At first glance, it's an unlikely duo.
José Maria Aznar, Spain's prime minister from 1996 to 2004, hails from the political right.
Pilar Rahola, a Barcelona-based journalist and former parliamentarian, is a left-wing activist.
But Aznar and Rahola share at least one important passion -- defending Israel.
They both stand up fearlessly to Israel's critics, especially the hypocrites whose human-rights outrage is awakened only if Israel is believed to be in the mix, but otherwise are in a deep sleep.
Such champions are all-too-rare in Europe these days.
The political, economic, or psychic payoff for supporting, or at least appeasing, Israel's enemies seems so much more lucrative.
Here's Aznar writing recently in The Times of London:
To defend Israel's right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same direction.
For Western countries to side with those who question Israel's legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel's vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly stand up in defense of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost, too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably linked.
And here's Rahola in English, thanks to the website Portal of Ideas:
Why don't we see demonstrations against Islamic dictatorships in London, Paris, Barcelona? Or demonstrations against the Burmese dictatorship? Why aren't there demonstrations against the enslavement of millions of women who live without any legal protection? Why aren't there demonstrations against the use of children as human bombs where there is conflict with Islam?
Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? The two most solid democracies, who have suffered the bloodiest attacks of terrorism, and the left doesn't care.... For example, one of the leftist parties in Spain has just expelled one of its members for creating a pro-Israel website. I quote from the expulsion document: "Our friends are the people of Iran, Libya and Venezuela, oppressed by imperialism, and not a Nazi state like Israel."
I am not Jewish. Ideologically, I am left and by profession a journalist. Why am I not as anti-Israel as my colleagues? Because, as a non-Jew, I have the historical responsibility to fight against Jewish hatred and currently against the hatred for their historic homeland, Israel. To fight against anti-Semitism is not the duty of Jews; it is the duty of non-Jews.... As a non-Jew, journalist and lefty, I have a triple moral duty with Israel, because if Israel is destroyed, liberty, modernity and culture will be destroyed, too.
What's particularly striking is that, though relentlessly pilloried by their adversaries, Aznar and Rahola have remained steadfast over the years.
When Aznar took the reins of power in 1996, no one would have described Spain as close to Israel. In fact, fearful of jeopardizing its extensive commercial ties with the Arab world, Spain only established full diplomatic links with Jerusalem in 1986. Together with his intrepid foreign minister, Ana Palacio, Aznar moved closer to Israel. That policy shift was on display in our many get-togethers with him and in his remarks, in Washington, at the 2003 AJC Annual Meeting.
To be sure, there was no domestic political mileage for Aznar in this new posture. Zero. It wasn't going to score him any points with the electorate. And there certainly was no major political "lobby" in the country urging him on. Rather, he did it for a reason that the "realists" can never quite fathom - he believed it was the right thing to do.
The same with Rahola. I first encountered her in 2002, when she was unknown in the United States. I read an interview with her in French on the Proche-Orient website. I was bowled over by her unflinching words. AJC translated her comments into English and distributed them widely, introducing Rahola to an American audience for the first time. Later, we brought her to the U.S. on several occasions, including, in 2009, to receive our Media Award.
Here's a taste of that 2002 interview:
First of all, I do not accept the use of defense of the Palestinian cause as a pretext for a new epidemic of anti-Semitism. If Europe had had a critical discussion that did not hesitate to condemn the grave and permanent mistakes of the Palestinian side, if Europe had been more critical of the Palestinians, we would be closer to a solution today. But Arafat enjoys support and legitimacy in Europe, which allows him never to miss an opportunity for missing the opportunity of peace... A sense of justice calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state next to the State of Israel, but not in its place. Yet, at its core, Europe is ill at ease with the existence of Israel, and one can even say that the existence of this state provokes resentment and anger on the European left.
Aznar and Rahola say things which desperately need expression. In doing so, they cut straight through the moral fog that has enveloped too many, preventing them, at great cost, from grasping compelling truths in today's topsy-turvy world.
Importantly, they also vividly remind us why Israel is a cause to unite the right and left in democratic societies.
Bravo to Aznar and Rahola! Long may their voices in defense of Israel -- and shared democratic values -- be heard!
Israel is not and should not be equated with Iran or Saudi Arabia because the former is a democracy and the latter are certainly not democratic (as we know about Saudi Arabia and as was proven after the recent election in Iran). Israel as a democracy with an open press and good relations with other Western democracies is expected to follow the norms of such countries, not to simply be better than dictatorships or military juntas.
Second, there is a focus on Israel because of the real belief that peace is possible and that criticism and pressure may actually achieve a lasting solution. No one thinks that we are as close at transforming Burma or Somalia into liberal democracies anytime soon.
