The lower house of France’s parliament on Tuesday approved a draft resolution that calls hate of Israel a form of anti-Semitism, drawing praise from Jerusalem and Jewish groups.
The 577 members of the National Assembly voted on the draft, which also calls on the government to join other European nations in adopting the definition of anti-Semitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Formidable, mes amies! The Dreyfusards among us greet the news with just two words: about time! The French move will be highly irritating for liberals and lefties, especially one Jeremy Corbyn.
I’m a simple soul. In the Israel-Palestinian conflict, one side wants the other dead. How any rational person can support the cause of a misogynistic medieval culture at the expense of the only democracy in the Middle East is beyond me. Is anti-Zionism modern anti-Semitism? You bet it is. Heaven protect us from the politically correct liberals and Marxists like Corbyn who want to emasculate this country.
I am reminded of the poem by Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), who was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany. He emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. He is perhaps best remembered for these words:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
The modern version would be….First they came for the Israelis, then they came for me…but not now in France, it seems. You know, I don’t recall the last time I had something nice to say about the French, so once again: formidable, messieurs!