Why Criticism of Israel Is Dangerous

Much of today’s journalism seems to be driven more-or-less by hidden anti-Semitism, if not outright antipathy toward Israel. And surprisingly, this attitude is also found among journalists who especially profess human rights and the values of Western civilization. The contradiction becomes obvious when one realizes that these attitudes would have received a warm welcome from the Nazis of the past. Any Jew-hater could pursue a career with the Nazis. But although the Nazis disappeared, the hatred of Jews remained.

It’s true that those who criticize Israel’s detractors aren’t always right. Even Israelis, or friends of Israel sometimes miss the mark. As a media consumer and good citizen, who seeks to be dutifully fair and impartial, you naturally don’t want to be talked out of feeling compassion for the civilian victims in the Gaza Strip. So, it’s important to understand a few essential facts to avoid getting stuck in the “mushy middle,” or remaining willfully ignorant through lack of education.

Despite all the supposed justification that Israel is deserving of critique (yes, Israelis are people too!), it should be known that anyone who attacks Israel’s position is working to strengthen Israel’s enemies, and by extension our own. Among these enemies is political and traditional Islam, which neither accepts human rights nor grants non-Muslims any freedoms beyond those that it deems appropriate—in other words, no different from how the Nazis treated the Jews. Coincidentally, this Islam is opposing Israel worldwide, for reasons that make it clear why the Nazis actually maintained friendly relations with Islam’s representatives in their day.

Many of us have never visited Israel or the other cities and nations of the Middle East, which might better enable us to judge how the people live there. Of course, hardly anyone who grew up in the free West knows what it’s like to live in an Islamic country and be treated as a non-Muslim resident. Nor do we have an inkling of what it’s like to come into conflict with the laws of such nations; or worse yet, run afoul of Sharia law. In Israel, you’d be on familiar, safe ground because justice is administered similarly there, and the same fundamental human rights apply. That’s why visitors from all over the world, as well as journalists assigned to the region, like to stay there. They’re safe! They get along just fine. They have open, educated people to converse with, and they lack for nothing.

In the Islamic states, it’s a different, upside-down world. All non-Muslim minorities are oppressed. Take a look at the Open Doors website (opendoors.org), just so you’re aware that what Christian residents remain are being persecuted in nearly every Islamic country. With the exception of North Korea, the list of countries that persecute Christians most severely is exclusively Islamic. It’s not even possible for Jews to live in most of them, and they would be in great danger as tourists. Even in Turkey, a member of NATO and would-be EU accession state, Christianity has been almost entirely suppressed. All but a few tiny remnants have disappeared. And its few remaining synagogues have to be barricaded and protected like fortresses.

In the United States, synagogues have had to increase their security, and nearly half of American Jews recently reported that they have changed their behavior so others won’t know they’re Jewish. The threats they’ve experienced largely come from supporters of “Palestine.” But France and Germany especially have seen an even higher spike in violence against Jews. The threat often comes directly from the Islamic population, due to the higher rate of Muslim emigration to these nations. The same is true in Europe overall (although Eastern Europe traditionally has not allowed followers of Islam to gain a foothold there). All of the evidence shows that Jews are mainly at risk when they meet up with followers of Islam, whether in Gaza, Germany, or here in the United States.

One of the biggest mistakes and miscalculations the European governments have made, is their unwillingness to recognize that radical Islam is a danger to free Europe. Its adherents haven’t learned to respect human rights, because they’re following the words of the Koran. They believe it to be holy and thus excluded from reform, so non-Muslims can only ever be seen as second-class citizens. Some people are straight-out denied the right to life. As representatives of Islam have repeatedly said, violent jihad is seen as a justified, Islamic means of solving problems, including in the case of Israel. And this is confirmed by governments and media in Islamic states, as well as the parts of their populations who have taken to the streets by the thousands. This is why many view Islam as a backward, totalitarian religion which, when practiced closest to its roots, encourages fanaticism and terror. Mohammed is considered a role model. He was a warlord who wasn’t squeamish in dealing with his enemies. He expelled two Jewish tribes, and slaughtered a third. Hamas wants a similar extinction for Israel, and they’re aware that the majority of Palestinians are on their side (and the majority of Muslims worldwide). Even some climate activists, the new “heroes” of the West, have joined in with the “Free Palestine” movement. Ironically, it would be great if we could liberate not only “Palestine,” but also the entire world—from anti-Semites.

Israel is certainly no threat to us, because the same social values apply there as here, as well as the same tolerance. Unfortunately, the same ignorance toward the rise and nature of evil also prevails. Israel has tolerated the existence of Hamas for far too long, and has paid a bitter price for it. The seeds of evil will always sprout if not rooted out immediately.

And so, we should always be careful about seizing on or spreading anti-Israel narratives. Any attempt to weaken Israel weakens freedom, as well as strengthens those who oppose our freedom. Anyone who opposes Israel where its very existence and freedom are at stake, is on the side of injustice, subjugation, and oppression. The Germans’ own “misjudgment” of the respect owed to the Jewish people in the Nazi era, should have taught them that this negligence can transform flourishing landscapes and cities into wastelands of rubble. This is also what the enemies of Israel and of freedom will do, if we allow them. They are masters of destruction and hatred.

News from Israel - 08/2024