From the Foreign Desk: Sir John A MacDonald

Israel and the World

Like many others, I have been struggling to put into words how I feel about the recent barbarism unleashed by Hamas on Israeli civilians. And after watching some of the pro forma denunciations by major world leaders, I have come to an unfortunate conclusion.

Europe and Western leftists want Israel especially, and Jews in particular, to die. Why? I recall an article a few years ago that stated “Germany will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz”. I believe that is completely true, and I think that there is more to it than that. During the Second World War, many European countries, either conquered or allied with Hitler, happily turned over their Jewish populations to the Nazis and never tried to stop their murder. Denmark stands as an exception to this only because they were the only European country to smuggle most of their Jewish population out. Even during the war, resistance movements made few (if any) attempts to rescue Jews headed to the death camps.

North American countries are not blameless either. Prior to the war, Jewish immigration was severely restricted in both the US and Canada. The fate of the SS St. Louis was another example in which both countries sought to refuse entry to the people aboard. It is a dark chapter rarely covered in history books.

To make matters worse, this was done by “advanced” countries that were considered stable, prosperous and beyond much of the savagery of earlier times. Yet the Second World War, like the First, proved that Europeans and North Americans could be as savage as anyone. It was for this reason that so many major leaders refused to believe that the Nazis were killing people on an industrial scale. To further the thought, many of the thinkers of the time were Marxists, who truly believed that mankind was “perfectible”. To be fair, may Christians believe the same thing. The Holocaust largely discredited this thought. But it has not gone away.

Where does that leave us? The problem with the fact that the Holocaust, the greatest attempt at industrialized genocide, failed. The so-called advanced West couldn’t succeed in murdering an entire population, and the fact that they attempted was not only discovered, but it was also distributed widely. It is now historical fact, rather than historical rumor. Shortly afterwards, the Jewish people, despite a large portion of the European population either murdering them or standing by while others murdered them, founded the modern state of Israel. And was promptly attacked in 1948 by its’ surrounding Arab neighbours and….survived. Same thing in 1967 and 1973, plus the Intifada and numerous attempts by the Palestinians (and their Iranian backers) to kill more of them.

Europe and the modern Left would be much happier if the Jewish people would just let themselves be wiped out. Then the Holocaust could be forgotten, and they could turn back to making people “perfect”. Failing that, they need Israel to do something, anything that could be used to compare the Jewish people to the Nazis. So, you hear about the Jewish “occupation” of Palestine, the West Bank, Gaza strip, etc. Leaving aside the fact (not opinion) that they have not been “occupied” since 2005. Can’t let facts get in the way. This is so the shame of the Holocaust is spread to Israel. It is another attempt to minimize the horrors of their own history and “move on”.

This also places Israel in the classic no-win situation. If they do not defend themselves against attack, they will be murdered and possibly exterminated. If they do defend themselves, they are held to an impossible standard and accused of war crimes. Hamas and their war crimes are, of course, ignored. Thus, you see Canadian public servants showing support for Palestinian “liberation”. In fact, it is Palestinian war crimes. Not much has changed since the 1930s in Canada it would seem.

How long can this go on? I’m honestly not sure. But I know the status quo is unacceptable. Jews have the right to live in peace and have tried to do so. The Palestinians have not. It is long past time for the Europe and the West to acknowledge that fact.