So.. does everyone see a bit of intellectual dishonesty when one of the left's leading writers, Johann Hari, screams out loud for the "international community" to intervene in Israeli politics and isolate the government for being too right wing ?
But Avigdor Lieberman is a logo for all this at its most extreme, and today he is only a few bullets away from the Premiership. For the sake of the Palestinians, for the sake of Israel itself, now is the time for the world to jolt Israel, just as we jolted Austria back from its dark dance with the far right. But given how muted the world's reaction has been to the collective punishment of Gaza and the destruction of Lebanon, what are the odds of that?Johann is clearly happy to align himself with fanatical and tyrannical regimes throughout the Middle East and Africa, and call himself a member of this "international community". Therefore all the democratic western nations like Britain, Australia, USA and especially Israel should not be allowed to exercise democracy if it results in the election of politicians that do not grovel and appease these anti-liberal and undeveloped masses.
Basically, its the same underlying theme behind the reason why the left get so hysterical when George Bush or John Howard win an election - they say democracy is a failure when it doesn't suit them and result in a left wing victory.
Johann Hari opposes the tyrannical regimes you accuse him of supporting. Look up what he says about the "evil" House of Saud, or the "disgusting" Hamas government.
ReplyDeleteYou can be opposed to both Israeli crimes and Arab crimes; it's not an either/or choice. So the premise of your post is flawed.
You can also be mildly opposed to Arab crimes, and viciously opposed to Israel exercising its right to self defence.
ReplyDeleteThats about where I place Johann Hari. He writes a scathing attack perhaps once every month against Israel, and spares very few words for the genocidal actions of Hamas.
His relentless demonising of Israel is sickening. No matter how moderate the leadership of Israel, its not enough to satisfy Hari and he has not praised a single Israeli action, even when they withdrew unilaterally from Gaza or from Lebanon.
When Hezbollah occupy Southern Lebanon, and triggered a war against Israel, Hari remains silent. When Hamas launch thousands of mortars from Gaza towards Israel, Hari remains silent.
But when heaven forbid, Israel exercises its democratic rights and elects a centrist or centre-right leader on a platform of delivering security, Hari reacts as if Hitler himself had seized power.