As most objective observers throughout the world marvel at Israel's efficiency and generosity in leading the medical aid efforts in Haiti, some bigots insist on using these efforts as an occasion to continue their attack on the Jewish state. Both the neo-Nazi hard right and the neo-Stalinist hard left cannot help but to demonize Israel, regardless of what Israel does.
Richard Silverstein posted a piece to his blog titled "The Zionization of Disaster Relief." It accuses Israel of "exploiting the suffering of poor, defenseless Haitians on behalf of Israeli Triumphalism." It complains that Israel is rendering medical aid to Haiti only to deflect attention from its crimes against the Palestinians.
The hard left, even in Israel, complains that Israel should not be sending medical assistance to such a faraway place. Instead it should be sending it to nearby Gaza.
Even the New York Times, in an otherwise thoughtful analysis of the controversiality of the aid among some Israelis, failed to note the difference between Israel sending its limited resources to faraway Haiti and to nearby Gaza. Haiti is not at war with Israel. Haiti has not pledged itself to Israel's destruction. Haiti has not fired 8,000 rockets at Israeli civilians. Gaza, on the other hand, has a popularly elected government that has done and continues to do all of the above. Moreover, there is no comparison between the tens of thousands of Haitians who have died from a natural disaster, and the people of Gaza who suffer far less from what is, essentially, a self-inflicted wound.
Nor do the perennial enemies of Israel emphasize the comparison between tiny and resource-poor Israel, on the one hand, and the enormous and resource-rich Arab and Muslim nations, on the other hand. While Israel digs deeply into its treasury and manpower to send medical assistance a quarter of the way around the world, Arab and Muslim nations are generally missing in action when it comes to relief efforts. This is true not only in Haiti, which is a Catholic nation, but it was equally true when tsunamis and other natural disasters have devastated Muslim nations.
For those who argue that Israel is sending this aid to Haiti for its own selfish reasons, there are two answers. First the realpolitik answer: All nations have interests; and all act, at least in part, out of self interest. When the United States government is asked by Americans to justify its multibillion dollar foreign aid grants, it generally responds by arguing that these grants are serving the interests of the United States. When it comes to Israel, however, a double standard is always applied. Israel must act only out of altruistic motives, while all other countries are entitled to leaven altruism with self interest. The second answer is that Israel is doing far more in Haiti than would be required to satisfy its self interests. It is sending more aid per capita than any country in the world. It is doing it with extraordinary efficiency and real impact. Isn't it at least possible that the millennia-long Jewish tradition of tzadakah -- that is, charity based on justice -- is at least part of the explanation for Israel's generosity?
The fact that so many Israelis are advocating medical and other assistance to Gaza certainly supports this latter theory. Has any other country in the history of the world ever provided medical and other assistance to a people with whom it is at war -- to people who continue to support rocket attacks and other forms of terrorism against its own civilians? Again, a double standard. The reality is that Israel will be extremely generous to the people of Gaza if and when they stop supporting attacks on Israeli civilians, stop making martyrs of their suicide murderers, and stop encouraging their children to don suicide vests. Contrast Gaza with the West Bank, which today has an improving economy, better travel conditions and among the best health care available in any Arab or Muslim country in the area. The peace dividend the Palestinian people will reap from making peace with Israel is incalculable.
So continue to criticize Israel when it fails to live up to generally applicable international standards, but praise it when it exceeds those standards in rendering aid that has saved and will continue to save many lives. Israel will continue to send disaster relief regardless of how the world reacts to it because Israelis understand how it feels to be subject to disasters. But fairness requires that Israel not be condemned for its humanitarian efforts, and that its rendering of aid to Haiti not be used as yet another occasion for applying a double standard to its actions.
