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With friends like these
By Gideon Levy
Tags: Sderot, peace process, Israel

The amount of support being shown for Israel these days is almost embarrassing. The parade of highly-placed foreign guests and the warm reception received by Israeli statesmen abroad have not been seen for quite some time. Who hasn't come to visit lately? From the German chancellor to the leading frontrunner for the American presidency. And the secretary-general of the United Nations is on his way. A visit to Israel has become de rigueur for foreign pols. If you haven't been here, you're nowhere.

The visitors are taken, of course, to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, the Western Wall and now to Sderot as well - the new national pilgrimage site. A few also pay a perfunctory visit to Ramallah; no one goes to the Gaza Strip, and they all have nothing but praise for Israel. Not a word of criticism on the occupation, on Israel's violent operations in the territories, on the siege and the starving - with the exception of a few vague remarks on the need for a solution. Israel squeezes the Sderot "informational" lemon for all it's worth.

The mix of Sderot and the Holocaust, international Islamophobia and Hamas rule in Gaza do the trick. Israel hasn't scored this kind of foreign-policy success since the days of the Oslo Accords. To judge by the declarations of our foreign guests and our hosts abroad, no other state in the world is more loved than we. A state that imposes a siege that is almost unprecedented in the world today in terms of its cruelty, that adopts an official policy of assassination, is embraced by the family of nations, if we are to judge by the words of the many statesmen who cross our doorstep.
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It is, of course, pleasant to revel in this wave of support, but it is an illusion. Public opinion in most of the countries whose leaders are heaping all that praise upon us is not joining in. Israel remains a state without approval, sometimes even outcast and despised. The world sees images from Gaza on television - in comparison, Sderot looks like a resort - and it draws its own conclusions. The natural sense of justice that dictates support for the freedom struggles of oppressed people such as the Tibetan dictates natural support for the Palestinian struggle for liberation. The fact that it is a struggle between a Palestinian David and an Israeli Goliath only adds to the story. With the exception of the U.S., the world is indeed against us, apart from its statesmen. Therefore, we must not give in to the illusion: The current bout of official support for us is not genuine.

Also not genuine is the idea that blind, unconditional friendship is friendship. The support for Israel as a just enterprise that is extended by most of the West does not mean accepting all of its caprices. A true friend of Israel, one that is sincerely concerned for its fate, is only that friend who dares to express sharp criticism of its policy of occupation, which poses the most serious risk to its future, and who also takes practical steps to end it. Most of the "friendly" statesmen do not understand this.

The stance of the European leaders is particularly perplexing. We're not speaking about the U.S., with its Jewish and Christian lobbies, but rather opinionated Europe; it, too, has lost its ability to act as an honest broker, the type that wields its influence to bring an end to the conflict that endangers it, too. We need Europe, the peace needs Europe, but official Europe covers its eyes and automatically falls in line with the U.S. and its blind support for Israel and its boycott of Gaza. Angela Merkel, who received such a royal reception here last week, did not bring up any controversial issue in her speech at the Knesset. And so, her "historic" speech turned into a hollow one.

The same behavior was displayed by her colleague in the European leadership, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, during the visit to his country of President Shimon Peres. The Israeli flags waving along the Champs-Elysees and the much-talked-about Israeli booth at the Paris Book Fair could not hide the fact that many French citizens are pained by the occupation. By not speaking about the siege on Gaza, the starvation imposed on it and the killing of hundreds of its people, Europe's leaders are not meeting their political and moral obligations. Those who believe that only honest international intervention can bring an end to the occupation find themselves desperate and disappointed. Yes, Europe, precisely that continent that carries justifiable feelings of guilt about the Jewish Holocaust, should have found another way to come to Israel's aid. Saccharine visits and sweet speeches in fact express a deep disrespect for Israel - and for European public opinion.

