tension, and even mass rape.  This exacerbates the ongoingEuropean problem of a growing and increasingly radicalized Muslim community within. 

Many European Muslims continue to resist integration, as they have been radicalized by the Salafi Imams that Saudi Arabia and other Islamist nations have funded.  These radicals are increasingly joining ISIS or al-Qaeda terror plots to commit mass murder in Europe, targeting the native population, and, of course, the Jews.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, thanks partly to the policies of President Obama, and his assistants, the entire region – absent Israel, Morocco, and Oman – is imploding or in danger of imploding.

The President’s decision to remove all American troops from Iraq led to the creation of the Islamic State (controlled by the terror group ISIS), which now holds portions of Iraq and Syria – and Libya – where it has committed genocide against Christians and Yazidis, terrorized other non-Sunni Muslim groups, and imposed barbaric Sharia punishments on its own Sunni population.

Iran and its terror proxies are on the march throughout Syria and Iraq, as the Islamist regime has only increased its aggressive behavior since the nuclear deal.

Libya has descended into at least a four-way civil war – which includes at least 6000 ISIS troops – after the Obama Administration’s ill-advised decision to oust the dictator Muammar Qaddafi without any plans to replace him.

The President’s imaginary red line in Syria showed weakness, and has allowed Russia to intervene and keep Assad in power, causing this civil war, which has resulted in almost a half million casualties and millions of displaced Syrians, many of whom have made their way to Europe (see the migrant crisis), to continue to grind on into its fifth year.

What is the next planned foreign policy move for the European elite, led by France?  Try to stir up trouble for Israel by holding a “peace conference” on Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, of course.  The conference of 26 nations started on Friday June 3, 2016, and is, officially, expected to develop a package of economic and security incentives in the coming months to push Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate for peace. Unofficially, this conference “won’t lead to diplomatic progress, but it must be considered as the start of an effort whose certain failure will serve as an excuse for imposing dangerous terms on Israel.

And what does President Obama think of this idea?  He is all for it, and is sending John Kerry to participate.

The European leadership knows, or should know, that now is probably not the best time to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, what with all that is happening in their own countries, in the Middle East, and also in the rest of the world.  The Europeans know, or should know, that the Palestinian Arabs have no real interest in living in peace with the Israeli Jews, as their leadership has spent decades inciting them against Jews.

At least three times in just the 21st century – 2000, 2001, and 2008 – the Palestinians were offered generous proposals in negotiations with Israel, but they turned them down without a counter-proposal and with acts of terror.  In 2005, another Israeli leader painfully gave up the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Arabs, only to see the genocidal terror group Hamas seize control and prepare for terror, and wars, against Israel.

The Europeans know, or should know, that Israel is a democratic nation that respects the human rights of both Arab and Jew, while both of the Palestinian entities – the Palestinian Authority and Hamas – are brutal oligarchies.  And the Europeans know, or should know, that Israel is not the cause of Western unpopularity in the Middle East or among its Muslim minorities.  The history of European colonialism, opposition to Western culture, and the spread of radical Islam are the actual causes.

President Obama and his Administration should know these things as well.

Yet still the Europeans are moving forward with their peace conference, through which they hope to pressure Israel to give up the ‘West Bank’ and part of Jerusalem for nothing in return.  And still the Obama Administration participates.

Unlike Europeans, the vast majority of Americans have little animus towards Judaism or Jews.  Unfortunately, however, the President and the American left are increasingly and irrationally anti-Israel.
How to explain this irrationality?

For Europe, I suspect the answer is a mixture of traditional anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.  In addition to the native European anti-Semites, the Muslim population, thanks to the aforementioned radical Imams, is also very anti-Semitic.  So the European politicians, who may not like Jews anyway, go where the votes are – from the growing anti-Semitic community.

In the U.S., things are somewhat different.  Unlike in Europe, the U.S. has a large (in number) Jewish population, which is over-represented in government, and many American Jews serve in the Obama Administration.  Further, unlike Europeans, the vast majority of Americans have little animus towards Judaism or Jews.

Unfortunately, however, the President and the American left are increasingly and irrationally anti-Israel.  This is probably because many modern Americans of the left (this was not true prior to the 70’s) have been indoctrinated in the ‘hate Israel’ mentality of people like the late Edward Said and Rashid Khalidi at Columbia University.  Both were friendly with President Obama.  And so, they are not classical anti-Semites, but instead “State Department Anti-Semites.”  This refers to the following part of the State Department definition of anti-Semitism, which expands anti-Semitism to include people who use the “3 D’s”:

What is Anti-Semitism Relative to Israel?

EXAMPLES of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the State of Israel, taking into account the overall context could include:

DEMONIZING ISRAEL:

• Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism to characterize Israel or Israelis
• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis
• Blaming Israel for all inter-religious or political tensions

DOUBLE STANDARD FOR ISRAEL:

• Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation
• Multilateral organizations focusing on Israel only for peace or human rights investigations

DELEGITIMIZING ISRAEL:

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist

However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.

The French proposed peace conference will cause nothing but trouble for Israel, but also for the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S.  Trying to pressure Israel to endanger its own existence and exacerbate the chaos in the Middle East with the birth of another radical non-democratic, anti-Western, terror supporting state makes no sense from a Western perspective.  But the Europeans and the Obama Administration cannot see that, or do not want to see it.

Often, biased people are unable to control their biases so as to act rationally.  That is what is happening here.  This conference won’t accomplish peace, but it will enable the Europeans and the Obama Administration to make one final assault on the Jewish state.  And that seems to be their primary goal.

Originally published at Arutz Sheva: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/18989