EU LEXICON

The Wall Street Journal of May 9 reports that the EU is developing guidelines for a “non-emotive lexicon” to describe the war on terror. “Islamic terrorists” are to become “those who have an abusive interpretation of Islam.” Jihad is likely to be banned as well on the grounds that it “can also mean the internal struggle to become a better man.” EU spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing explains the purpose of these verbal gymnastics: “We want to take away any possible motivation or justification for people who are on the brink of becoming terrorists.”
To be sure, all this is no more absurd than the new Israeli lexicon; “disengagement” and “convergence” for plain old “retreat under fire.” As for Jerusalem, Israeli pols declare they will not “divide” the city, heaven forefend. They will “share” it.

PERES IN WAITING

With Shimon Peres in his 80s, the role of national fool will soon be up for grabs. One promising candidate is Haifa mayor Yona Yahav who, asked by an interviewer for the Israel-Arab newspaper Kul al-Arab if he accepted “in principle” the return to the town of tens of thousands of Palestinian Arabs who fled Haifa in 1948, responded “Basically I don’t see any reason why some of the Palestinian residents should not go back to Haifa in the framework of a deal that would be accepted and signed by the Israeli government” and “put an end to the conflict.” (At the same time Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahhar detailed his own plan to “put an end to the conflict”: “Palestine in its entirety is our land; This does not mean that if they withdraw from any inch of land, we will refrain from spreading our rule over it. Every inch of land without relinquishing an inch…Our second principle is that the right of return must be guaranteed – to Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa and everywhere.”)

In the meantime, the prince of nincompoops is still going strong. The Knesset will soon be voting for the ninth President of Israel and Peres is emerging as a foremost candidate. Peres went down to humiliating defeat for the post in 2000, unexpectedly defeated by the relatively unknown Moshe Katsav. We have been told that AFSI’s pamphlet Shimon Says, a collection of pearls of foolishness emitted by Peres, which was distributed to all Knesset members, played a role. Now a top Kadima official declares that Peres would raise the post to “its former glory.” Indeed, in the current Knesset he should be a shoo-in.

NEW ENGLISH BOYCOTT

Last year the British Association of University Teachers (AUT) launched an academic boycott of Israel which fizzled. Proving once again you can’t keep a really bad idea down, the boycott is back, this time proposed by the rival higher education outfit, the 67,000 member National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE).

Melanie Phillips (author of the new must-read Londonistan) had predicted this because the AUT boycott had not been defeated on the right grounds: namely that it was based on a series of Big Lies about Israel. Running through the opposition to last year’s boycott, writes Phillips, “was the argument that academic freedom was necessary in order to continue to demonise and delegitimise Israel” which “was not only wrong in itself but ultimately self-defeating because it meant that the inspiration for the boycott was not only not being addressed but would surely lead to the boycott springing to life once again.”

Unfortunately the same actors are taking the lead in opposing the new boycott, including the dreadful “Engage” which, as AFSI’s Ruth King wrote in Outpost (June 2005), indulges “in the same anti-Israel claptrap that drives the boycott itself.”

DUTCH DHIMMIS

Remember how the Dutch for years harassed Ariel Sharon, clamoring to bring him to trial as a supposed war criminal? Now, in full appeasement mode, they have driven out Ayaan Hirsi Ali, their most courageous citizen, black, a woman, a Moslem, a member of the Dutch Parliament, who insisted on putting the oppression of Moslem women on the Dutch political agenda. Fortunately for us, she will be coming to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C.

"MY OWN ARM SAVED ME" ISAIAH

A stunning video on the destruction of the Osirak reactor in July 1981, based on classified documents newly released by Israel, can be seen on your computer. While you have to write in a lot of numbers you will be delighted you did: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2295792440224502914.

The words of Isaiah (63:5) could not be more apt for this 45 minute documentary chronicling how Israel stood alone in confronting mortal danger: “I stared but there was none to aid—So my own arm wrought the triumph.”