In May 2010, a Turkish Islamist charity with close ties to Turkey’s ruling party sponsored a flotilla which it claimed was to relieve suffering in the Gaza Strip, never mind that the standard of living in Gaza surpasses that in Turkey, according to several different measures. Many self-described human rights activists and pacifist groups joined the “Save Gaza” chorus and donated their time and money to sponsoring flotillas which, in effect, would support and supply Hamas but contribute little to humanitarian causes. Here, for example, is a press release from the American Friends Service Committee, the Quakers’ non-governmental organization:
HELP LAUNCH A U.S. BOAT TO JOIN THE NEXT GAZA FREEDOM FLOTILLA
Break the Siege of Gaza
THIS IS OUR MOMENT TO ACT
Your Donations Will:
Purchase a Boat
Secure a Sailing Crew
Carry Human Rights Activists to the Shores of Gaza
Help to Rebuild Gaza
SUPPORT A VAST CIVIL SOCIETY EFFORT
The U.S. Government Sends Boats to the Middle East Carrying Arms. We Will Send a Boat to Open the Borders, and to Stand for Human Rights and the Right to Rebuild a Free Palestine.
HOLD ISRAEL ACCOUNTABLE TO INTERNATIONAL LAW
END THE OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE
HELP US SAIL SOON
EVERY MOMENT COUNTS
EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS
Alas, the American Friends Service Committee as well as Mennonite, Presbyterian, and pacifist organizations are silent on the atrocities in Syria, let alone prepared to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. Others, meanwhile, actively support the Syrian regime. How telling.
Well, hang on a minute. A flotilla to Syria is serious business. You might get shot with real bullets, not paint balls. n nDon;t expect San Francisco granola Jews and other salon leftists to sign up for that . . .they have many years of latte quaffing ahead of them . . .
Agree wholeheartedly!
It's simples, really. In obedience to the first and second laws of thermodynamics, the powerful forces of fascism and antisemitism never magically dissipated after the War, as they told us in school. They just hunkered down for a few decades, licked their wounds, grew their hair and "rebranded" under various guises, such as humanitarianism, pacifism and liberation theologies. n nBut never mind expecting them to stand up for Syrian or Iranian victims. Such is the extent of these humanitarians' hatred for the Jew, that it even overrides their alleged love and responsibility towards fellow Christians who are, today, being massacred, tortured, raped and robbed throughout much of the Islamic world. One doesn't honour such disguised and tarted-up antisemitic squadrons with appeals and debates; one calls them for what they are, and spits in their face.
See Guenter Lewy, Peace and Revolution. about how traditionally "peace" organizations, calling themselves pacifist. have turned to supporting terrorism. The American Friends Service Committee has been anti-semitic and anti-Israel for many years.
Let's think about this one logically, and I think we should conclude that a flotilla of Quakers and other true pacifists to Gaza would be a very good thing. How would this play out? The Israelis would instruct the boat to proceed to an Israeli port. The pacifists would be warmly welcomed and the Israelis would apologize for any inconvenience. The goods would be offloaded and inspected under the watchful eye of the pacifists and the press. The goods and pacifist activists would then be transported to Gaza and dropped off to fend for themselves and to find their own ways home. No muss, no fuss. True pacifists would be welcome, but they would not make a very compelling news story.
There are, for all intents and purposes, no Jews in Syria ergo, nothing to get worked up about. n nOr to quote Major Strasser in "Casablanca" speaking to Ilsa Lund, "My dear Mademoiselle, perhaps you have already observed that in Casablanca, human life is cheap." Today you can substitute almost any Muslim city/country for Casablanca.
The hypocrisy and cowardice of the left towards megalomaniacal tyrants like Assad, Chavez, Ahmedinijad and other petty dictators is stunning!