There is some obvious double-think at work in the bout of revelry following Parliament’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state. Critics of Israel constantly talk of the ill consequences of the Balfour Declaration; for its imposing the concept of nation-state on the Middle East, where it apparently had no place. Yet isn’t that line of argument going to entail that voting to recognize Palestinian statehood means more of that misguided, ‘post-colonialist’ ethos? Yes, of course it will.
But the ignorance of this inconsistency is telling of the character of Israel’s critics, who possess a dogmatic faith in what they conceive to be the greatest contemporary affront to humanity: the state of Israel’s struggle for existence, dressed up as a supposed ‘occupation’ of part of what was once the land of Jordan.
Those arguing for Palestinian statehood (which, for all intents and purposes, now includes the British Parliament) do not recognise the unconscious imperialist motive present in their decisions. First, it hearkens back to the principles of ‘line-in-the-sand’ colonialism, where disputes between foreign nations were decided by white men who had no grasp of the situations they deliberated on a local, practical level.
Second, the Western guilt which pervades all the fawning over a particular group of Middle Easterners which inhabit two strips of land is supposed to appease Arabs. This arrangement may do that; but it will be at the expense of Jews.
Out of this Western guilt comes great moral concessions to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other murderous Islamist fronts within the contested Palestinian territories. These propagandists, who use their own people’s corpses as ‘evidence’ of the blood-lust of “the Jews”, whilst sacrificing the lives of their own subjects for their own filthy ends, have been legitimated by the British Parliament’s misguided and cowardly decision.
Outside of the Palestinian territories, the message it will send to groups like Hezbollah, who also use violent, terroristic methods to attempt to delegitimise Israel (to put it mildly), an actual nation-state, is, to put it bluntly, ‘carry on and keep up the good work’.
We Britons, by means of our elected politicians, have sent out a message to every Islamist thug in the world that a project of radicalism, propaganda, Jew-hatred and violent incitement can not only be treated as legitimate, but also that it can triumph over democracy, liberal patriotism, tolerance and self-defence.
In this respect, we have particularly failed the very people who have to live under Hamas; by legitimising their claims, we have vouched for their oppression of the people they claim to represent. The anti-Israeli crowd in Europe and the United States chastises Israelis for their patriotism. They, up on their high horses, see themselves above petty consecrations to the nation-state, which they view as out-dated and beneath them. But when it comes to Hamas’ Islamist, racist, ultra-nationalist cause, they celebrate it.
The MPs who disagreed with their party whips on Monday, and decided to abstain rather than vote against this motion, should be ashamed of themselves. Political cowardice and appeals to populism is their only excuse; it will not protect them from conscience.”
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