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| Last
uploaded : Saturday 24th Dec 2016 at 12:37 |
| Contributed
by : Carol Gould |
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London
Can we all get some perspective on Obama, Israel and the UN resolution? Since the December 23rd United Nations Security Countil resolution condemning the building of Jewish settlements in Israel social media websites have proliferated with visceral hatred of the 'left' and of United States President Barack Obama.
In my book, 'Don't Tread on me..' and in scores of articles written over decades I talk about anti-Zionism and Israel-hatred, that it is widespread and comes in all sizes and parties. One of the most anti-Israel presidents was George W Bush Sr, a Republican. Some of the most virulent anti-Zionism I've witnessed has emanated from British Tories, European conservatives and US Republicans. So it isn't just Obama. For heaven's sake - Tory Theresa May allowed Great Britain to support the resolution! Over the years all one has to do is say 'Israel' at a London dinner party full of conservative, non-Obama loving folk, and all hell breaks loose.
Living in Britain for 41 years and in most years 365 days I have to acknowledge that some of the most virulent Israel-bashing has come from the mouths of died-in-the-wool Tory friends. In the public sphere Douglas Hurd, William 'disproportionate Israeli actions' Hague, Kenneth Clarke and Michael Heseltine have from time to time been highly critical of the Zionist cause and of Israeli government actions. Sad but true.
On the other side of the equation a Republican friend of Israel was former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who once memorably pointed out that from the top of one’s hotel in Tel Aviv one can see both borders of the country inasmuch as it is as small as Wales. He also felt that Israel won two brutal wars in 1967 and 1973 and was entitled to annex lands won at the expense of the blood of its young soldiers.
It does beggar belief that as Syria becomes the most appalling killing field since the time of Pol Pot in Cambodia, and as Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and Nigeria become theatres of hideous bloodletting in the rising conflict between Islam and Christianity the United Nations exercises once again its obsession with Israel. Here is a nation that is the subject of a remarkable book, ‘Start-up Nation’ about its phenomenal success in small-to-medium size business development. Here is a nation that prides itself on its rich, unfettered cultural life: opera, ballet, symphony orchestras, literature and art as well as a world-class technological, scientific and medical giant. Here is a nation that offers full equality to women and homosexuals; its annual Gay Pride and Love Parade are something to behold and yes, there are over a million Muslims living inside the Jewish State. How many Jews or Christians thrive in Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran or Iraq? And yes, it is tragic that in my long lifetime there has been a state of war between Israel and Syria and that peace never grew from the Oslo process, but as a Peace Now activist once said to me ‘When Israel’s enemies will look at her as an example and try to model themselves on her then there will be peace and reconciliation.’
There is no doubt the UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements has staggered most of world Jewry and left most Israelis livid; prominent American lawyer and commentator Alan Dershowitz says this : ‘ One would think that Obama would have learned from his past mistakes in the mid-East. He has alienated the Saudis, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the Emirates and other allies by his actions and inactions with regard to Iran, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. Everything he has touched has turned to sand.’
My concern is the safety of President Obama. The scale of hatred in the rhetoric on social media since the 23rd December UN resolution is high. Several years ago such messages were saying, ‘If they could get to JFK why can’t someone get to Hussein [Obama]?’ He has without doubt enraged world Jewry and infuriated Israelis and Christian Zionists by allowing the United States to tacitly support the UN Security Council’s action against Israel. The language I am reading and hearing resembles that in Israel before the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Hopefully the rhetoric will not turn to homicidal violence in a world rapidly becoming ‘beyond turbulent.’
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Carol Gould is an American broadcaster based in London; she was a drama commissioner at Anglia TV for ITV for eleven years and more recently has appeared on the BBC's 'The Moral Maze;' 'Any Questions?;' 'The Jeremy Vine Show' and on Sky News. Her books: 'Don't Tread on me - anti-Americanism Abroad' and 'Spitfire Girls.'
 
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