Marc Goldberg 8-4-2015
For the full article go to: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/when-muslims-murder-palestinians/
"It’s better they die in
Syria than give up their right of return”
Mahmoud Abbas
While the Israeli Defense
Force were storming into Gaza in 2014, the streets of Europe were overrun with
demonstrators. There were virtual riots outside of the Israeli embassy in
London, tens of thousands of people marched there in support of Palestinians as
they did in Paris, Madrid and elsewhere. With every march came cries that the
IDF were perpetrating a massacre in Gaza. The pictures of dead Palestinian
children filled Facebook feeds.
There was no massacre of Palestinians at the hands of the IDF last
Summer. But in Syria there is - right now as you read this. But you would be
forgiven for being unaware of it. For this time there aren’t tens of thousands
demonstrating on the streets. There are no demonstrations at all. There are no
rallies. There are no screams of massacre. There are no demands on governments
to take action.
There is simply a sad, deafening silence.
It’s not as if people don’t know what’s happening in the largest
Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Yarmouk. The story took pride of place on
Sky News, it has been published by every major newspaper around the world. Yet
there is no action. The heat, the friction, the activism of the Summer is
nowhere to be found.
In the United Kingdom there is no
shortage of organizations dedicated to the Palestinian cause. The Palestine Solidarity
Campaign, was the main organizer of the demonstrations and of a
boycott campaign against Israel and yet the cause of Palestinian suffering in
Syria is noticeable only for its absence from their website. There are no
events planned, there are no calls for aid, there are no plans to lobby Members
of Parliament to take action.
There is silence.
And I want to know how this is possible. How can it happen that
when Israel defends herself, thousands take to the streets, the activists with
their megaphones go marching, the whole machinery of campaigning and letter
writing and the demands for action from politicians swing into action but when
a real massacre of Palestinians happening there is silence from the very
organization which exists to campaign on behalf of Palestinians.
This is a bizarre state of affairs
indeed. But then perhaps they are only following the example set by Mahmoud
Abbas, the Palestine Authority President. His words concerning Palestinians in Syria from 2013 are
proving to be truly prophetic today;
"It’s better they die in Syria than give up their right of
return”
Perhaps the silence regarding Palestinians in Syria and elsewhere
in the Middle East comes from a belief that it is only worth demonstrating when
a Palestinian is killed by an Israeli. Even if that means throwing around words
like massacre, when there isn’t one, and ignoring a real one while it happens.
We’re constantly told that the Israel Palestine conflict is what
radicalises young Muslims in the West. So what happens when those radicalised
Muslims from the West start beheading Palestinians while wearing the uniform of
the Islamic State?
Apparently nothing at all.
This is called a "narrative". What the BBC and the global media report is called "the news".
ReplyDeleteEqually shameful is that refuting the media lies and their sins of omission should be the job of a dedicated Israel government counter-propaganda office.
Thus is especially true in the case of the BBC which is funded by the British taxpayers and partly by direct cash from the Foreign Office. This makes it an agency of the British Government. As such, it's continued assault on Israel should be responded to on each and every occasion of biased reporting and conspicuous ommision by an agency the the Stare of Israel.