Fairfax's Israel Blog

What the... ?

The Fairfax website has recently added Zionist propagandist, Jewish Studies academic and scribbler for The Australian Jewish News Dvir Abramovich to its list of bloggers, with the job of "cover[ing] the Jewish world and Israel from a local and global perspective." Abramovich's blog is called Chutzpah. A more appropriate name might be Israel Rocks! or Israel Rulz, OK?

Abramovich's latest post, Israel's survival a huge achievement (26/4/10), is a veritable checklist of Zionist cliches and talking points:

There's the Israeli dream: "Born in the shadow of the Holocaust, Israel was carried in the hearts and minds of Jews for thousands of years and became a reality against all odds. Israel's founding fathers took one of history's greatest gambles and won."

But not the Palestinian nightmare.

There's a hyped Arab blitzkrieg: "On May 14 1948, as David Ben Gurion declared the new state's independence, warplanes rumbled overhead, attacking within 5 hours."

But no ethnic cleansing of Palestine's indigenous non-Jewish inhabitants from December 1947 to January 1949.

There's alleged applause from Nelson Mandela: "It's no surprise that Nelson Mandela was so moved by Israel's leaders that he required all African National Congress leaders read the writings of Israel's past prime ministers."

But no word on apartheid, Israeli-style. [See my 21/9/09 post Israeli Apartheid: The Jury's In ] Or Israel's defacto alliance with the apartheid regime in South Africa. Or Mandela's speech on The International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People (4/12/10) when he said: "When in 1977, the UN passed the resolution inaugurating The International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People, it was asserting the recognition that injustice and gross human rights violations were being perpetrated in Palestine. In the same period, the UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."

There's the miraculous transformation of once "militarily inexperienced" and "persecuted" European Jews into state-of-the-art, go-anywhere-anytime arse-kickers.

But no passport fraud.

There's Israel's Law of Return, trumpeted as "the first universal immigration law in history [which] grants every Jew who needs and wants automatic citizenship."

But no 62-year refusal to implement the Palestinian refugees' Universal Declaration of Human Rights-backed right of return to their stolen homeland.

There's the miracle of "despite having to devote enormous resources to defence in 7 wars, [Israel] has managed to build a robust democracy."

But nothing about squillions in American aid and ordnance.

There's the - wait for it - "only democracy in the Middle East."

But no reference to the Great Gerrymander of 1948 which produced hundreds of thousands (now millions) of de-nationalised and disenfranchised Palestinian exiles.

There's a "flourishing oasis in the desert."

But no uprooted Palestinian orchards.

There's "extremists that constantly seek to torpedo any attempt at peace [and who] want to deny the simple pleasure of co-existence to Jews and Arabs who simply want quiet, normal lives for their children."

But no names. No Ben Gurion, Begin, Shamir, Netanyahu, Barak, Sharon, Olmert etc.

There's an imaginary siege: "At 62, Israel is still surrounded by external threats."

But no siege of Gaza.

There's a "tragic [- tragic! -] deadlock with the Palestinians."

But no Israeli refusal to allow Palestinian refugees to return or to end the occupation.

There's "Israel's [alleged] desire for a just peace [which] has never diminished."

But not its actual desire for maximum Palestinian land with minimum Palestinian people.

Now I wouldn't like you leaving this post thinking Abramovich isn't capable of criticism where criticism's due. He is. And criticism doesn't get much more swingeing than this: "The Israeli people have never claimed perfection. Mistakes are inevitable in a democracy."