JERUSALEM NEWS
NEWS AND INFORMATION
Events, happenings, and Opinions Concerning
Israel, Israelites, Judah, and Everyone Else
News, Views, Blues, Jews, Whos, and US
Jerusalem News 861
22 Sivan 5769, 14 June 2009
Contents:
1.
Isi
Liebler;
European Anti-semitism
fuelling threatened measures against Israel
2. Al Qaeda
Wants to Kill All of Us!
3. DEBKA
: US Backtracks on Previous Understandings with Israel
1.
Isi
Liebler;
European Anti-semitism
fuelling threatened measures against Israel
*Candidly Speaking: Ugly vibes from Europe*
Jun. 1, 2009
Isi Leibler , THE JERUSALEM POST
Paradoxically, despite the alarming ongoing surge of Islamic religious and
political extremism in Europe, the European Union and individual European
countries seem poised for what could become the ugliest confrontation with
Israel since the creation of the Jewish state. Crude threats are being
conveyed to the Netanyahu government, making it clear that unless it
capitulates to a series of demands, relations will be downgraded and
boycotts may even be instituted. Unconfirmed rumors are circulating that the
US State Department does not object to these European initiatives. I was
able to assess the situation firsthand in Rome when I accepted an invitation
by World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder to participate in meetings
with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Cardinal Bertone, the
Vatican secretary of state.
Coincidentally, at the same time, *Der Spiegel*, the leading German weekly,
published a lengthy front-page feature follow-up on John Demjanjuk which
created an enormous stir throughout Europe. The article posited that the
alleged Ukrainian war criminal typified vast numbers of people throughout
occupied Europe who, either because of virulent hatred or for personal gain,
volunteered to murder Jews.
Without detracting from the prime responsibility of the Nazis for initiating
and implementing the extermination process, *Der Spiegel* suggested the
Holocaust could not have been implemented so effectively without the
enthusiastic support and collaboration of major anti-Semitic sections of the
indigenous population under Nazi occupation. It concluded that, to be more
precise, the culpability for the Holocaust should be extended to encompass
Europe as a whole.
One wonders if Winston Churchill had not become prime minister and the Nazis
had conquered England, how the British anti-Semites would have behaved.
Would they have behaved differently from their French counterparts? Under
Nazi occupation would the British police, bureaucracy and volunteers also
have collaborated in deportations and other actions which were a
prerequisite for the gas chambers?
This has relevance for our contemporary situation. The ferocity and
extraordinary resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe cannot simply be
attributed exclusively to the impact of Muslim migrants or rage against
Israeli policies. The anti-Israel tsunami which swept across Europe can only
be appreciated in the context of the profound traditional hatred of Jews
which, we now realize, only went into remission when the horrors of the
Holocaust were unveiled. But half a century later it has reemerged with a
vengeance, with the Jewish nation state acting as surrogate for
anti-Semitism directed against Jews.
How else can one explain why this tiny embattled Jewish state has assumed
the role of scapegoat for all the ills of humanity. It is reminiscent of the
times when Jews were accused of poisoning the wells, spreading the plague
and acting as the sinister force behind capitalism and communism? How else
to explain why Israel has been condemned as a rogue state representing a
greater threat to peace than North Korea or Iran? How else to explain the
application of Holocaust inversion to its treatment of the Palestinians
while silence prevails concerning human rights violations and mass murders
in countries like Sudan, Sri Lanka or Congo? How else to explain why its
legitimate efforts to defend its citizens against terrorists and missiles
are blamed for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and global terrorism?
THESE POISONOUS currents dominate large segments of public opinion in the
enlightened Europe of our time. In most cases the people are actually even
more hostile to Israel and Jews than their governments. Needless to say, the
quality of life for Jews in this environment has undergone a dramatic
deterioration. Although some bury their heads in the sand and delude
themselves that these conditions are transitory, most Jews are deeply
despondent about the future of their children in a society which is
beginning to regard them as pariahs.
The current campaign is being spearheaded by the British and the French.
Jewish leaders from the French Jewish representative body CRIF, whom I have
grown to respect for their courage and willingness to stand up and be
counted when confronted by hostile governments, are deeply apprehensive
about President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was initially believed to have reversed
the traditional anti-Israeli approach of successive French governments since
Charles de Gaulle. However, in recent months both the UK and France have
intensified their anti-Israel stance and hardly even bother to maintain a
pretense of being even-handed.
It is the Italian government, the fourth largest state in the EU, that
stands out today as the most notable long standing friend of Israel in
Europe. Berlusconi displays genuine warmth when he relates to the Jewish
state and takes pride in having been closely associated with Israeli leaders
over a long period. At his initiative, Italy utilized its veto power to
neutralize some of the more extreme anti-Israel EU initiatives.
