by Ruth King
It is a major understatement to say that Israel is condemned without trial in the court of international public opinion. I speak of Western nations whose media, academies and even legal institutions have been suffused by anti-Semitism fueled by an unholy alliance of leftists, Moslem immigrants and petrodollars contributed to their sagging economies by the Arabs.
Those who have defended Israel, who have abjured a weak-kneed "neutrality", who appreciate Israel's extraordinary history and legacy, who understand Israel's dilemma in the face of the determined Islamic onslaught on her existence, who support Israel's right to take up arms in its own defense are honorable people deserving celebration.
In this issue we include the refreshing mission statement of the "Friends of Israel" initiative undertaken by Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain.
Here we would like to feature an eclectic group which has independently taken up the cudgels for Israel.
Among journalists we single out Britain's Melanie Phillips. In May 2010 in an interview with National Review editor Katherine Lopez, Phillips said: "The treatment of Israel by the left-wing Western intelligentsia is unique in its irrationality and moral and historical inversion. It takes a nation that is the historic victim of aggression and blames it for jeopardizing peace in the region and causing Islamic extremism worldwide—despite demonstrable evidence that this is simply untrue….It takes a nation that has been under exterminatory attack for six decades (nine, if you include the Palestine Mandate) and insists that it make compromises with its attackers, even as they continue to attack it. And if any Jews dare protest at the manifest injustice, lies, and bigotry in this unique delegitimization, they find themselves accused of 'dual loyalty' or being part of a covert global conspiracy to put the world at risk."
In England there is also Professor Bernard Harrison whose The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism: Jews, Israel and Liberal Opinion (2005) is a powerful indictment of the anti-Semitism (disguised as anti-Zionism) within the self-proclaimed "progressive, anti-racist" left in European universities, journalism and political life.
Pilar Rahola is a Spanish politician, journalist and activist who departs from the left-wing chorus to be an articulate and passionate defender of Israel and the Jewish people. In her words: "The truth about Israel is not told. As a person from the left who loves progress, I am obligated to defend liberty, culture, civic education for children, coexistence and the laws that the Tablets of the Covenant made into universal principles. Principles that Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. That is to say that as a non-Jew, journalist and lefty I have a triple moral duty with Israel, because if Israel is destroyed, liberty, modernity and culture will be destroyed too."
Rahola adds that Israel is "a pariah nation among nations for a pariah people among peoples. That is why the anti-Semitism of the 21st Century has dressed itself with the efficient disguise of anti-Israelism, or its synonym, anti-Zionism. All criticism against Israel is anti-Semitism? No. But all present-day anti-Semitism has turned into prejudice and the demonization of the Jewish State. New clothes for an old hatred."
Geert Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom (PVV) in Holland, is on trial for telling the truth about Islam. In June he demonstrated his commitment and understanding by stating categorically that Jordan should be renamed "Palestine" and become the homeland that the world thinks the Palestinian Arabs deserve at the cost of Israel's existence.
Wilders added that Israel deserved a special status in the Dutch government because it was fighting for Jerusalem in its name. "If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main front protecting the West. It is not a conflict over territory but rather an ideological battle, between the mentality of the liberated West and the ideology of Islamic barbarism."
Fortunately every generation brings its own stalwart friends. I cannot end without paying tribute to John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 until 2007. As opposition leader he regularly expressed deep friendship and admiration for Israel and the Jewish people. While Prime Minister In 2000, he declared: "The personal affection I have for the state of Israel, the personal regard I have for the Jewish people of the world, will never be diminished. It is something I hold dearly, something I value as part of my being and as part of what I have tried to do with my life."
In 2006 during Israel's war with Hezbollah, Mr, Howard said: "Once you are attacked…and if that attack is in the context of a 50-year rejection of your right to exist, which is the situation in relation to Iran—and bear in mind the link between Iran and Hezballah; bear in mind the exhortations from the Iranian President that Israel should be destroyed and wiped off the map—-you can understand the tenacity with which the Israelis have responded."
Next month I will pay tribute to other notable figures who stand solidly with Israel.
Zeev Jabotinksky said that recognizing allies is as important in the Jewish struggle as recognizing enemies. It is
Ruth King
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