Garbanzo Toons

Not Religious Persecution?

The Detroit Free Press, like every other newspaper, I'm sure, ran an editorial on the Israeli withdrawl from Gaza. It was typical, hoping for the best and all that, until the end -

This is not an easy move for the Israelis, who have occupied parts of Gaza for 38 years, since the 1967 Middle East war. Generations are being wrenched from their homes by government edict and relocated, a sadly familiar scenario for Jews through history.

This, however, is not religious persecution but political decision-making that Israeli leaders hope will ultimately preserve a Jewish state in the world.

Who are they trying to kid? How stupid do they think their readers are? For another more intelligent take on this whole miserable situation go to Different River.

Note the double standard here: Arabs have the right to self determination, so Jews living in majority-Arab areas “have to go.” But Arabs living in Jewish-majority areas must be free of discrimination that they are assumed to suffer from. Arabs may not be discriminated against in any way; Jews must be expelled completely.

. . . because nearly everyone seems to say the same thing, but this advocacy of an ethnic/religious double standard is so blithe . . .

. . . they will “not be able to live there without an army to defend them.” In other words, the Arabs are going to murder the Jews living among them, so the Jews have to leave, and furthermore “they probably shouldn’t have gone there in the first place.” If that’s not rewarding violence and blaming the victim, I don’t know what is!

One other hand, since the Jews will not murder the Arabs living among them, they get to stay – but they need extra protection against “discrimination.” Arabs deserve protection from discrimination, but Jews do not deserve protection from murder. If Jews don’t want to be murdered, it’s their responsibility to stay away from Arabs, not Arabs’ responsibility not to murder them. But if Arabs want to live free of discrimination, Jews are obliged to provide such a life.

Arabs can choose to live in either the Israeli or Palestinian zones – but Jews must be prohibited from entering Palestinian zones.

This double-standard, hypocritical view is standard fare in the diplomatic community, the State Department, the European capitals, and academia. Almost everyone I know who is not an ardent Zionist subscribes to this view – and is utterly and completely oblivious to the fact that they are advocating blatant racial/ethnic/religious discrimination against Jews.

Maybe the Free Press doesn't believe it's religious persecution because Jews are being ethnicly cleansed and the acceptance of that has become so mainstream that we're not supposed to be bothered by it anymore. It's merely "politics." And they're only Jews. I think the moral compass at the Free Press has broken, along with moral compasses of so many others.

Labels: Detroit Free Press, Gaza, Israel

posted by Harry @ 7:06 PM