sirenianshores

…Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder’s call for the obliteration of the state of Israel in the leading Norwegian newspaper, Aftenposten.

Translation of the original article here:

There is no turning back. It is time to learn a new lesson: We do no longer recognize the state of Israel. We could not recognize the South African apartheid regime, nor did we recognize the Afghan Taliban regime. Then there were many who did not recognize Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or the Serbs’ ethnic cleansing. We must now get used to the idea: The state of Israel in its current form is history.

We do not believe in the notion of God’s chosen people. We laugh at this people’s fancies and weep at its misdeeds. To act as God’s chosen people is not only stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity. We call it racism…

We acknowledge and pay heed to Europe’s deep responsibility for the plight of the Jews, for the disgraceful harassment, the pogroms, and the Holocaust. It was historically and morally necessary for Jews to get their own home. However, the state of Israel, with its unscrupulous art of war and its disgusting weapons, has massacred its own legitimacy. It has systematically flaunted International Law, international conventions, and countless UN resolutions, and it can no longer expect protection from same. It has carpet bombed the recognition of the world. But fear not! The time of trouble shall soon be over. The state of Israel has seen its Soweto.

We are now at the watershed. There is no turning back. The state of Israel has raped the recognition of the world and shall have no peace until it lays down its arms.

The destruction of Israel would solve nothing in the long run. The Islamic fascists would merely go back to killing their fellow Muslims and other infidels.

Remember there are so many differences to fight over…

Arabs Vs their Persian neighbours
Shia Muslims Vs. Sunni Muslims
African Arabs Vs Native Africans in Sudan
Muslims Vs Jews
Muslims Vs Christians
Muslims Vs God-Knows-Who-Else

Spot a pattern here? Removing one particular focus of hatred isn’t going to achieve much peace in the long term.

A more likely route to lasting peace would be the reigning in of radical Islam. It is a basic truism that allowing any religion to reign over peoples lives completely unchecked leads to misery for all involved. Israel and the West are far from blameless. But the Muslims in the Middle East are going to have to face up to the fact that if they wish to emerge from their current dark age and join the rest of the world in a peaceful and prosperous co-existence, they need to take some degree of personal responsibility for their own situation.

However, that is only one means of achieving world peace. But I also happen to think that unchecked American dominance over the rest of the world has to be curtailed as well for the sake of everyone, including Americans. As Iraq has shown, excercising US military power in the crudest of ways, only makes the problem of Islamic terrorism worse.