The after shocks of the terrorist attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse are still being felt as French authorities seek the person or persons responsible for the murder of three children and a teacher. But for the European Union’s foreign policy chief, this anti-Semitic atrocity was just grist for the rhetorical mill in her ongoing campaign against the state of Israel. Baroness Catherine Ashton used the occasion of a speech to a Palestinian group in Brussels to compare the deliberate targeting of Jewish children to recent events in Gaza.
The idea that there is any moral equivalence between a person stalking and killing kids in cold blood at a school house door and casualties that were incurred when the Israel Defense Force responding to missile attacks on other Jewish children in Southern Israel is an outrageous slander. It reflects the view of European elites that while the killing of Jews may be regrettable, the spectacle of other Jews defending themselves is inadmissible.
Ashton is now claiming she was misunderstood but even when you read her remarks in context they are damning:
When we remember young people who have been killed in all sorts of terrible circumstances — the Belgian children having lost their lives in a terrible tragedy, and when we think of what happened in Toulouse today, when we remember what happened in Norway a year ago, when we know what is happening in Syria, when we see what is happening in Gaza and in different parts of the world — we remember young people and children who lose their lives.
Of course, the loss of all life is regrettable. One can certainly draw some sort of parallel between the Toulouse crime and the mass murder in Norway as well as the slaughter of civilians by the brutal Assad regime in Syria. But what has happened in Gaza is nothing like that.
The conflict in Gaza is the result of Israel’s total withdrawal from the territory in the hope of peace which led to the takeover of the strip by the Hamas terrorist group which, along with its Islamist competitors, now uses that area as a launching pad for missile attacks on Israeli territory. The Israeli army is forced to shoot back at the terrorists in order to suppress the fire and sometimes civilians are hurt since Hamas and the other groups use the people of Gaza as human shields. However, it should be noted that while 25 Palestinians were killed in the aftermath of the 200-missile barrage on Israel last week, virtually all were part of the terrorist groups launching the missiles. While the Palestinians claimed that the Israelis also killed a child, it turned out that the fatality was the result of Palestinian gunfire at a funeral for one of the terrorists.
During her tenure as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ashton, a Labor Party politician, has been both a relentless critic of Israel while sparring the Palestinians and expressing neutrality about the prospect of Hamas joining the Palestinian Authority.
No matter which group carried out the Toulouse attack, it must be understood that the crime happened in an atmosphere in which the delegitimization of Israel by European elites has given some sanction for a new wave of anti-Semitism. Those who cannot condemn this crime without also attempting to draw a false analogy with Israeli actions are part of the problem, not the solution. Such canards are nothing less than a modern version of the medieval blood libel aimed at Jews.
Apparently it doesn't matter who actually did these crimes. It's all the fault of critics of Israel. n nRemember Oklahoma City? Remember Oslo? Rushing into print with judgments about the "lessons" of such events can prove embarrassing.
Grumpy- you are losing your evil touch. You seem to agree with Contentions1 "HORROR" nyou are right in saying that one should never pass quick judgment ,even such a high-faluting person as Baroness Ahston…
God forbid anybody paint's Israel's actions in Gaza in a negative light, and if they do, they are anti-semites! So if someone even remotely suggests dissatisfaction with the actions of a government, that must mean they have prejudice against the entire people of that state! What a logical deduction! /sarcasm…. The anti-semite label is the primary weapon of Pro-Zionist bigots like you Mr. Tobin.
Mrs. Ashton has been trivializing Israeli security needs and Israeli casualties for years, and she has been notorious in her scorn for Israel and her unquestioning support for any and every anti Israel and anti Jewish group, state, or terror gang. What is even more disturbing and twisted is that there are presumably sentient human beings like tibneener who can equate the accidental and unintentional loss of life as a result of Israeli self defence with the cold blooded and premeditated murder a three year old and six year old child. Really, tibneener, how sick are you?
Tibneener, when you equate premeditated murder of innocents, whether children or adults, with ncasualties incurred in defensive operations by the Israelis, when you single out ONLY Israel for nyour hostility and ignore much worse cruelties inflicted by other governments, when you repeat the nlies of anti-semites, then the anti semitic label fits. You are gullible, naive, and evidently ignorant nof history. If you think Jonathan Tobin is a bigot, I wish you'd show some evidence.
No one Is equating any criticism of Israel in Gaza with anti Semitism. Some criticism will be and some won’t. So your entire point is a canard.
tib, the problem that you don't perceive is that the Islamists ruling Gaza [Hamas, Islamic Jihad, etc] are trying to slaughter Jewish civilians –including children– everytime that they shoot rockets at Israel towns and cities. Sderot has undergone Arab rocket attacks from Gaza for more than ten years. Now Israel's govt was duty bound to stop and prevent such attacks. Those who criticize the Israeli army's modest efforts in this regard are in effect criticizing the defense of Jewish civilians. By the way, the recent several days of rocket battle with Gaza resulted in the deaths of 25 Arabs, almost all of them terrorists, including one or two teenagers under 18. One Arab boy was killed because he was taking part in a funeral procession in which older mourners were shooting their rifles, which is a typical Arab practice during political funerals. One of these shooting mourners shot a little too low and hit the boy. In fact, that often happens at such events and sometimes at weddings as well. Some of the goons have a compulsion about shooting when they are emotionally moved. n nTib, your concern over Arab deaths might be better put to use if you showed more concern for Arabs in Syria slaughtered by their own government. Or you might complain about the civilians killed by NATO troops in Afghanistan or the civilians in Iraq killed by fellow Arabs. Even dumb Ashton mentioned the Arabs killed in Syria.
Ashton ignorance is bliss!
When the Irish were terrorizing Great Britain. The IRA bombers were designated terrorists and granted the prestegious status of political prisoner when imprisoned. Songs were written about the glory and heroics of the IRA the sad nobility of their cause and recruitment flourished deadly operations intensified and became more numerous. Margaret Thatcher had finally had enough and redesignated the political terrorist a common criminal. No more glory. No more myths. Just common criminals that murder innocent people. By Mrs. Thatcher changing the terrorists role in the eyes of the world from IRA patriot to common criminal she also created a reality that turned public opinion in Great Britain and the free world against the terrorists . She realized that her government and the media were feeding the beast they were trying to defeat. Things have come along way in Irish/English relations since that wise woman recognized that status and honor were directly linked to terrorist acts and took that bold and courageous step to decouple them. Is it possible the Jewish world and all nations who are being victimized by terrorists could learn something from Mrs. Thatcher and adjust policies accordingly.
No wonder that, these days, “Euro” is so often hyphenated with “trash”.
To be expected that Catherine Ashton doesn’t compare the slaying in Toulouse to the slaughter of the Fogel family; the 8 year old girl grabbed by the hair was shot in the head, the Fogel baby had his throat slit.
THE PALESTINIANS HAVE TURNED GAZA INTO A FORTRESS, A SALIENT INTO ISRAELI TERRITORY.