Ashton cuts through the hypocrisy

Ashton cuts through the hypocrisy

Dan Margalit

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s comparison of the Toulouse murder to the killing of children in Gaza reveals what she has been trying to hide all along: She isn’t neutral.

Ashton’s insensitive remarks linking the murder of Jewish children in Toulouse with the killing of their counterparts in Gaza naturally sparked a series of justified condemnations from Israeli politicians. Ashton is a walking linguistic disaster whose remarks generate a media firestorm every few months. For the most part, her positions make Israel angry while finding a receptive ear in Ramallah and Gaza.

In fact, an abyss separates Gaza from Toulouse. Israeli filing cabinets are packed with plans for military operations against terrorists that were postponed or cancelled because they might hurt Palestinian children. The IDF has never launched a unit or rocket specifically intended to hurt children. The Toulouse attack was the exact opposite. It intentionally targeted children, perhaps children only, because otherwise the murderer could have shot at other Jewish institutions, like a synagogue or the Jewish community headquarters. No doubt Ashton understands this. No doubt also that the English and French languages contain enough euphemisms to extricate her from this current scandal, without losing her support among Arabs in the Middle East and throughout the world. She could find some euphemisms, allowing for the restoration of a normal tense diplomatic calm until her next verbal slip-up.

It’s possible that Ashton intentionally sought to create a minor scandal. But more likely she was not looking for trouble on an awful day when her words would jar and clash against the pronouncements of any respectable European leader. What her remarks do reveal is the inner truth of her heart. She is not neutral and does not take reasonable positions based on the facts. Even if that is her job, she is clearly not doing it. She is so cold toward Israel and so biased in favor of the Palestinians that from time to time the truth slips off her tongue. She is on their side.

To a certain extent, in retrospect, her remarks serve Israel’s interests. Our government needs to know with whom it is dealing and who is shaking our representatives’ hands in phony imitations of honest brokers, when in fact they are not. It has happened many times before, from the generals who commanded U.N. forces during the War of Independence, up through 2012. “Know your enemy,” Sun Tzu wrote in “The Art of War.” In this case, it is more about knowing those who pretend to be neutral. Seeing reality clearly is more important than the apology that would cover it up.

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=1592