Ghost of a flea: Do not agree to go quietly, into the ovens, or into the sea

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June 04, 2010

Do not agree to go quietly, into the ovens, or into the sea

David Warren makes a number of observations about the demonization of Israel, including the following passage.

Here he is expressing not so much my worst fears as my worst certainties.

The flotilla was stocked with the usual assemblage of the wilfully naive: a few hundred European and other "do-gooders," including even one Jewish Holocaust survivor. They were invited along as a cosmetic imperative; as "human shields."...

It is amazing to me that there are still "liberals" like this, even within Israel. I have actually met people who live a few hundred metres from the front line with an enemy sworn to exterminate them; who think the "road to peace" can be paved with unilateral Israeli concessions. They embody my worst fears for the West at large: that even in the face of extinction, our own "progressive" types will continue to demand the appeasement of our mortal enemies.

Existentially related: The Canada-Israel Committee kindly forwarded a link to some "facts beyond the spin" suggesting the scope of Israel's aid to Gaza. For example:

Over one million tons of humanitarian supplies were delivered by Israel to the people of Gaza in the past 18 months – that’s equal to nearly one ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza.

The facts are both a testament both to the misinformation underlying most public discussion of recent events and to the extraordinary generosity of Israel.

But to my mind these facts are primarily a testament to doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at June 4, 2010 08:48 AM