Regrettably, like the Germans, Italy still retains strong commercial ties
with Iran, but at least this has not deterred it from condemning Iranian
policies toward Israel. In the last election, Fiamma Nirenstein, an Italian
journalist who lives part time in Jerusalem, became one of two Jewish
candidates elected to the parliament. Nirenstein is recognized globally as a
charismatic and articulate champion for Israel, and she undoubtedly played
an important role in helping to cement its relationship with Italy.
Berlusconi told me that he has enormous admiration for Nirenstein's
contribution as a legislator to Italian politics. She has just written an
inspiring book promoting the case for Israel which was published in English
translation by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Berlusconi is backed
by Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, whom I met on his first visit to Israel
when he was criticized because of former right-wing affiliations. He is also
a genuine friend of Israel and his track record of support for the Jewish
state and Jewish causes has been exemplary.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is sensitive to her country's obligations to
history and supports Berlusconi on most Israeli issues. But she is under
constant pressure from other forces that are today no longer sensitive to
Germany's obligations to Israel and resent being constantly reminded about
their Holocaust guilt.
A series of European countries hostile to Israel, starting with Sweden, are
about to assume leadership of the EU when the Czechs retire at the end of
the month.
In this difficult climate, with the US-Israeli relationship now in question,
Israel must try to strengthen its relationship with the European countries
willing to offset the anticipated flow of anti-Israeli initiatives.
*ileibler@netvision.net.il * This article can also be read at
http://www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243872307441&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull<http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243872307441&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull>
2. Al
Qaeda
Wants to Kill All of Us!
The Al Qaeda Reader
by Raymond Ibrahim
Reviewed by Jonathan Schanzer
Jewish Policy Center
Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2009
http://www.meforum.org/2143/the-al-qaeda-reader
Ibrahim, an Arabic language specialist at the Library of Congress at the
time he wrote The Al Qaeda Reader, has compiled a collection of screeds by Al-Qaeda's
top figures, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, that reveal in full the
deranged world-view that drives the global Islamist terrorist network.
Ibrahim's translations are an important contribution to the field. Rather than
serve as a middleman, as most analysts do, Ibrahim allows Al-Qaeda to articulate
for itself the anti-Semitism, xenophobia, paranoia, anti-modernism, and
anarchism that drive its terrorist agenda against the United States and
America's "infidel" allies.
In tract after tract, bin Laden and Zawahiri draw inspiration from radical
exegetes Sayyid Qutb, Abul A'la Mawdudi, and Ibn Taymiya to justify their
terrorist actions. These and other extremist scholars help Al-Qaeda build a
Qur'anic case for killing Americans, Jews, moderate Muslims, and even Muslims
caught in the crossfire during a jihad operation.
More than 300 pages of invective leave little doubt that Al-Qaeda seeks nothing
less than mass murder to overturn the world order. As Ibrahim notes in the
foreword, "millions died as a result of the world's indifference to Hitler's
straightforward words. This book provides the world with Al-Qaeda's ultimate
vision. The same mistake should not be repeated twice."
3.
DEBKA
: US Backtracks on Previous Understandings with Israel
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:03:16 -0400
From: Debka@thejmg.com
Subject: DEBKA
Weekly Newsletter
Reply-to: debka
<debka@mailhosting.thejmg.com>
http://www.debka.com/index.php
Clinton shreds Bush-Israel
settlement understanding, deepens US-Israel rift
DEBKAfile
Special Report
6 June: US secretary of state Hillary Clinton flatly rejected any secret Bush
agreements with Israel on expanding settlements, stated emphatically on Friday,
June 5, that according to the negotiating record which Bush officials turned
over to the Obama administration, "There is no memorialization of any informal
and oral agreements."
Israel officials have protested that Barack Obama's demand for a total freeze on
settlement expansion contradicts a series of understandings ? some written, some
oral ? with Bush officials which permitted expansion under certain conditions.
This key understanding was reached in 2004: It provided for Israel's voluntary
evacuation of the Gaza Strip and the northern tip of the West Bank (which took
place the following year) to be counter-balanced by Washington's acceptance of
the need for continuing construction in the large population blocks in other
parts of West Bank territory to meet natural growth needs.
Mike Herzog bore witness to the understanding reached at the 2004 which he had
led on Israel's behalf.
Elliott Abrams then acknowledged to the Washington Post that there had been
unwritten understandings between Washington and Jerusalem, as Brig. Herzog
affirmed.
By repudiating any such understandings Clinton has dragged US-Israeli relations
down to a straight issue of word against word, Washington versus Jerusalem's.
This is a dark point for restarting any peace process between Israel and
Palestinians or other Arab governments.
No Country Could Survive Two State
Solution!
Map of Proposed Two State Solution
No Country Could Survive!
