Love of the Land: The Lunatic Left

The Lunatic Left

Pilar Rahola
PilarRahola.com
October '08

"Dear friends, of AIPAC, I finish.
I am not Jewish. Ideologically I lean to the left and I am a journalist. Why have I not adopted an anti-Israel stance like the majority of my European colleagues?...."

AIPAC Policy Conference, 2008.
Washington.

Good Morning.
I´m Honoured to be here today.
The title of my speech is: The Lunatic Left

“Kill that infidel pig!” On September 19, 2006 that simple order, issued by an Imam, changed the life of the French high school teacher Robert Redeker. Internet multiplied the threat in dozens of Islamic websites, posting his home address, telephone numbers and data concerning his children. Since that day his entire family has lived under police protection, and he has been forced to abandon his job, home and way of life. His crime? Having written an article in the French newspaper Le Figaro under the title, “What should the free world do while facing Islamist intimidation?” In it, Redeker defended democratic freedom and warned of the danger of radical Islam. Ironically, by defending the freedom of our society, he lost his own. In his recent book Il faut tenter de vivre (Dare to Live), he recounts the story of his life in hiding. A life condemned to an inner exile in his own country. For exemple, he could´nt announce the sudden death of his father for fear of being discovered. Although his a member of the editorial board of the leftist elite magazine, Les Temps Modernes, founded by J. P. Sartre, he has been deserted by the leaders of the French left, who have lambasted him for his criticism of Islam.

Thus, like Salman Rushdie, Talisma Nasreen and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Robert Redeker has discovered that one part of the European left is betraying freedom. He speaks of the menace of Islamic fascism, which threatens, terrorizes, enslaves and kills. And his leftist companions accuse him of being Islamophobic and racist. He denounces the world’s passiveness in the face of the slavery of women, clitoral ablation, the use of children as bombs and terrorist fanaticism. And his left-wing comrades accuse him of being disrespectful of other cultures. Like myself and many others, Robert Redeker defends an Islam free of fanatics, dictators, terrorists and totalitarians. And our leftist comrades leave us alone to make that defense. He assumes, then, the moral responsibility of defending the Human Rights Charter against the encroachment of radical Islamism, which is the new totalitarian ideology the world is confronting. And our leftist comrades betray that very moral commitment. That is, we are in a moment of history which demands a firm defense of freedom. The left should lead that defense. Unfortunately, the left is not up to the moral commitment, which this historical moment requires.

(Read full speech)

Love of the Land: The Lunatic Left

Love of the Land: A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem With Israel

A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem With Israel

A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel, by Robin Shepherd, has now been published in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Readers can purchase the book at the link to Amazon at the bottom of this article.

Every author wants his work to be read as widely as possible. So, I make no apology for a rather blatant piece of self-promotion here on my blog!

No country in the world has attracted as much censure and vilification in Europe in recent years as Israel. It seems to me that a more reasonable state of affairs will continue to elude us until we truly understand why this has happened.

It is up to others to assess how successful I have been in that aim. I called the book A State Beyond the Pale as a rather obvious play on words. Israel has been pushed beyond the pale of polite society across Europe. But could it be that it is Europe that is putting itself beyond the pale by immersing itself in bigotry?

Europe’s indignant opinion forming classes believe they are in a position to do the judging on this issue. They are convinced that it is they who hold the moral high ground. I beg to differ, and I seek to show how an obsessive and virulent anti-Zionism reflects deep seated weaknesses in the political culture of Europe. Europe is no position to do the judging. It does not hold the moral high ground. The great paradox is that the conflict is judging Europe. The anti-Israeli agenda tells us more about the people who are pushing it than they might care to admit.

Finally, the book does not focus on the usual suspects at the fringes. Focusing on far-Left or far-Right groups, let alone Islamist extremists, would have been to go for the easy targets. The value of such an approach would have been reduced accordingly.

A State Beyond the Pale focuses instead on anti-Israeli sentiment inside the mainstream of the public discourse. That is the core of the problem and it is there that the problem must now be addressed. So, I look forward to all your comments which are probably best directed to my email account on this site.

To purchase the book on Amazon for yourself or friends, click on the following link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/State-Beyond-Pale-Europes-Problem/dp/0297856642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252324611&sr=1-1<

Love of the Land: A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem With Israel