'Will Swedes boycott game in protest of recent diatribe by Ahmadinejad's top advisor?'
Photo: AFP
What about Iran?
Not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. But some is
How ironic that the World Cup finals have gotten under way just as the international boycott Israel movement has picked up steam.
One common thread of these non-Muslim boycotters is their insistence that their movements are neither anti-Israeli nor anti-Semitic (Muslim, and especially Arab, groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Syria, the Palestinian Authority and others usually make no attempt to hide the fact that they regard Jews as "sons of pigs and monkeys," and openly call for Israel's destruction).
Fair criticism
These groups complain that Jewish organizations often try to stifle criticism of Israel and Israeli policy by condemning all such criticism as anti-Semitic.
That's fair criticism. Jewish groups in Israel and abroad would do well to think twice about throwing around charges of anti-Semitism and reserve them for true instances of anti-Jewish racism. Israel isn't perfect, and like all democracy, Israeli policy is subject to criticism.
Discerning eye
So how can we discern whether the international boycott Israel cabal is, as it claims, not opposed to Israel or Jews, but rather merely seeking a "just solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Do they support other people and groups seeking a two-state solution? More importantly, do they apply the same types of pressure to groups and countries that DO call for Israel's destruction and/or openly preach anti-Semitism?
One way to draw some conclusions would be to monitor these organizations' behavior during World Cup games featuring the Iranian national team.
Even without asking why these "human rights activists" won't be protesting the participation of such dark regimes as Angola, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia, I would certainly have expected protesters to be out in force when the Iranian team arrived in Germany last week.
Sunday's opening round match against Mexico would be the perfect opportunity to show their supposed concern for a "just solution" and "justice" in Palestine (how come they never seem to be concerned about justice "in Palestine and Israel"?).
The exploits and statements of Iran's notorious president since he took office last August need little rehashing. His exhortation to "wipe Israel off the map" at the World Without Zionism conference in Tehran last October is a fair synopsis of Iran's official stance on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the two-state solution.
Where's the boycott?
So why didn't Britain's National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education "recommend" its members in soccer-mad England boycott the World Cup in light of Iran's participation?
And what about Sweden, a relative newcomer to the boycott brigade and a country whose military pulled out of international training exercises earlier this year due to Israel's participation?
It's unlikely, but what if Sweden meets Iran for the World Cup on July 9? Will these non-anti Semitic Swedes recommend boycotting the game in protest of the recent diatribe by Mohammad Ali Ramin, a top advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who told a group of Iranian students that Jews are "very filthy people," and that "as Israel exists in the region there will never be peace and security in the Middle East?"
But if anti-Israel (oops. I mean "pro-peace") groups are interested in more than Israel bashing and the dismantling of the world's only Jewish country, there would hardly seem to be a better opportunity to prove the point than Sunday's World Cup match between Mexico and Iran.
True activists
Given the fact that these organizations have proven their activist mettle by boycotting Israeli academics, products, cultural performances and more (boycott is such a strong word. It is safe to assume that most of the British teachers "boycotting" Israel haven't removed the Israel-made Intel chips from their IBM computers, and would be more than happy to receive cancer treatments developed here. Still…).
Were these groups truly interested in peace, they would be as offended by Iran's belligerence, anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial as they are by the "plight" of the Palestinians, and they would have called for a boycott of Iran at the World Cup.
Israel in Germany
It isn't hard to imagine the reaction Israel's national soccer team would have received in Germany had it qualified for the tournament. Israeli experiences in recent years (one Scandinavian group called on people to vote for an Israeli contestant just so officials could deny awarding the top prize to Israel. And the 2001 United Nations Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa was the largest international celebration of anti-Semitism, where books such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were on sale on the conference grounds, and where protesters carried posters of Adolf Hitler, asking, "What if I had won?") give a pretty good idea what the team would be up against this month.
It is certainly true that not all anti-Israel protest movements are anti-Semitic. But those that have declared their undying opposition to Israel while excusing Iran's threats to destroy this country gives lie to their claim that they are not anti-Israel or anti-Semitic.
Andrew Friedman is the opinion editor of Ynetnews