It is important to speak out for Israel when it is being attacked without reason, but when there are critiques or when there is a focus on Israel, this does not immediately mean it is anti-Semitism but that Israel should uphold certain standards because of what it aims to be and because people around the world see hope for its future.
He outlines that it is his moral duty as a non-Semite to fight any hatred against anti-Semitism and/or against Israel. It then follows that it would be a plain shame if all non-Semites do not join Mr. Harris in his moral quest in the defense of Israel.
And he goes further, it is not just anti-Semites rather, it is an absolute duty of all western nations to support Israel and a grave moral mistake as well as an error of judgment on the first order of magnitude, if they fail to do so. As Israel’s legitimacy and security are also rolled into this duty, the support Mr. Harris seeks for Israel, along with all non-Semites and Western nations with high morals he calls on, then, includes everything under the sun and/or any action Israel might deem necessary, present or future, for its legitimacy and security.
It then follows that one has to be astonished by the nobility of Mr. Harris’s “Tag Team” Pilar Rahola and José Maria Aznar who should now serve as idols for all of us in our collective and unconditional support for Israel.
The Soviet communists were the first to turn anti-Semitism into anti-Zionism. Jews can’t be victims; the ideal of the proletariat as the victim must be protected. Israel was both successful and aligned with the United States therefore Zionism became, in Soviet propaganda, capitalist imperialism. If Zionism was imperialism Marxist ideology dictated there must be a proletariat victim. The Palestinian made a good victim. Anti-Zionism soon became attached to the Palestinian cause in left wing revolutionary circles in Western Europe. It was expediently adopted by “Third World” revolutionaries. Today it has become common among what was at one time considered the “respectable” left. Islamist clerics have given anti-Zionist hate a theological underpinning.
Nazi Germany was destroyed, the Soviet Union has collapsed and demographics indicate that much of Europe will soon be subject to a new ideological repression.
The moral? “The study of the history of Europe during the past centuries teaches us one uniform lesson; That the nations which have received and in any way dealt fairly and mercifully with the Jew have prospered; and that the nations that have tortured and oppressed him have written out their own curse.” (Olive Scheiner, 1906)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvS9PXZ3RWM&feature=related
And a night-vision video of the ship from above showing the so-called "peace activists" throwing stun grenades and fire bombs, and using knives and metal rodes to fight the soldiers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU12KW-XyZE&feature=channel
Continued --
“I have the historical responsibility to fight against Jewish hatred and currently against the hatred for their historic homeland, Israel. -- if Israel is destroyed, liberty, modernity and culture will be destroyed, too” –
-- Just laughable! Perhaps the reason, or a reason, why so many focus on Israeli civilian killings, human rights abuses and theft of Palestinian territory is because people who experienced such horror should know better – clearly they have not learned anything, & many believe the memory of that horror is being cynically used as an excuse for “religious” arrogant, racist expansionism. Many fight against what they see as in fact Jewish hatred -- racist contempt for the lives of Palestinians who are deprived of basic human rights by the “Jewish state”, Lebanese and International peace activists.
“voices in defense of Israel -- and shared democratic values” –
-- Israel is more an Apartheid Theocracy than a democracy; a state that routinely denies Arab Israelis the same rights, advantages & protections under the law as Jewish Israelis; a state that uses indiscriminate (cluster bombs & fletchet weapons) and banned weapons (white phosphorus & others) against civilians and civilian areas repeatedly with utter contempt for innocents and destroys civilian targets to collectively punish– Israel’s history of actions are NOT our “shared values” quite the contrary, Israel’s actions and subversion of American values and integrity do us great harm and demean American honor!
What a pile of specious pronouncements & misplaced advocacy for a state with an astonishing history of contempt for human rights, International Law & world opinion. Israel and Israeli supporters are coming out to defend the indefensible and clearly fending-off the condemnation of the world for the Flotilla Massacre that showed clearly Israeli disregard for the lives of others, and put a spotlight on how Israel treats people – to put it simply this is pro-Israel propaganda and distortion.
“appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly stand up in defense of those values” -- To claim that Israel upholds “Western values” is the height of unsupportable jingoism. From racist ethnic cleansing to routine killings of unarmed civilians & peace demonstrators, repeated aggression against neighboring states, Israel has proven to be the antithesis of “Western” or humanistic values!
“If the Jewish (Israeli?) element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost, too -- our fate is inextricably linked” –
-- Is your argument about Jewish roots and teachings or the Israeli state? The claim that we are “inextricably linked” to Israel’s abuses, status as a pariah nation & determined violator of International Law and human rights is ridiculous; the notion that one piece of the human template is the most valuable or at the core of human values, cultural evolution and future is not supportable and is essentially racist. -- continued
Bravo….
