THE COALITION OF MADNESS

An incredible story from Ben-Dror Yemini of Israel's Ma'arive newspaper. Below is the translation while above is a picture of George Galloway which conclusively proves the writer's point.

THE COALITION OF MADNESS Ma’ariv- by Ben-Dror Yemini --

The students union at the London School of Economics recently decided on a twin alliance with Gaza’s Islamic University. The proposal passed by a large margin. The Islamic University serves as Hamas’s ideological habitat for anti-Semitism. The Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament, Dr. Yunus al-Astal, is the dean of the Shariya faculty, and chairman of the committee for religious rulings. Al-Astal has concluded that the destruction of the Jews is a matter for our times, that Rome will be taken over by Islam, and that the two “Americas” must be conquered. In the very same week that the British students decided to embrace the Islamic University, al-Astal, the most senior figure at the university, declared that Hamas is part of the alliance that will be established by the future world-wide Islamic caliphate. The free world, if anyone cares to take notice, is losing its immune systems.

This was the first stop in the coalition of madness. Let us proceed to the next.

A long journey that began in several different parts of Europe, among them the United Kingdom and Turkey, made its way to Egypt. This time in order to bring “aid” to the Gaza Strip. Heading the mission was George Galloway, the British member of parliament, for whom the title “radical leftist” fails to do justice. He has completely aligned himself with jihad. Now Egypt is on his radar. He arrived in Cairo with hundreds of “peace activists,” and together they felt the fist of the Egyptian police force. The journey arrived at El-Arish. There they were joined by evil Samaritans from Turkey, among them four members of parliament. The Egyptians actually attempted to accommodate them. But no. They wanted a show, and the result was a riot, one dead and several injured. This time, at least, Israel was not in the picture. The blockade is registered under Egypt’s name.

The Turkish foreign minister, however, entered the picture, in order to protect the members of parliament. Turkey is approaching the Galloway axis, which supports Hamas. Not an axis of evil, but rather a coalition of madness.

As to the heart of the matter, their inclination is actually quite right. The Gaza Strip can and ought to be open, but from its Egyptian side. Israel ought to disengage. From all and from everything. Electricity, water, money and health services. Egypt is the natural option. Once this happens, international empathy towards the Gaza Strip will begin to diminish. After all, the free world supports a heavy hand when it comes to Arabs taking on their own lunatics. This is how Egypt treats Hamas. True, they will miss Israel. But it will be too late. And the world will only cheer the Egyptians on. This is the option Israel should take. Perhaps, who knows, it may not be too late.

Let us continue with the coalition of madness. Professor Richard Falk, an American Jew, serves as a researcher for the UN Human Rights Council. From the heights of his post, he argues that Israel is a Nazi state and at the same time supports an organization that has adopted the Nazi ideology in all things concerning Jews—Hamas. Falk is among the proponents of the conspiracy theories about the terror attacks on the United States. How does a man from the coalition of the insane reach a senior position in Princeton as well as a high-ranking post in the UN? We already said that there is something deficient in the Western world’s immune system. Let us say this again.

This week Falk engaged in a new campaign to boycott Israel and to provide justifications for Hamas. He identifies with the Hamas collaborators who arrived in El-Arish. And not just him. Also the musician Roger Waters from Pink Floyd wrote a letter expressing his sympathy. It is not Israel that is in danger. It is the free world. The cancer of madness is spreading.

“All the repulsive characteristics that the anti-Semitic world attributes to Jews do indeed exist among the leaders of the State of Israel: fraud, deception, the murder of children and greed.” Usually, such statements are made by Hamas leaders or anti-Semitic groups from both left and right. This time, the statement was made, just a few days ago, by one of the speakers, Nurit Peled-Elhanan, in a leftist protest marking a year to the war in Gaza. The coalition of insanity has reached the heart of Tel Aviv.

A year ago I defended the right to protest. There is a left wing that wants peace and acquits Israel to the barrages of criticism. A legitimate left wing. And there is a left that is becoming anti-Semitic and that is tarnishing all of the left. This happens because an anti-Semite like Elhanan-Peled, a bereaved parent, whose daughter was murdered in terror attack, and who subsequently decided to identify with the murderers, has emerged as a legitimate spokeswoman of the left. If the left refuses to dissociate from her, it gets what it deserves. Peled-Elhanan has received the Sakharov Prize from the European Union. She teaches at the Hebrew University’s school of education. She will yet receive the Israel Prize.

The education minister’s initiative to dedicate a chapter to those Jews executed by the British Mandate in Palestine has caused a storm. Ha’aretz, as expected, made arguments concerning the glorification of death and immediately proceeded to draw comparisons between Jewish and Palestinian terrorism. Why should we have any grievances towards the Palestinians, who glorify their martyrs, argued the article, if we do the same. The terrorists of one people, say the enlightened folk, are the freedom fighters of another.

Not quite. The Jewish community in Palestine opposed terrorism, and opted for restraint, even amid Arab terror. This was the rule. The exception was a phase during the Arab rebellion in 1938, during which the Irgun attacked innocent civilians. This is worthy of condemnation, and the Jewish community did indeed condemn this. Also the excuse that this was all part of a “civil war,” and that innocent Jews were also killed — serves as no excuse at all. This was terror, and nothing to take pride in. However, the latest argument is over those executed in the gallows. People would do well to get their facts right. The Jewish struggle for independence and sovereignty was directed against the British and against soldiers. Among the 12 men executed, only one, Shlomo Ben Yosef, attempted to attack a civilian bus. Only attempted. The grenade failed to explode and nobody was hurt. This was in retribution to cruel acts which had taken place only days earlier, which included the slaughter of innocent civilians, the rape of two women and dismembering their bodies. Ben Yosef and his two friends acted on their own. And more importantly: all other eleven executed had targeted the British. They did not target civilians.

These facts will do nothing to confuse those among us who spread libel. They argue that Fatah is the equivalent of the Hagana and that Hamas is the equivalent of the Irgun. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Among the Palestinians attacks on innocent civilians is the rule. Not the exception. With the Palestinians it is not only the practice of dissenting organizations, but rather part of the system which began even before Israel was established.

Prof. Yehuda Keidar met with Dov Gruner in the cell of those sentenced to death. He was outraged by the comparison between those sentenced to death by the British and the Palestinian terror. “Gruner,” Keidar told me, “was not a man of terror. He was part of the resistance movement. He did not harm civilians.” He is right. Gruner was caught taking part in an attack on a British police station. Keidar, now 85, was a member of the Palmah. However it is only a matter of time before those writing history will be comparing him to murderers of children. It’s been done to Gruner. They will reach him too.

Among Jews, the killing of innocent civilians is the exception. Among the Arabs it is the rule. Vive la difference.