It is the height of irony to see the increasingly hateful rhetoric proffered in defense of Israel by such as yourself. At what point does your own hatred not become the exact same extremism as your purported enemies, the so called 'bigots'? You and many like you strive strive legally on one hand, to make inroads on basic human rights such as women's rights. In doing so, you must fight the organized machinations of the RW establishment, who's core constituents are bigots and racists. Then amazingly, you immediately switch sides, and ally yourselves with the same self admitted RW racist, and bigoted Neocons you were fighting in behalf of minorities. And in doing so, you label other activists of the same cause as yours as 'racists', just because they espouse different methodology!
(And your labeling other Jewish activists as 'antisemites' because they're leftwing is the epitome of extremism.)
If you can't fathom the dangerous, and defeatist nature of this dichotomy, you should reflect on the parable of the frog and the scorpion.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wajahat-ali/muslims-helping-haiti_b_438169.html
May I remind you the number of civilians deliberately bombed in WWII by all sides when under existential threat.
Don't condemn Israel for being more humane than any of your countries ever were.
You don't face armed fanatics at your door questioning you very right to exist, as Israel is facing from day one.
Dershowitz has put the finger right - Double Standards.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3838445,00.html
(PR) Mission accomplished after just 11 days. Very efficient these Israelis.
But thanks to Internet search capability one can easily find those whose posted opinions display radically baised opinions always directed against the Jewish as political, cultural and ethnic entity-- the very definition of antisemitism.
Not surprisingly , one can find the same contributing opinions on various antisemitic canards such as: blood libel; Jews control media, and/or U.S. and/or the world; Jews are not really Jews but Russians from the Caucasus ( lately becoming very fashionable).
it is even less surprising.many of the same can be found defending Ivan Demjanjuk, Bishop Williamson and Ahmadinejad's Holocaust conference.
well.....
Israeli people will settle for peaceful co- existence.
Israeli policy in Gaza - Bad.
My view, call it what you will.
Do you agree?
And Israels policy in Palestine is one of occupation and illegal settlement expansion.
Do you agree?
(Bet I know the answer)
just astonishing....this is what mega.phone and giyus crowd spreading these days....
Unable to cognitively and psychologically reconcile with the fact of Israel existence and prosperity, many obsessively and often irrationally attack any person, entity or symbol identified with Israel from help to other nations to Israel sports and cultural figures.
The more fantastic the accusations are, the more traction they get.
Examples:
From Egyptian and Gaza accusation of Israelis selling them aphrodisiac chewing gum to demands for Pepsi boycott ( allegedly becuase Pepsi stand for "Pay Every Pence Saving Israel").
By labelling criticism of Israel's apartheid and its annexation of land as somehow racist, you are not doing Israeli's or Jews for that matter, any favours.
Is opposition to china's human rights abuses racist?
Is the vocal and often violent opposition to the US war in Iraq "antichristian"?
No, apparently its only a race issue when one particular nuclear power abuses its military might. It couldnt be anything to do with their policies, and the death toll. Thats just crazy talk.
http://www.flashpoints.net/?p=618
http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/theater/archive/2010/01/21/i-am-yusuf-and-this-is-my-brother-a-palestinian-play-on-a-london-stage.aspx
""For me it was really important to tell the story from a very naive point of view. From somebody who has no inherent hate as a result of prejudice. Yusuf is always a blank page. He can ask a question that makes you rethink.""
I was amazed that such a small country as Israel was the first to get its rescue team in Haiti. And, yes, I agree with you Mr. Dershowitz, Israel provided assistance to Haiti "with extraordinary efficiency and real impact". Those who attempt to demonize Israel should try and be as efficient as Israel.
It's a shame that some people don't know when to change course and redirect.
And the Israeli left pointing out that Israel should be sending aid to Palestine instead of Haiti is not bias, it's a legitimate point.
Its tiring to see that everytime someone disagrees with a par theid that is happening in Israel they are called antisemtic and racist.
1) UNTRUE
and
2) incorrectly aimed only at the single Jewish state
that behaviour is legitimately considered anti-Semitic.