This blind friendship enables Israel to do whatever it wants. The days have passed in which every mobile home erected in the territories and every targeted assassination were carefully considered out of fear of international criticism. That time no longer exists. Israel has a carte blanche to kill, destroy and settle. The U.S. long ago gave up the role of honest broker, and Europe is now following in its footsteps. How depressing: With friends like these, Israel almost doesn't need enemies.
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  1.   IT IS NOT BLIND FIENDSHIP I 09:46  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 23/03/08
  2.   NOT BAD GIDEON 09:58  |  indrajaya 23/03/08
  3.   GIDEON LEVY: THE FOOL, DOESN`T SEE 09:59  |  Robert 23/03/08
  4.   IT IS NOT BLIND FRIENDSHIP II 10:01  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 23/03/08
  5.   FRIEND, WHAT FRIEND? 10:02  |  indrajaya 23/03/08
  6.   The `gideon` enjoymnet 10:11  |  TonyL 23/03/08
  7.   Gideon: Nations are finally in touch with reality 10:14  |  Mark Hamil 23/03/08
  8.   What did Norman Finkelstein say.....?????? 10:15  |  Swiss (Dino) 23/03/08
  9.   BULLSEYE!: straight talk by gideon levy... 10:23  |  eric 23/03/08
  10.   it IS! completely blind!; or maybe not quite... 10:25  |  eric 23/03/08
  11.   well, one out of two is better than nothing 10:35  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 23/03/08
  12.   Why should Israel NEED outside criticism? 10:36  |  US CITIZEN 23/03/08
  13.   Uneasy... 10:43  |  Esther 23/03/08
  14.   I didn`t read the news yet today... 11:01  |  nina 23/03/08
  15.   peace process 11:17  |  motti 23/03/08
  16.   Levy- Israel`s friends are right. You are wrong. 11:35  |  Sam 23/03/08
  17.   Europe, Palestine and Israel 11:43  |  Soizic 23/03/08
  18.   Gideon... BRAVO!!! A man of Conscience Exists. 11:57  |  Highlander 23/03/08
  19.   Spot on, Gideon! 11:58  |  The Prince 23/03/08
  20.   Gideon is right 12:00  |  rm 23/03/08
  21.   Gideon Levy, the hero and the real man who fears God 12:05  |  Zaki 23/03/08
  22.   This is the paroxism of Gideon Levy`s shmock-ness. 12:07  |  Fortuna Benmayor 23/03/08
  23.   Really happy to read this article 12:15  |  Someone 23/03/08
  24.   Thus, I have apparently remained a genuine friend of Israel... 12:39  |  christoph 23/03/08
  25.   A very good article- Lovers of Israel should read 12:43  |  Labhras 23/03/08
  26.   #4 Interplanetary Traveller moving too fast to see 12:54  |  Labhras 23/03/08
  27.   #4 Cjk-- Interplanetary traveller wrong again 13:02  |  Labhras 23/03/08
  28.   A LAUGHING STOCK 13:06  |  indrajaya 23/03/08
  29.   When will you guys stop hating each other? 13:07  |  Edward 23/03/08
  30.   Even a gadfly takes a day off 13:13  |  Elihu 23/03/08
  31.   # 13, EDWARD 13:20  |  indrajaya 23/03/08
  32.   No difference ... 13:31  |  Cynical 23/03/08
  33.   With friends like these 13:36  |  SSS 23/03/08
  34.   LEVY = BEST PR FOR HAMMAS 13:39  |  David B 23/03/08
  35.   Levy Is Correct 13:42  |  Moshe 23/03/08
  36.   Levy 13:45  |  Michael 23/03/08
  37.   Edward from Sweden, when will you stop hating Jews? 13:46  |  Steven 23/03/08
  38.   GIDEON LEVY 13:47  |  mostrel 23/03/08
  39.   When they accept... 13:48  |  Aish 23/03/08
  40.   gideon levy to labhras 13:58  |  mostrel 23/03/08
  41.   from the heart 14:29  |  leila 23/03/08
  42.   Eat your heart out!!! 14:29  |  Buzaglowe 23/03/08
  43.   Well said Mr Levy 14:31  |  Labhras 23/03/08
  44.   Leaders today are lacking moral vision 14:32  |  Dutch 23/03/08
  45.   #14, I love your Tongue in Cheek 14:33  |  Buzaglow 23/03/08
  46.   thank you 14:38  |  gheith abu sharif 23/03/08
  47.   The logic of self-hating Jews 14:42  |  Shlomo 23/03/08
  48.   Gideon Level 14:44  |  Purple Canary 23/03/08
  49.   reproduction 14:45  |  leila 23/03/08
  50.   Israel is like the chronic alcoholic 14:52  |  Labhras 23/03/08
  51.   One of your best articles Gideon 14:56  |  kiwi girl 23/03/08
  52.   Abu Mazzen` Trojan Horse 14:57  |  Joseph E . post 1 23/03/08
  53.   The Polarization of Israeli Society 14:59  |  Joseph E . post 2 23/03/08
  54.   LEVY, A VOICE OF SANITY 15:41  |  JH 23/03/08
  55.   moral equivalence 15:44  |  ruben 23/03/08
  56.   Much the same way with apartheid SA 15:54  |  Tacitus 23/03/08
  57.   Real friends don`t let their friends drive drunk 16:08  |  newageblues 23/03/08
  58.   #11 Teacher in Europe. 16:09  |  John Allen 23/03/08
  59.   Frau Merkel 16:30  |  Kacey Mathew 23/03/08
  60.   #20 Authority in in KS 16:32  |  christoph 23/03/08
  61.   LEVY IS TERRIFIC 16:33  |  JH 23/03/08
  62.   They make up for centuries of discrimination 16:36  |  el-birawi 23/03/08
  63.   friends? 16:58  |  ezra 23/03/08
  64.   Just wait for the end of this year, Gideon Levy 17:35  |  Tosefta 23/03/08
  65.   Levy and Finklestein 17:56  |  Gilad 23/03/08
  66.   reply to Cipora Julianna Kohn 18:02  |  Marc 23/03/08
  67.   #23 Tosefta. Heaven forbid we "mistreat" our would be murderers! 18:03  |  Chaim 23/03/08
  68.   imho ... nonsense! 18:04  |  ferdinand 23/03/08
  69.   #4 Cipora, Re Blind friendship 18:05  |  Dutch 23/03/08
  70.   a day in the life of gideon levy 18:07  |  hollingsworth 23/03/08
  71.   A German should moralise to Israel? 18:11  |  Reuben Cohen 23/03/08