Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, has made another clear offer to the Palestinians for a real and lasting peace telling them that “a huge window to peace will be opened” as soon as they can accept some basic conditions. As the Jerusalem Post reports today, Netanyahu said:

“The key to peace lies in explicit and unequivocal recognition of Israel as the Jewish state on the part of the Palestinians. They must once and for all give up the demand to resettle inside of Israel the descendents of the refugees.”

This is not new, of course. But it is interesting because its constant repetition has now clearly become a central feature of Israeli strategy. And this will force others to declare their position.

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Does the Guardian ever relent? Yesterday’s offering from its Comment is Free website (see below) featured a grossly ambiguous headline accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using Nazi terminology to defend West Bank settlements. Today we have a piece ripping into a draft Israeli law on illegal asylum seekers with the tragic history of Jewish refugees trying to escape the Nazis thrown back at Israel for good measure.

The author, Dimi Reider, outlines what he sees as a catalogue of injustices associated with the mooted new law. It is a reasonable topic for discussion and the complex issue of immigration and asylum is debated widely in Europe and America too. But as his piece winds its way to its conclusion the mask suddenly slips and the underlying purpose is revealed. He says:

“The latest legislative feat of Israel, which never misses an opportunity to remind western countries of how they failed to take in Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, is repugnant. But this bill is only one of a series of measures Israel is taking against its non-Jewish residents.”

So there we have it. The subtext is clear. We’re back to “racist” Israel again.

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For starters consider the headline: “Netanyahu turns to Nazi language”. Before you read the piece what would you assume from that? Most would agree, I think, that the Israeli Prime Minister is being accused of talking like a Nazi. There is, after all, an entire edifice of anti-Israel discourse in Europe which seeks to portray Israelis as Nazis. The Guardian has no problem giving space to writers who compare Israel with Apartheid South Africa (see previous entries) so perhaps they have upped the ante?

In fact, the piece takes a different tack. Netanyahu is not being accused of talking like a Nazi, though the use of such an incendiary headline is a disgrace in itself.* He is accused of using the Nazi term Judenrein — which designates a piece of land cleansed of Jews — to describe the mentality which calls for all Jews to be removed from the West Bank. It is alleged that Netanyahu warned German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a recent meeting that calls for all Israeli settlements to be removed from the West Bank could indeed be understood as a form of Judenrein.

The writer, Peter Beaumont — foreign affairs editor of the Guardian’s sister paper on Sunday, the Observer — effectively accuses Netanyahu of using the term as a form of moral blackmail. Steinmeier, he says, “was compelled to nod in embarrassed silence.” And, he continues:

“As frustration among Israeli rightists has been mounting against the new policies of President Obama, the word has been creeping into the discourse, first in the rightwing blogosphere and now penetrating the mainstream media in Israel.”

Beaumont is quite wrong in this. The term Judenrein has been used in this context for years. It has not crept into the discourse because of Obama. But Beaumont’s error is much greater than a mere misreading of the terms of the discourse. His outrage betrays a profound misunderstanding of the core issues at the heart of the conflict in general and the dispute over settlements in particular.

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This is history in action. So, following from the previous entry, I also offer another account of the War on Want launch event for Ben White’s “Israeli Apartheid” book. This account, from Eric Lee, is particularly interesting since the author is an admirer of War on Want’s Leftist position and has been published by Pluto Press, the publisher of White’s book. On his website, he entitles his version of what takes place: “An East London Horror Story”. He recounts:

“I said that I had the greatest respect for War on Want and the work it does around the world — and I do. But then I added that I was troubled by what was said — and not said — this evening.”

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As a follow up to my last entry, I offer a view of the proceedings at last night’s launch of Ben White’s book — Israeli Apartheid: A beginner’s Guide. The launch took place in London and was sponsored by the far-Left charity War on Want. Efforts were made to prevent dissenters from entering the premises. But Jonathan Sacerdoti managed to get in and ask a few questions from the floor. He recounts his version of what took place on the Oy Va Goy website, the link to which is posted below.

It is a revealing account. Referring to White’s objection to the security barrier, which has saved countless Israeli lives from the ravages of suicide bombers, Sacerdoti recalls:

“At the event, I asked White what other suggestions he might have for reducing so drastically the number of terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in discotheques, pizza restaurants and school buses, seeing as he was so against the fence. But he didn’t have any suggestions. He did seem pretty sure, however, that all efforts Israel has made to protect its people have been totally wrong.”

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