Middle East Orwellism

By Steven Plaut
Haifa Israel

It is just one more of those unpleasant facts of life that the anti-
Israel lobbies of the planet have no real interest in the wellbeing
of the Palestinians, but are merely motivated by hostility to Jews.
It is another unpleasant fact that those protesting their support for
the Palestinians are merely seeking the destruction of Israel.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Middle East Orwellism. It took
September 11 to force the Western world to confront the realities of
the Middle East, and - as part of this - the prevalence of Orwellism
in that part of the world.

In the Middle East, words often mean their opposite, causes and
effects are generally reversed, victims are generally blamed and
aggressors whine about their victimization. The same pattern is
increasingly characteristic of the Israeli-bashing choruses in the
Western media and elsewhere.

In the aftermath of September 11, Americans were treated to daily
lectures by demagogues from the Moslem world about how the United
States must be to blame if terrorists were so angry at it that they
attack it. Spokesmen for the most barbaric and oppressive regimes on
earth lectured the West about its "insensitivity" and immorality.
Supporters of terrorism argued with a straight face that the attacks
on New York and Washington were all a Jewish cabal. And the worst
acts of savagery and terrorism against civilians were praised as
protests by "victims" of Western "racism" and "colonialism".

Israel of course has had to deal with the Orwellism of the Middle
East all along. It has long listened to the reversal-of-cause-and-
effect homilies coming from the Arab world, under which Israeli
retaliations for barbaric terrorist attacks against its civilians
are "aggression", while those very attacks themselves are "protests"
by frustrated "activists" and "victims". Israel has also been
lectured by the Western armchair peacemakers about how its
settlements are the cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict, whereas they
are in fact its consequences. Israelis are told that
their "occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza Strip caused the Middle
East War, whereas their occupation was in fact the consequence of
that war.

In the Middle East's Orwellisms, victims are turned into aggressors,
savages and barbarians are painted as victims, imperialists and
warmongers are declared moderates, defense is aggression, offense is
defense, democrats are denounced as imperialists, dictators are
lauded as democrats, and there are no problems on the planet that
could not be resolved through the destruction of Israel.

The anti-Israel lobby demonstrably puts on display its recreational
compassion for the "suffering Palestinians". In fact, it has no
interest at all in any Arab suffering unless it can somehow be used
as a bludgeon to delegitimize Israel. The simple fact of the matter
is that Arabs living under Israeli rule are the only Arabs in the
Middle East who are NOT brutally oppressed by their rulers. They are
the best-treated political minority in the Middle East. They are the
only ones living under some semblance of the rule of law, the only
ones enjoying basic freedoms, the only ones who can vote, the only
ones protected by due process, and the only ones NOT subject to
summary execution and mass murder when challenging their regime.

The Middle East is the planet's best illustration of Moynihan's Law,
holding that the degree of oppression of any people is an INVERSE
function of the amount of cries of oppression one hears from them.
The only government in the Middle East that does not indiscriminately
shoot Arabs who criticize it is that of Israel.

But Middle East Orwellism is swelling, especially in Europe and in
liberal circles in the United States. The Belgium ravagers of the
Congo have even taken time away from their enormous efforts on behalf
of the US-led war against terror in order to put Israel's elected
Prime Minister on show trial for the fact that some Lebanese Arabs
killed some Palestinian Arabs in 1982. But that is only the tip of
the iceberg of hypocrisy.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in enlightened government and
progress, and that is why they support Arab fascism, and are silent
when Algeria or Sudan massacre their civilians.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in peace, and this is why they
support all forms of military aggression against Israel, and think
such aggression must be rewarded.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in democracy, and that is why
they believe that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that
must be dismembered and destroyed.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in basic freedoms, and that is
why they support the likes of Arafat, Mubarak, the Saudis and the
Assads.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in freedom of speech and of the
press, and this is why they support the Palestinian Authority.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in self-determination and self-
definition for all, all except for Israeli Jews.

The Israel-bashers claim to oppose violence, which is why
they "understand" Palestinian terrorism.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in human rights, but not in Arab
countries.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in voting, but not in Arab
countries.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe that aggression and terror must
never be rewarded, which is why the only policy they are willing to
countenance for Israel is appeasement. The Israel-bashers claim to
believe in minority rights, but not for Middle Eastern Jews, Kurds,
Southern Sudanese, Copts or any other politically incorrect groups

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in freedom, but are not disturbed
that slavery still exists in Sudan, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere among
Arabs.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in a free press, and so they
support censorship by the PLO and the Arab regimes, and "coordinate"
their coverage of Palestinian Authority news with the PLO.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in freedom to practice religion
freely for people in the Middle East, but of course only for Moslems.
The Israel-bashers claim to believe in affirmative action preferences
for those who suffered from past discrimination, just as long as they
are not Jews.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in progress and enlightenment,
which is why they endorse concessions to those preaching jihad,
medieval blood libels, and Holocaust Denial.

The Israel-bashers hate it when people blame the victims, which is
why all Arab terrorism is the Jews' fault

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in progress, but Arab societies
should never be expected to progress beyond 13th century feudalism.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in democracy, but not for Arabs

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in honest government, which is
why they have nothing to say about Arab kleptocracies.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe that human rights of Arabs must
be protected, but not in Arab countries.

The Israel-bashers claim to believe in women's rights, but not among
Arabs.

The Israel-bashers claim to oppose the use of torture, except when it
is by the Palestinian Authority or similar progressive Arab force.

The simple fact of the matter is that the only "human right" the
Israel-bashers really think Palestinians need is their right to
attack Jews and to destroy Israel.