The same people who appease any manifestation of Palestinian terrorism are the very same people ( and their followers) who defend burqa, Sharia courts and other aspects of regressive Islamist ideology in Europe.
Islamicsts have realized their cynical manipulation of the post-modern narrative and leftist narrative to further clerical political Islamic dogma pays dividends.
Any antediluvian religious intolerance can be hoisted unto the naive multi-cultis with a few well placed "colonialisms" a pair of "Western hegemony" "cultural imperialisms" and a heap of "indigenous struggles." And voila--- burqa, child marriages and terrorist attacks smell like roses.
As for so-called "Palestinian terrorism", I would much prefer that they use targeted killings of key armers and financiers of Israeli terrorism, rather than inaccurate rockets that kill or injure Arab-Palestinian Israelis and relatively powerless Jewish ones far more than the deserving ones. But it's much harder for Palestinians to get access to those legitimate targets than it would be for their international supporters, and most of the latter -- me included -- are too militarily incompetent and/or cowardly to properly deal with those criminals.
Can you point to any of your posts which address any other subject but attacks on the people of Israel? just one...
----crickets---
Did you post today on a thread discussing blatant violations of human rights in Saudi Arabia and Iran?
No? Why not.
next case on the docket, your honor...
there will be no generosity to those who peddle the following stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKeAVBYAbn0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPfYCLNJyBU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dPb1bF-s4M&feature=related
Hamas and their appeasers and enablers will be defeated, just as Egypt, Jordan, Syria and PLO were.
Then ( as it is usual in the Middle East) Hamas will suddenly discover their pacifist roots.
Never mind that African, like the Arab world, has been deliberately fractured, economically and politically, by the white, Judeo-Christian West for centuries, precisely to steal their land, resources and labor.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qanta-ahmed/israel-and-the-flotilla-o_b_613660.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qanta-ahmed/israel-and-the-flotilla-o_b_613660.html
Thanks, Mr. Harris
PS. To all the imbeciles, learn what a naval blockade is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKeAVBYAbn0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dPb1bF-s4M&feature=related
Could Israel really be that inept at the genocide you accuse it of? Or is it more likely that Israel deeply cares about the lives of innocent Palestinians, despite (certainly not because of) libelous accusations like yours about its imperfect attempts to defend its own citizens without hurting Palestinian civilians Hamas cynically puts in harms way?
I "love" your position that creating Israel required de facto ethnic cleansing! It's probably the most common myth from people taking your position. You probably think Israel displaced a Palestinian State too. But as history shows, this is not the case and if you read about the facts from NON-FUNDAMENTALIST sources, you might see the other point of view. I know, I know, this might mean you have to suspend your extremely harsh, fundamental opinion (shrouded in ignorance, btw) but you might learn something, perhaps gain some much needed perspective.
I'm not much of a W. fan or foxnews but I think Tony Snow said it best to Helen while working as Press Secretary for W.:
" Well, thank you for [presenting] the Hezbollah view..."
And to clarify, supporting Israel and the Palestinian people are not mutually exclusive.
"Even the great American democracy could not have been created without the annihilation of the Indians. There are cases in which the overall, final good justifies harsh and cruel acts that are committed in the course of history."
These are quotes from Israeli Zionist historian Benny Morris who is, along with anti-racist (and therefore anti-Zionist) Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, one of the two most knowledgeable experts on the 1948 ethnic cleansing. The text of the Ha'aretz interview containing them can be found by going to archive.org and searching for http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=380984.
As far as I know, there have been such demonstrations.
"Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet?"
Because supposed democracies should not kill human rights activists in international waters, turn local populations into IDPs by bulldozing their homes and, in the case of the US, start gratuitous wars to line the pockets of the nation's wealthiest.
That's why we protest against Israel and the US, Mr. Harris.
"...start gratuitous wars to line the pockets of the nation's wealthiest." Iraq, very likely so. On the other hand, Afganistan, for providing training camps and support to those who attacked us, should have been erased. On September 12th, 2001.
I can imagine people in dozens of countries around the world, and surviving members of indigenous nations of North America, saying, with far more justification: "The United States, for not only providing training camps and support for those who attacked us, but also for sending its own military to kill us, should have been erased. On July 4, 1776 -- or before."
Looks like you have some catching up to do on international events and news.
Too bad they put it in the East.
Jewish Palestinians were generally against the European colonial movement known as 'Zionism'. It was Jewish Europeans and Jewish Euro-Americans who invaded Palestine and created a new entity they called "Israel" in the general area where a nation called "Israel" had existed almost 2000 years ago. Most of the surviving descendants of those ancient Israelites, by then adherents of less tribalistic, less xenophobic, versions of the religion of their ancestors, were driven out by those European and North American invaders.