Racism cannot be justified

If the Swedish newspaper wouldn't have published its bizarre article about Israel and organ trafficking, Israel really would have to plant it there.

Isn't it comfortable to occupy newspaper headlines with this useless story, instead of dealing with the actual political events today? And isn't it comfortable to mention Holocaust in order to shut the mouth of the state that just took on the EU presidency?

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has apparently decided that attack is the best defense. And so it tries to force Sweden to interfere with freedom of speech, and to accuse Germany in releasing irresponsible statements out of context, when they demand to put an end to the settlements in the Palestinian Territories. Out of which context exactly is it?

When Israel is so angry, there is no anger left to anyone about the thousands and a half people killed in Gaza last January, as it is still under siege; about the house demolitions and eviction of entire families in East Jerusalem from their lands; about the ongoing construction of the Separation Wall; the murder of peaceful activists in non-violent Israeli-Palestinian demonstrations; the expansion of settlements in the West bank, and the many other actions that make living in this place intolerable.

The Israeli media is filled with racism and hate speech in every form. The government of course would never interfere, because racism and hate speech became the norm. In this recruited and patriotic media, independent journalists with critical thinking are struggling to keep their jobs.

I am pretty much certain that both Israel and Sweden are more interested in this political theatre staged in our newspapers, than in generating actual change in the political reality in the Middle East. More and more Israelis are now coming to the conclusion that massive international pressure is the only factor likely to influence Israel's politics and put an end to the occupation [see an article by Neve Gordon http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gordon20-2009aug20,... ].

However, during the January bombardment of Gaza, Sweden and the majority of European countries stood in silence, mumbling a few confused words. With the increasing power of the right throughout Europe, many of the left parties were isolated in their anti-war position within right-wing parliaments.

As for me, I am much more concerned with the actions Sweden will take in the course of its EU presidency in relation to the Middle East. I advise them to be concerned with the same thing.

A word about anti-Semitism. Last Thursday I met with an Italian delegation of young people to Israel/Palestine. One of them asked me, don't I think that Israel, because of its politics, is responsible for the increasing anti-Semitism in the world.
People, who believe that, tend also to believe that 9/11 caused increasing Islamophobia.

I think that the only thing responsible for anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism. People choose their own narrative of explanation for current events.

You can choose to see 9/11 as a proof for your prejudice against Muslims, or you can choose to see it as a chance to rethink relations between global capitalism and violence.

You can choose to see the Israeli occupation as a proof for your prejudice against Jews, or you can choose to see it as a chance to rethink colonialism and ideology of apartheid.

If you consistently choose the first option and direct these events toward strengthening your hostility or hatred, I am pretty convinced that the racism was there long before the event that gave a chance to "justify" this racism. Racism cannot be justified.