Israel is a blind spot for Western liberals

Dror Halevy
Dror Halevy

Those who boycott Israel and espouse liberal values are fooling themselves, argues Dror Halevy.

There are fanatic liberals. They are deaf, blind and extremely dangerous.

The Muslim-Arab world is spread across over 750,000 square miles and has a population of 900 million - its area and population are a thousand times those of Israel.

Little Israel is a democracy in a region with dozens of dictatorships, but there are organizations calling to boycott it, of all places, in the name of liberal values.

In Muslim countries children are exploited; in Israel, they are embraced.

Women in the Muslim world have no rights. In most Muslim countries, they are not allowed to show their faces, drive or go to the mall unescorted. Women and girls are raped, murdered and traded like goods, sold into slavery.

In Israel, the CEO of the country’s largest bank is a woman, the Governor of the Central Bank is a woman and the President of the Supreme Court is a woman.

In the Muslim-Arab World, gay men and women are tortured and murdered. In Israel, they are the stars of popular TV shows, and Tel Aviv was chosen as the world’s most gay-friendly city.

Israel is threatened by the Arab nations, but its strong democracy has allowed an Arab judge to send a Jewish President to jail. In Israel's democracy, an Arab MK can preside over its sittings and order a minister to get off the stand.

The Muslim- Arab world is abusive towards Christians, Jews and other religious minorities. They are either forced to convert, deported or murdered.

In Israel, the Muslim community is ever-growing, the Bahá'í build temples, and places sacred to Christians are protected and visited by millions of pilgrims.

Israelis enjoy freedom of speech and academic freedom. Seven Israelis have won the Nobel Prize in scientific fields since 2002, and Israel is a world-leading hub of science and high-tech industry. None of that exists in Muslim countries.

Israel may have its share of problems, and some of the criticism against it is justified, but it most certainly is one of the world’s most humane, most advanced countries, miles ahead of the Arab World and other places as well.

Putin acts against the LGBT community, the Chinese oppress millions of Tibetans, Erdoğan imprisons journalists and builds palaces, In France, Muslim women are not allowed to wear a burqa, and Switzerland voted to ban Mosque minarets.

So those who boycott Israel and cite liberal values as their reasoning have either been fooled or are themselves fools.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 29, 2016

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016

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