SHAME OF EU PARLIAMENT FOR GIVING SAKHAROV’S PRIZE TO GROUP DEMONIZING ISRAEL
Shame of European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize nomination for group demonising Israeli military
http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/shame-of-european-parliaments-sakharov-prize-nomination-for-group-demonising-israeli-military/#more-3263
Andrei Sakharov was among the greatest of Russia’s communist-era dissidents. Brave, brilliant and principled he spoke truth to power against the full might of the Soviet Union’s totalitarian polity. But, like his Czech counterpart Vaclav Havel, the secret of his brilliance was that he could see further and wider than the confines of the system that oppressed him. He saw in communism a magnification of problems and deficiencies that affected the modern world generally, and that meant capitalist societies too.
Here is a sample of his writings on freedom of expression taken from his book Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence, and Intellectual Freedom:
“…intellectual freedom is essential to human society — freedom to obtain and distribute information, freedom for open-minded and unfearing debate and freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices. Such a trinity of freedom of thought is the only guarantee against an infection of people by mass myths, which, in the hands of treacherous hypocrites and demagogues, can be transformed into bloody dictatorship”.
With those words in mind — particularly “freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices”, “infection of people by mass myths” and “treacherous hypocrites and demagogues” — consider that at the behest of Greens and European United Left groupings an organisation dedicated to demonising the Israeli military, Breaking the Silence, was recently nominated for the shortlist for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. According to news reports, the winner will be announced on Thursday, October 21.
But whether Breaking the Silence wins or not, the name of Andrei Sakharov and everything he stood for has now been so grossly abused by this disgraceful nomination — to be shortlisted for a prize is itself to bestow an honour on the nominee — that if it wasn’t the product of the European Parliament one would simply be speechless with disbelief.
The squalid reality of what kind of organisation Breaking the Silence really is was revealed in a masterful, and superbly written, commentary in yesterday’s Jerusalem Post by Michael Dickson, Israeli head of StandWithUs, one of the world’s most effective pro-Israel education and advocacy groups.
In that piece, Dickson said the following:
“Breaking the Silence is hypocritical about its aims and even its name. If it wanted to present a true picture of the IDF, it would not blatantly omit the context of terrorism, the goals of Israel’s enemies, the deadly rocket fire from Gaza. It would not omit how the enemy hides behind Palestinian civilians and attacks Israeli civilians. It would raise awareness about the moral dilemmas the IDF faces. But instead, it omits this vital context in its reports, which often consist of anonymous, unverified testimony.
“There isn’t even any “silence” to “break.” Israel is an open and democratic society that regularly criticizes its own actions, and anyone is free to present complaints and findings to government officials and the courts”.
Well indeed. But the mass hysteria against the Jewish state in Europe these days is such that it has now become possible to portray a legal, freely operating anti-Israeli lobby group as the equivalent of some sort of underground resistance movement living in constant fear of a brutal and oppressive tyranny — which is of course how Israel is portrayed across much of the European media on a daily basis.
What is especially sick and twisted about this development is that Sakharov (and, as Dickson points out, his widow Elena Bonner) held views about Israel and its military that directly contradict the thrust of Breaking the Silence’s agenda: “Israel has an indisputable right to exist,” Dickson quoted Sakharov as saying. “Israel has a right to existence within safe borders.” “All the wars that Israel has waged have been just, forced upon it by the irresponsibility of Arab leaders.”
You may also be interested to know that among Breaking the Silence’s funders are, wait for it, the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, Christian Aid and OXFAM — all three of which have featured many times on this site for pushing ferociously anti-Israeli agendas.
I have said a hundred times that to join in with the demonisation of Israel is not merely to insult and do harm to one of the Western world’s most important democracies, it is also to degrade oneself in the process. We have been on that ugly road for a long time now in Europe. But it is a sad, sad day when the good name of Andrei Sakharov is dragged along for the ride.
Andrei Sakharov was among the greatest of Russia’s communist-era dissidents. Brave, brilliant and principled he spoke truth to power against the full might of the Soviet Union’s totalitarian polity. But, like his Czech counterpart Vaclav Havel, the secret of his brilliance was that he could see further and wider than the confines of the system that oppressed him. He saw in communism a magnification of problems and deficiencies that affected the modern world generally, and that meant capitalist societies too.
Here is a sample of his writings on freedom of expression taken from his book Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence, and Intellectual Freedom:
“…intellectual freedom is essential to human society — freedom to obtain and distribute information, freedom for open-minded and unfearing debate and freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices. Such a trinity of freedom of thought is the only guarantee against an infection of people by mass myths, which, in the hands of treacherous hypocrites and demagogues, can be transformed into bloody dictatorship”.
With those words in mind — particularly “freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices”, “infection of people by mass myths” and “treacherous hypocrites and demagogues” — consider that at the behest of Greens and European United Left groupings an organisation dedicated to demonising the Israeli military, Breaking the Silence, was recently nominated for the shortlist for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. According to news reports, the winner will be announced on Thursday, October 21.
But whether Breaking the Silence wins or not, the name of Andrei Sakharov and everything he stood for has now been so grossly abused by this disgraceful nomination — to be shortlisted for a prize is itself to bestow an honour on the nominee — that if it wasn’t the product of the European Parliament one would simply be speechless with disbelief.
The squalid reality of what kind of organisation Breaking the Silence really is was revealed in a masterful, and superbly written, commentary in yesterday’s Jerusalem Post by Michael Dickson, Israeli head of StandWithUs, one of the world’s most effective pro-Israel education and advocacy groups.
In that piece, Dickson said the following:
“Breaking the Silence is hypocritical about its aims and even its name. If it wanted to present a true picture of the IDF, it would not blatantly omit the context of terrorism, the goals of Israel’s enemies, the deadly rocket fire from Gaza. It would not omit how the enemy hides behind Palestinian civilians and attacks Israeli civilians. It would raise awareness about the moral dilemmas the IDF faces. But instead, it omits this vital context in its reports, which often consist of anonymous, unverified testimony.
“There isn’t even any “silence” to “break.” Israel is an open and democratic society that regularly criticizes its own actions, and anyone is free to present complaints and findings to government officials and the courts”.
Well indeed. But the mass hysteria against the Jewish state in Europe these days is such that it has now become possible to portray a legal, freely operating anti-Israeli lobby group as the equivalent of some sort of underground resistance movement living in constant fear of a brutal and oppressive tyranny — which is of course how Israel is portrayed across much of the European media on a daily basis.
What is especially sick and twisted about this development is that Sakharov (and, as Dickson points out, his widow Elena Bonner) held views about Israel and its military that directly contradict the thrust of Breaking the Silence’s agenda: “Israel has an indisputable right to exist,” Dickson quoted Sakharov as saying. “Israel has a right to existence within safe borders.” “All the wars that Israel has waged have been just, forced upon it by the irresponsibility of Arab leaders.”
You may also be interested to know that among Breaking the Silence’s funders are, wait for it, the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, Christian Aid and OXFAM — all three of which have featured many times on this site for pushing ferociously anti-Israeli agendas.
I have said a hundred times that to join in with the demonisation of Israel is not merely to insult and do harm to one of the Western world’s most important democracies, it is also to degrade oneself in the process. We have been on that ugly road for a long time now in Europe. But it is a sad, sad day when the good name of Andrei Sakharov is dragged along for the ride.
Comments are closed.
