Israel and the Surrender of the West

Wall Street Journal ^ | June 21, 2010 | Shelby Steele

[chickadee]

"World opinion" labors mightily to make Israel look like South Africa looked in its apartheid era—a nation beyond the moral pale. And it projects onto Israel the same sin that made apartheid South Africa so untouchable: white supremacy. Somehow "world opinion" has moved away from the old 20th century view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a complicated territorial dispute between two long-suffering peoples. Today the world puts its thumb on the scale for the Palestinians by demonizing the stronger and whiter Israel as essentially a colonial power committed to the "occupation" of a beleaguered Third World people.

This is now—figuratively in some quarters and literally in others—the moral template through which Israel is seen. It doesn't matter that much of the world may actually know better. This template has become propriety itself, a form of good manners, a political correctness. Thus it is good manners to be outraged at Israel's blockade of Gaza, and it is bad manners to be outraged at Hamas's recent attack on a school because it educated girls, or at the thousands of rockets Hamas has fired into Israeli towns—or even at the fact that Hamas is armed and funded by Iran. The world wants independent investigations of Israel, not of Hamas.

[chickadee]

This article is difficult to read as it contains so much hard truth.

This excerpt is really chilling:

"And the quickest cover for inferiority is hatred. The problem is not me; it is them. And in my victimization I enjoy a moral and human grandiosity—no matter how smart and modern my enemy is, I have the innocence that defines victims. I may be poor but my hands are clean. Even my backwardness and poverty only reflect a moral superiority, while my enemy's wealth proves his inhumanity."

[anniegetyourgun]

And there is so much going on in the world to distract folks from the fact that the hatred is rising.

[vanilla swirl]

keep

[Yardstick]

This Steele guy is always right on target.

[darkside321]

Soory but there is something really wrong about your “european” observation. Europe was NEVER pro Israel. This is a fact. It´s bot changing. IT just stays the same all the time “europe” (at least most of the people) have never been pro Israel. Some european politicians try to play nice all the time but this doesn´z change reality.
Israel may have some “friends” around the globe but they definitely don´t live in europe. or a least “they” never will be visible, (Our politicians play lip service to Israel-
Of course “WE love you as said from politics. THe standard european one does not even want his government only talking to them. This is a fact. People tolerate some pro Israel politics (because deep doen in their heart they just don´t care about it at all) But that´s all.
Sorry to tell you but to think that Israel has supporters in europe is like a pipe dream.OF course if you dig far enought you will find someone but this will never be the majority. Europe has some prioritys. But Israel has never been one of it. EU wants oil like the US and Israel is nothing more than a inwanted scratch in the way.
Eu Would drop Israel for Iran oil anytime without only feelimh “bad”. EU wants OIL! Israel has no oil! So why should we care about them? Their enemys have it. So suprise suprise no serios EU embargos against Iran!