Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Elder of ZiyonMost of the article is railing against Europe learning lessons on how to protect its citizens from terror attacks - because the expertise they need comes from the evil Israelis. Yes, really, that's his argument:
[Europeans] understand that Netanyahu’s government is peddling something far more insidious than mere precautions – even more than the weapons, surveillance and security systems and models of population control that is the bread-and-butter of Israeli exports. What Israel is urging onto the Europeans – and Americans, Canadians, Indians, Mexicans, Australians and anyone else who will listen – is nothing less than an entirely new concept of a state, the Security State.I suppose that Halper is happy that Barcelona officials refused to put up barriers that would have saved lives because it would be a symbol of the terrible Israelization of their security. And the barriers that Italy just installed, along with metal detectors at airports and major venues, are more examples of how terribly Israel treats Palestinians.
What is a Security State? Essentially, it is a state that places security above all else, certainly above democracy, due process of law and human rights, all of which it considers “liberal luxuries” in a world awash in terrorism. Israel presents itself, no less, than the model for countries of the future.
But it is his conclusion that shows how truly hateful Halper is:
It would seem that the Security State can be reconciled with democracy – after all, Israel markets itself as “the only democracy in the Middle East.” But only the world’s privileged few will enjoy the democratic protections of the Security State, as do Israeli Jews. The masses, those who resist repression and exclusion from the capitalist system, those who struggle for genuine democracy, are doomed to be global Palestinians. The Israelization of governments, militaries and security forces means the Palestinianization of most of the rest of us.Halper here explicitly divides the world into the privileged few who get protection from the state - meaning, Israeli Jews - and everyone else who struggles for freedom and democracy - the Palestinians.
The fact that his analogy doesn't work at all (aren't the governments trying to protect all of their citizens and tourists?) isn't the point. The fact that Halper is arguing against protecting civilians from jihadist terror is still not the most offensive part of this article.
Here we see how the Left regards Israeli Jews: as symbols of oppression of the entire world. Which is exactly how the fr Right regards Jews as well.
(h/t Seth Frantzman)
