Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday 17 November 2013

On Eden's Murder

 Many pro-Israel bloggers and commentators have noted the very different  media responses to the terrible murders of two off-duty soldiers, 25-year-old British drummer Lee Rigby at the hands of two Islamic savages in broad daylight on a London street earlier this year, and last week the vicious stabbing by a Palestinian terrorist of 18-year-old IDF member Eden Atias while he was asleep on a bus between Nazareth and Tel Aviv.  Eden had been drafted into the army only three weeks previously, and was returning to basic training.

Whereas Lee's killing sent shockwaves around the civilised world, they point out, Eden's has received comparatively little publicity or denunciation.

The British blogger Edgar Davidson exemplifies the indignation very well; see here

And he is indignant, too, about the apparent apathy towards Eden's murder demonstrated by the Anglo-Jewish press, "notwithstanding their dismal record of failing to either stand up for, or even report accurately on, Israel"; see here

Amid the comparative silence regarding the slaughter of the sleeping Israeli boy, have come some truly appalling comments that demonstrate, if any demonstration is necessary, the unpleasant mindset of Israel's most inveterate critics.

Arch-critic Richard Silverstein devotes an entire blogpost to denouncing an Israeli rap artist's intemperate rant made (as the rapper has since explained) in the white heat of his reaction to news of Eden Atias's murder (and no doubt with the controversial recent prisoner releases fresh in his memory):
"Despicable murderer: may his name and memory be erased.... Now he’ll enter an Israeli prison like a great hero!  He’ll earn a few college degrees, grow up and join the leaders of all the main Palestinian terror groups.  He’ll get out [of prison] to shouts of joy  about “freedom fighters” and they’ll make him a mayor!
May the names and memories of all these ghouls [corpse-eaters] be erased!  We should burn down these prisons with all of them inside.  Not a moment later we should raze Jenin, whose residents boast that they’re a fortress of terror against Israel.  Everything that they respect should be burned to ashes and erased.....
.... People of Israel, awaken! ...."
Writes Silverstein, inter alia:
"Israeli rap star, Subliminal (aka Yaakov Shimoni), posted a racist, genocidal Kahanist screed on Facebook in response to the murder of an Israeli soldier, Eden Attias, on an Egged bus in Afula this week.  While the killing of the sleeping soldier by a Palestinian boy was a horrifying crime, the response by one of Israel’s leading hip hop stars is chilling both because of its virulence and because of his celebrity.  Israel, already a country filled with intolerance, race-hate and Islamophobia, will be further provoked by such anger from a popular performer beloved by the country’s youth."
Silverstein adds:
"Being right-wing and pro-Israel has raised Shimoni’s international profile. When Subliminal toured France in 2004, his concerts were met with protests led by French leftists and members of the Arab and Muslim communities.
I can imagine he may have an even worse time of it in France the next time he dares to raise his head there."


Silverstein's blog (this screenshot, above, shows just some of the comments it has attracted)  has prompted one commenter to observe pertinently to Silverstein, whose blog is with much chutzpah but little justification called "Tikkun Olam" as if his blinkered "progressivism" has the remedy for healing the world:
"Wait. the murder of a sleeping soldier in a public bus is not worthy of a post. BUT the rant of an angry punk who is fuming ABOUT the murder is worthy of the post. How does this ‘Promote Israeli democracy’? It only makes someone like me who hates right wing fascists think that there is truth in that you so called ‘peace activist’ are no less crazy then they are but just from supposedly the other side. I think you forgot why you started this journey in the first place."
Quite so.

1 comment:

  1. If you're not opposed to antisemitic murder you're in favor of it. There's no 'marketplace of ideas', there's not controversial dialog to have about it. And all we require is that Silverstein simply stand up with the courage of his own convictions just like the Arab press and the Iranian press and say it out loud.

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