OPINION: The hypocrisy that attacks Israel is sick and perverse

By Brian Gordon, Conservative councillor, Barnet

There are powerful lessons arising from the Gaza conflict. The lessons should be obvious, but in view of the leftist “peace now” elements still active within our community, it is worth reiterating them in the hope they may penetrate.

Until Moshiach comes there can never be lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, regardless of the Israeli government in power.

It is patently clear that Arab leaders in general, and the Palestinians in particular, have one ultimate aim – the Israel’s destruction. It is not a matter of territory, as Gaza demonstrates.

In 2005, Israel surrendered the entire Gaza Strip and dismantled flourishing Jewish settlements, naively believing this would bring peace. It was the end of the so-called “occupation”.

The result was the rise of the brutal Hamas regime, masses of lethal weapons, thousands of rocket attacks against Israel and a horrific network of tunnels to facilitate massacres within Israel.

Israel must not compromise with the Arabs. Every time she has done so – be it in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon or by releasing thousands of terrorists – the result has been increased violence, invariably instigated by the Arabs.

A two-state “solution” west of the Jordan is complete madness. In the Middle East conflict, going back to 1948, the Israelis have been entirely right and the Arabs entirely wrong. The former have been the aggressors, the latter the defenders. It is black and white.

Israel should stop appeasing and apologising. The “Arab Spring” is a ridiculous myth. The jihadist scourge has enveloped most of the Middle East, and is on the ascendancy in Europe and elsewhere. Generations of Arab children are indoctrinated to hate “infidels”, to view Israelis and Jews as eternal enemies whom it is meritorious to kill, especially by means of committing suicide.

Tragic though it is that so many Arab lives have been lost in Gaza, the blame for every death lies entirely with Hamas. Who are the evil people who callously place rocket launchers in civilian areas, including schools and hospitals? Who are the monsters who use women and children as human shields?

The fanatical ideology that drives Hamas and other Islamic terrorists is diametrically opposed to our morality as Jews. It is the stark legacy of Yishmoel versus Yitzchok. They glorify death; we glorify life. They want large numbers of their own people to die as “martyrs”; we grieve for every innocent life lost. They regard fatalities as a massive propaganda victory enabling them to scream hysterically before the world media and hurl the blame on Israel.

As for world opinion, obsession with Gaza and the perpetual condemnation of Israel is replete with lies and double standards. It was acceptable for Western countries to annihilate hundreds of thousands of civilians in Afghanistan after 9/11, and in Iraq to protect oil interests or remove dubious weapons of mass destruction.

Civil wars are acceptable in Syria, Libya and Iraq where entire populations are butchered at the behest of Arab warlords. Yet when democratic Israel defends herself against murderous rocket bombardment she is accused of war crimes, ethnic cleansing and other unspeakable blood libels.

The hypocrisy is sick and perverse – an insult to human intelligence. The fact that so many British politicians, like Baroness Warsi, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, have seen fit to jump on the anti-Israel bandwagon shows how craven and two-faced they really are.

The post-Holocaust restraint of the past 60 years is evaporating fast. Now Gaza has enabled anti-Semites and lying journalists to obscenely compare Israel with Nazis. My analysis may not make the most attractive election manifesto. But the truth should be told, even when it hurts.

For those without faith it may seem like a forecast of hopelessness. To those for whom faith is everything, it is recognised that events unfolding are part of a greater master plan. The redemption for which we pray will undoubtedly come, and a better and a more peaceful world with Judaism at the centre will ensue, hopefully very soon.

Until then we must unite as a people, and adhere more strongly to Jewish law, Torah values and acts of kindness. In combating anti-Semitism we will simply have to be strong, believe in Hashem, and stop placing our reliance on illusive political solutions.