Ben-Dror Yemini was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1954. He studied Humanities and History in Tel Aviv University, and later on he studies Law. After his university studies, he was appointed advisor to the Israeli Minister of Immigration Absorption and then became the spokesman of the Ministry. In 1984, he began his career as a journalist and essayist. He worked as a lawyer and was a partner in a law firm. He has worked for the daily newspaper Maariv, and in Spring 2014 began writing for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth. The author of "The Industry of Lies."
Thu Nov 26, 2015 12:22 pm Dangerous lunacy: When the elites scapegoat Israel - By Ben-Dror Yemini
Dangerous lunacy: When the elites scapegoat Israel
By Ben-Dror Yemini
Ynet News
November 26, 2015
Op-ed: Swedish foreign minister is suggesting that jihadi terrorists are acting out of desperation in the hopes of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement; in fact, they want an Islamic empire that will rule the whole world.
This is the propaganda being disseminated in the media, sponsored by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and sometimes also by the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank. In other words, the ISIS leaders' idea of conquering Rome is actually shared by all the Islamic Jihad organizations. Hamas actually said the same things long before ISIS. In this sense, there is no difference between the global jihad perpetrating mass murder in Paris and the global jihad trying to kill Jews in Israel.
Yet Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom is supplying explanations, and even rationalizations, for the global jihad. These aren't murderers. They're just desperate. And their despair has driven them to carry out mass murder in Paris, Jerusalem, London and Madrid. According to her, these murderers are actually freedom activists. They're only trying to push forward a settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians, to end the occupation. Well, we can demand that Wallstrom listen to what they are really saying: They do not want peace. They do not want two states for two peoples. They do not want an end to the Israeli occupation. They want an Islamic empire that will rule the entire world.
That includes Sweden. Meanwhile, we should note, they are killing mostly Muslims. They're doing it in Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Most of the jihadists wouldn't know how to point to Israel on a map. But Wallstrom claims that they are killing and murdering and sowing destruction in the world because of the Palestinians. Is she serious?
Something else must also be clarified: Over the past 15 years, there have been three serious peace proposals on the table, two states for two peoples. Bill Clinton made his proposal at the end of December 2000, Ehud Olmert made a similar one in 2008, and Barak Obama proposed his solution for a settlement in March of 2014. Thrice they said "no."
Why? Not because of the settlements and not because of Jerusalem. They insisted on "the right of return," which means the annihilation of Israel. And what does Sweden do? It transfers ever more budgets to "rights organizations" that support "the right of return."
And so the truth must be told: There is no connection between the global jihad and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2014, over 32,000 people were slaughtered by the jihad, most of them Muslim. They were not killed to promote a peace settlement between Israel and Palestine. There is, however, a connection between the fact that no settlement has yet been reached and the fact that Sweden – and not only Sweden – continues to transfer funding to the organizations that oppose a fair peace settlement of two states for two peoples.
The reality is that 99 percent of those living under the influence of radical Islam would pay any price to live under Israeli rule. But what does that matter? And who cares about the facts? Wallstrom has made Israel the scapegoat. Israel is at fault. Everything is because of Israel. Israel is also to be blamed for global warming. No, that's not a joke. That's what Clare Short, former minister in the British Parliament, asserted. That's what happens to people suffering from Jewphobia or Zionphobia or Israelphobia. It's all the same.
Now and then, we must admit there are some legitimate claims against Israel. But what shall we do about the lunacy that has stricken some of the free world's elites? How do we deal with allegations that are so preposterous that it's actually embarrassing to refute them? A similar disease prevailed in some of the free world during the 1930s. Some of the elites also caught the disease back then. It was about the Jews. They were at blame for all troubles. Now it's about Israel. And Wallstrom must be taken seriously. Her opinions are dangerous.
Perhaps Wallstrom's intentions are good. Perhaps. To prove it, Sweden should stop financing any and all organizations that oppose a settlement of two states for two peoples, or that support "the right of return." That could be Sweden's most important contribution to promoting peace and reconciliation. The ball is in Sweden's court.
This article has previously been printed in Swedish newspapers.
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