by Madeleine Kando
After the latest Pro-Gaza demonstrations in Paris, the French left-wing newspaper 'Le Monde' published an article with the dramatic title 'A new generation #Gaza is born in the streets of France'. It is accompanied by a photo of an attractive female wrapped in a keffieh carefully draped around her head according to the latest fashion. There is no mention of the ugliness that surfaced in the form of numerous anti-semitic slogans, only a meticulous description of what the female demonstrators were wearing. In fact, this new fad, were it not so worrisome, is good for business; Palestinian, even ISIS flags are in great demand in Paris these days and shops have backorders of Arafat headscarves.
The young, clueless but not so innocent demonstrators, are not entirely responsible for their fanatic, one-sided view of the conflict. It is boosted by an anti-Israel bias in the French press so thick, you can cut it with a knife.**
But where does this hatred for Israel come from? One would think that with Europe's past history of the Holocaust, the reverse would have happened. Finally Jews have a home of their own and Europeans should be happy. But attitudes towards Israel are not just negative, they border on hate. It is the kind of reaction that is normally reserved for an enemy that threatens a people's very survival. Is Israel threatening those young demonstrators in the heart of Paris? If they were full of hate for the Russians who now are threatening to occupy part of their continent, it would make more sense. But it is much safer to bash Israel. Directing their anger toward real threats to their society, like some extreme Islamist elements amongst their midst is a lot riskier.
Another possibility is that Europeans in general, suffer from what Manfred Gerstenfeld, author of 'Demonizing Israel and the Jews', calls 'humanitarian racism'. Humanitarian racists think that only white people (Westerners) can be fully responsible for their actions; nonwhites such as the Palestinians cannot because they are poor and uneducated. The crimes committed by these “victims" are not their fault but those of whites (Israelis), who can be held accountable.
This twisted logic, I think, plays a large part in Europe's support for Palestinians. Arabs are far more numerous than Jews in the world, but the Palestinians have played this card well. They are the underdog, they need protection from the superior enlightened Europeans, and the atrocities they commit are 'understandable', if not 'excusable'. Israel is perceived as Europe's ugly historical shadow. The Jews have transformed themselves from an underdog into a full-fledged member of the human race, and they didn't even ask for Europe's permission!
Israel is a young country that is proud of its own existence. Europe is an old continent that is trying to do away with its borders and national pride is politically incorrect. The morally superior European, remembering its own history of caving in to fascism and national socialism under duress, cannot stand the fact that Israel, under multiple threats of annihilation, has remained a civil society, not to mention a democracy.
Another reason for European disdain for Israel is that it resembles America in its national pride and its core values of hard work and the pursuit of profit. Europeans deep down despise 'materialism', the handling of money, traditionally the business of 'the Jew'. This is where the distinction between 'anti-Israelism' and 'anti-Semitism' begins to blur. You don't need to go to Paris to find people who are against Israel's current policies. There are enough of them in Israel itself. The difference is that Israeli's don't burn down synagogues or torture Jews to prove their point.
Before the Holocaust there were 9 million Jews in Europe. In 1945 only 3 million survived, the bulk of which moved to Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia, South America, and South Africa. If things continue to deteriorate, Europe will be free of Jews before too long. Not because of war, famine or poverty, but because once a disease is taking hold of a culture, it is very hard to contain. And unlike the Ebola virus, anti-Semitism is an air-borne disease, spread through social media and hate groups. But worst of all, through ignorance. Ignorance of the facts and an unwillingness to look through the eyes of the 'other'.
"Bring a bucket of water and throw it on the fire, and if you don't have a bucket, bring a glass, and if you don't have a glass, use a teaspoon - everyone has a teaspoon. And yes, I know a teaspoon is little and the fire is huge, but there are millions of us and each one of us has a teaspoon."
Which do you think would promote peace: burning Israeli flags or bringing a teaspoon to put out the fire? leave comment here
** Although support for Israel is still strong in the United States, the demonization of Israel is catching on here as well. RSN, a supposedly neutral 'reader supported' online publication, published more than a hundred articles during the latest Gaza-Israel conflict, only two of which were not against Israel.
