I have a good friend of mine who used to propound the silly argument that Israel is just acting in self-defense against the Palestinians. Since he is a flaming Zionist, I once proposed this scenario to him, which was obviously a trap:

“Suppose you and your lovely family were placed in concentration camps in Nazi Germany and you knew someone who was about to blow Hitler’s brain into different particles. Would you tell him to stop?”

I was excited to hear the response because he kept saying ad nauseam that Hitler was not only ontologically evil but he wanted to exterminate all the Jews in Europe, most specifically Germany. After a long moment of silence, which seemed like an eternity when you’re eager to hear a response to a knocked-down argument, he said: “I wouldn’t do it.”

I instantly thought, “The Lord hath delivered him into my hands” because he kept saying that I was propounding anti-Semitic views, even after I logically explained to him that it is impossible for a serious Christian to be anti-Semitic. I ended up swinging the anti-Semitic card back him by saying:

“Then according to the prevailing wisdom as articulated by the Holocaust establishment in the West, most specifically in America, you are by definition an anti-Semite. In fact, I challenge you to say what you have just told me on any radio or television show and see what happens to your career and sometimes your life.” He was really stumped.

If he had said something like, “Yes, I would have killed Hitler,” then he would have to explain why he is complaining about the Palestinians acting in self-defense against a regime that has literally wiped them out since 1948.[1] In fact, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan has recently compared Israel to Nazi Germany. He said:

“There is nothing easier than to hate those who are different; there is nothing easier than to sow fear and terror; there is nothing easier than to behave like animals.”[2]

The Washington Post itself has reported:

“His speech comes amid revelations that an Israeli soldier shot and killed a wounded Palestinian attacker in the head, an act that human rights activists called a street execution and that Israeli military prosecutors called manslaughter. Many Israelis, however, called the soldier a hero.

“After Sgt. Elor Azaria was charged, thousands of Israelis rallied at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv to praise his actions and demand he be released. Some of the crowd shouted, ‘Death to Arabs!’ and harassed journalists.

“The general’s speech may have sparked reflection in some sectors, but mostly it inspired criticism — and calls for his head.”[3]

Perhaps it is high time to treat Israel the same way that the Zionist movement treated Nazi Germany in the 1930s. If they refuse to abide by practical reason, then perhaps it is high time for them to taste their own medicine.

[1] For historical studies, see Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004); 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008); Ilan Pappe, The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013); The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oxford: One World Publications, 2007); Norman Finkelstein, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (New York: Verso, 1995 and 2003); Method and Madness (New York: OR Books, 2014); Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé, Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s War Against the Palestinians (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2010); Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 1999); Miko Peled, The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine (Charlottesville, VA: Just World Books, 2012); John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (New York: Farrar & Straus, 2007). We will discuss these in more details this weekend.

[2] William Booth, “The Israeli general who compared the Jewish State to Nazi-era Germany,” Washington Post, May 8, 2016.

[3] Ibid.

Biography

Biography Jonas E. Alexis Jonas E. Alexis has degrees in mathematics and philosophy. He studied education at the graduate level. His main interests include U.S. foreign policy, history of Israel/Palestine conflict, and the history of ideas. He is the author of the new book Zionism vs. the West: How Talmudic Ideology is Undermining Western Culture. He is currently working on a book tentatively titled, Kevin MacDonald’s Abject Failure: A Philosophical and Moral Critique of Evolutionary Psychology, Sociobiology, and White Identity. He teaches mathematics in South Korea.