Tuesday, May 02, 2023
From Ian:
Douglas Murray: The Guardian has called everything from gardening to the countryside racist – but the real problem is themselves
Israel made the desert bloom – this is fact, not racism
Douglas Murray: The Guardian has called everything from gardening to the countryside racist – but the real problem is themselves
Then we come to this past weekend, and the cartoon published in a paper which calls itself “the world’s leading liberal voice”.Scourge or Success Story: How Israel’s 75th Birthday Was Commemorated By Media and the World
The cartoon depicted the resignation of BBC chairman Richard Sharp.
Sharp is Jewish, though that is no reason why he — nor anyone else in public life — should be immune from criticism.
Personally, I hate almost all attempts to censor or limit what a free Press should print, draw or say.
Yet The Guardian’s cartoon on the Sharp resignation was not just criticism or lampooning. It was outright anti-Semitism.
Martin Rowson, the cartoonist in question, depicted Sharp in the most ugly, stereotypically “Jewish” way imaginable.
Dr Goebbels would have loved the work.
Sharp is shown as dusky, with great, ugly, protruding facial features.
He is seen carrying his box of possessions away from the office.
You’d have thought that the box, if it said anything, would say “BBC”.
But no, strangely, the box said “Goldman Sachs”, the Jewish-founded bank that is such an obsession of modern-day anti-Semites.
Sharp used to work there, but that is irrelevant to his current predicament.
Bizarrely, the box has a squid in it, another anti-Jewish trope where Jews are meant to have their “tentacles” around everything.
There is also a head of Rishi Sunak in the box, implying that Sharp also somehow “controls” the Prime Minister.
To his side is a slaughtered pig, surrounded by blood.
The Guardian has since withdrawn the cartoon and the cartoonist apologised.
Elsewhere there has been silence from the paper’s contributors.
All these pious men and women who always berate the rest of us, preaching from such a very high pulpit, have been silent.
I have not seen a single Guardian journalist distance themselves from what their paper published.
So what are we to make of this? As I say — The Guardian is what it accuses everyone else of being.
Unlike the global media’s generally despondent outlook on Israel’s future, the congratulatory messages from some of Israel’s closest allies were much more joyous and uplifting.
The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and the European Union’s messages all celebrated the decades-long relationships they share with the Jewish state, with the US noting that it was the first country to recognize Israel, and Australia taking pride in the fact that it was one of the first to vote for the UN partition plan.
Along with their strong friendships, the US, UK, EU and Canada’s messages also celebrated Israel’s advances in technology, science, innovation, culture and the arts.
While these messages were, of course, much more diplomatic than the media’s coverage of Israel’s birthday, the US, Canada and the UK did make subtle references to the current political climate, with the US and Canada referencing Israel’s democratic tradition and the UK reiterating its commitment to the two-state solution.
The Nakba, Ethnic Cleansing & Racism: Anti-Zionist Twitter Responds to Israeli Independence
In her special message congratulating Israel on its 75th birthday, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, stated that Israel has “literally made the desert bloom.” This led to a severe backlash on Twitter, with a number of anti-Israel personalities calling her out for what they perceived to be a “racist” statement.
Known anti-Israel persona Muhammad Shehada tweeted that von der Leyen had resorted to a “racist and colonialist trope,” while Electronic Intifada lamented the fact that her special Israeli independence message had made no mention of the Palestinians and trotted out “one foundational myth after another.”
The reaction to Ursula von der Leyen’s message was but the latest vitriolic response by popular anti-Israel social media users to Israel’s 75th birthday.
In commemoration of the anniversary of Israeli independence, Jewish Voice for Peace claimed that Israelis were celebrating “75 years of ongoing dispossession, oppression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” while also falsely asserting that Israel was manipulating the Jewish calendar in order to entrench the idea that the Jewish people are perpetual victims and that Israeli military might is needed in order to save them.
Not one to be outdone in publicly flailing the Jewish state, Ali Abunimah (the founder of Electronic Intifada) tweeted “Imagine how much of a sociopath you must be to see and know the horrors ‘Israel’ has been perpetrating against the Palestinian people continuously for 75 years (actually much longer) and considering that a cause for celebration.” He claimed in another tweet that Israel is a racist endeavor “perpetrated on the land of people subjected to barbaric European colonization and genocide.”
As we approach May 15, when Palestinian nationalists commemorate the founding of Israel as the Nakba (“catastrophe”), the vehement anti-Israel sentiment on social media is due to grow. Already, the Palestinian Youth Movement has advertised on Instagram that it is hosting a public gallery in Dallas entitled “75 years of resistance. 75 years of glory,” in which they will pay “homage to our martyrs and political prisoners.” The United Nations has announced that it will host a Nakba event for the first time in the General Assembly.
While world leaders celebrate 75 years of Jewish sovereignty, anti-Israel advocates vilify it online and the international press call into question Israel’s durability, the Jewish state continues to serve as an exemplar of innovation, endurance and adaptability as it looks toward its 100th birthday.
Israel made the desert bloom – this is fact, not racism
In a famous passage in 1867, Twain clearly illustrates what the region looked like before Jewish immigration. He described it as “a desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over wholly to weeds – a silent mournful expanse... A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action... We never saw a human being on the whole route... There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of the worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”
Despite coming home to a barren land filled with swamps and malaria, Jewish immigrants were determined to rebuild their homeland and began to cultivate the land. They used modern agricultural techniques, such as terracing, crop rotation, and irrigation, to develop the land and increase productivity. Jewish immigrants expanded trade and tourism, making the Holy Land popular and contributing to the growth of coastal cities like Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Acre.
They also transformed the countryside toward the end of the Ottoman period with communities of Jewish farmers settling in the Galilee and the Jezreel Valley. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, the impact made by these Jewish farmers is well documented in travelers’ accounts, official documents, and reports of explorers.
It can also be seen in pictures taken by photographers who recorded the country while providing souvenirs for the growing tourist market. Under the British Mandate, the Jewish population continued to develop the land, building roads, schools, and hospitals and establishing a thriving economy.
Fast forward to 2023, Israel is a global leader in AgriTech, even sharing its knowledge with developing countries. Since establishing ourselves as a state, we have built desalination plants and wastewater treatment facilities to conserve water sources. As a country, Israel invested in research and development of advanced technologies, including drip irrigation, hydroponics, and genetically modified crops, which have greatly improved agricultural productivity.
One of our most notable achievements was transforming the Negev desert (which covers half our territory) through innovative irrigation systems, including drip irrigation and underground pipelines, to deliver water to the crops more efficiently. Today, Israel is a leading exporter of agricultural products and technology, demonstrating the remarkable success of Jewish efforts in making the desert bloom.
Contrary to what anti-Israel figures try to say, the Jewish people transformed this region in the Middle East into a prosperous country. Saying so is a fact, not a “racist remark” against Palestinians. Our success in making the desert bloom is a testament to the Jewish people’s determination, hard work, and innovative spirit.
Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad, chapter 56
— Pal Media Watch (@palwatch) May 2, 2023
“Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince. The hills are barren, they are dull of color…
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