Abusing the Term 'Fascism'‎ in Relation to Israel

{Originally posted to the author's eponymous website,

It is now a worldwide phenomenon that left-wingers and increasing numbers of liberals regard ‎Israel as a fascist state. Such nonsense is highlighted in Haaretz, the Israeli post-Zionist daily newspaper, ‎illustrating the extent to which ‎even Jews will demonize Israel.‎

Their defamation includes accusations of war crimes, occupation, apartheid, the deliberate ‎killing of children, suppressing freedom of expression and denying Palestinian statehood. In a ‎nutshell -- fascism.‎

Joseph Goebbels ‎demonstrated that if one constantly repeats a lie, people begin to believe it.‎

In truth, while we are not perfect, no country is more democratic. And this, despite three ‎major obstacles:‎

• From its inception, Israel has been an oasis of stability and peace surrounded by ‎tyrannies committed to its destruction. ‎
• Israel must allot more of its budget for defense than any other nation. ‎
• Most of Israel's founding population fled persecution and had no experience with ‎democratic government. ‎

But the drumbeat of delegitimization ignores these factors:‎

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered concessions far beyond the late ‎Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's red lines and has ‎offered to negotiate without preconditions.‎
• Accusations that Israel executes Nazi-like genocide against the Palestinians is an ‎extension of medieval blood libels. ‎
• Accusations of racism and apartheid are bizarre, given the freedom and level of ‎integration enjoyed by Israeli Arabs. ‎
• Accusations that Israel denies freedom of expression are ludicrous, stemming from ‎attempts to cut government support for anti-Israel "cultural" activities, remove from the ‎curriculum a novel praising Hamas, and deny entry into schools to organizations that ‎besmirch the IDF with anonymous accusations of war crimes.‎
• The Supreme Court is the most interventionist High Court in any democracy. ‎
• Freedom of expression is unbridled in Israel. What other government under siege would ‎tolerate the treasonable outbursts of MKs such as Joint Arab List MK Hanin Zoabi identifying with those ‎seeking the state's destruction? ‎
• Less than 3% of the disputed territories outside of Jerusalem are devoted to the ‎settlements. And the only place in the world where a Jew is considered a war criminal ‎for building a home is in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem.‎
• Many of the nongovernmental organizations subject to the new transparency law played a prominent role in ‎demonizing Israel, accusing Israel of war crimes, apartheid and genocide, and ‎promoting the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. It is unprecedented for purported friendly foreign governments to ‎generously fund NGOs seeking to besmirch and overthrow a democratically elected ally.‎

Despite the overwhelming challenges, Israel remains one of the liveliest democracies in the ‎world.‎

Little can be done to change the behavior of our enemies. The anti-Semitic Islamists, the ‎delusional Left and conventional anti-Semites will continue to pursue, through the hostile ‎media and the internet, the perennial accusation that Jews -- or today, the Jewish state -- are ‎the source of all evil.‎

What is disconcerting is that, with U.S. President Barack Obama's encouragement, much of ‎this propaganda is beginning to penetrate American liberal circles, including some people who ‎were deeply supportive of Israel. This already includes the left wing of the Democratic Party ‎and there are ominous signals that bipartisan U.S. support for Israel may not survive the ‎onslaught.‎

It thus essential to constantly speak out and refute the lies and communicate with open-‎minded liberals, especially young people, to prevent them from being drawn into the left-wing ‎anti-Israeli maelstrom where they can be brainwashed into believing the lies about Israelis ‎becoming fascists. That will not be achieved by remaining silent or obsessively maintaining a ‎bipartisan relationship by accepting the lowest common denominator.‎