A recent survey conducted by a European Union agency about the Jewish perceptions says: Anti-Semitism is on the rise and is gradually compelling one-third of them to think in terms of emigration. The Vienna-based Fundamental Rights agency, which is an independent one, focuses on bias, discrimination and violence of basic rights. In its survey, the agency concentrated on eight European Union countries that account for 90% of Europe’s Jewish population.
The agency says most of the Jews, 30% to be exact, feel unsafe although official efforts are on to create salubrious ambience for the paranoid community. Success is not in sight and the anti-Semitism curve continues to gallop upwards. To quote from the report: Asked who they thought was responsible for the Jews’ harassment, 27% of respondents said the perpetrators had Muslim extremist views, 22% said they had Leftwing political views and 19% blamed people with Rightwing views.
NO CONCLUSION
NO SOLUTION
Curiously, the lengthy report does not reach any conclusion and provide any solution to the perception. Its acuteness can be imagined in the light of the fact that more than 30% Jews feel unsafe, and in clear-cut terminology, it is the security considerations that happen to be behind the fearsomeness of their feelings.
Have you ever read any news saying a Jew had been dishonoured, dispossessed, tortured, or killed simply because he happened to be a non-Christian or a Jew? If “no”, then what is the merit of this histrionic breast-beating?
To us, this is the ghost of Banquo who does not allow Lady Macbeth, the murderess of her husband, to sleep in her posh room.
WORLD IMPRESSION
If we, in our misplaced zeal, try to reflect the views of the Leftwing and the Rightwing segments of the European Union, we are afraid we may falter. But the world impression about the Shylocks is too well-known to be commented upon. Every literate person knows how they have repeatedly altered and trivialised the Divine Books sent to them through the Divine Prophets. How they lampooned upon the Holy Prophets, and even tried to assassinate at least one of them (blessings of Allah to him). How, in their hey-day, they treated the Christians. And Muslims have been their cannon fodder for centuries. The Muslim world has yet to forget the Beiruts, the Lebanons and the Sabras and the Shatilas and what not.
How they got their so-called homeland is still fresh in public memory. How, with their fundings, the allied forces won the World War II is yet to be erased off the memory. And how in return they got Israel, which was, and is, the homeland of Palestinians? Israel has been expanding its frontiers on an annual, bi-annual and tri-annual basis. What is being gobbled up regularly and shamelessly is the land of Palestine which belongs to those who lived in Palestine.
The perfidy was perpetrated by Great Britain. Now, by the grace of Uncle Sam, Israel is a nuclear power, a military power, a naval power and an air power, capable of staging the Entebbes.
HATE-LIST, HIT-LIST
If the said survey had been conducted in West Asia or North Africa, not 22% but 99.9% respondents would have been on the hate- and hit-list of Tel Aviv today, which each and every honest critic of Israel considers anti-Semitical, therefore unacceptable.
Why the Jews refuse to turn the searchlight inwards? Why they do not realise that they are creating children on a land which is not theirs? Why they do not realise that the root cause of their perception is their guilty conscience which does not permit them to forget the reality?
Not only we Muslims but all informed non-Muslims hold the view that today’s Israel is, and was, and shall ever remain the land of Palestinians. Currently it is under the illegitimate, immoral and illegal possession of the usurpers. It must be vacated. The Balfour Declaration must be undone.
UNDO THE WRONG
For the purpose, the foreign policy of the United States, the UK and the entire European Union will have to help in undoing the inglorious past. The United Nations will have to revisit history and help in the restoration of Palestine to the Palestinians.
We know very well that this view is extremely unpalatable to all and sundry simply because Israel enjoys the veto of the United States. But many a time the pages of history do not take much time in turning the direction of the wind. Where are the Emperors of the yore? Where are the Romans? Where are the Greeks? Where are the Pharoas?
The Father of the Indian Nation, Mahatma Gandhi had the view that as Germany belongs to the Germans, Palestine belongs to the Palestinians. In the past too, the natural logic behind this view was unpleasant. It continues to be insipid even today. But why our critics are determined to disagree with us simply because we hold a view with which they disagree. We do not set sails according to every passing breeze. We have some sacrosanct values which do not permit us to rationalise the irrational. If this is an extremist view, you, jolly well, may call us extremist but have you the guts, cheek and temerity to call the Mahatma also an extremist who was done away with by an extremist also simply because he, Godse did not share his victim’s, the Mahatma’s views.