War and Protest

Israel and Hezbollah settle for now, Syria destabilizes and Amsterdam still cries

First, welcome to the many new readers, I really appreciate you joining and please feel free to comment away. Also, a somewhat belated Happy Thanksgiving to all those that celebrated yesterday. There is, in particular during these somewhat darker days, an awful lot to be thankful for while the world around us further destabilizes and sails into peak unpredictability. The other peak, that of post Word War II peace and stability, manifested itself in the 1990s, to the eternal lament of Bill Clinton whose tenure in office was quite uneventful when it came to global engagement and produced the last balanced budget the Americans have seen. As soon as the 2000s got going we witnessed the steady emergence of Putin, Iran and China which was accompanied by the warning shot delivered by al-Qaeda on 9/11. And this week these very Islamist fundamentalists made it back into the news with force in a place we thought had gone quiet.

Syria

As the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah takes hold, another conflict right next door is flaring up. And not without reason, Israel’s successes in taking on Hezbollah in both Lebanon and in Syria has significantly reduced Bashar al-Assad’s position, in particular now that his usual backers, Russia and Iran, are dealing with their own issues. The stalemate in Syria’s civil war has now been broken by attacks on Aleppo by the al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which in turn is supported by Turkey’s Erdogan who has his own regional divide and rule interests to pursue. A real mess you might argue because as much as we would love to see Damascus’ butcher Assad deposed, a caliphate taking over Syria is probably the last thing the region needs right now, creating further instability.

Through to spring this year the estimated death toll of the civil war in Syria approximately stands at 617,000 with about a third of them civilian depending on which source you quote. Now that raises the question where all the street protests are over the endless slaughter by Assad, his partners and his many opponents, but you will hear and see very little. The focus of anger and often mindless protest remains on squarely on Israel and Jews generally.

Amsterdam Cries (3)

The global anti-Semitic incidents are now too many to report. Attacking and injuring school girls in Britain and arresting a Jewish reporter in Toronto are last week’s absolute low points. Both are evidence of not only the targeted and life threatening violence, but also of the obtuse and deliberate attitudes prevalent among local authorities who are increasingly losing the plot. No better example than Amsterdam and its Mayor Femke Halsema who decided to not allow a large rally against anti-Semitism to go ahead last night on the city’s main Dam Square. Instead the event was moved to the smaller and somewhat less central Stopera area. A large police force was on hand to protect the attendees and a few disruptors were removed with force. But get this, tomorrow a protest under the banner “We Are All Palestinians” was given full access to the centrally located Dam Square although some reports today mentioned that this rally too will be moved.

Yet like many other nations the Dutch are struggling getting things right when it comes to Israel. A senior adviser to the country’s supreme court noted that a ban on exporting F-35 spare parts could remain in place, while the Justice department lamented the release of a report by the Israeli government that identified “Dutch-based organizations with ties to Hamas”. That report is here. Apparently the way it had been shared with the media instead of using the regular government channels proved to be challenging. Finally today we also heard that the arrest warrant for Nethanyahu could be circumvented somehow. Right. This by the way is just a sampling of news that came out today, imagine a full week of it.

The world - including the Dutch - will have to adapt to an ever more hostile environment for Israel and Jews worldwide. In turn you can and should expect Israel as the last and only guardian of Jewish interests and safety to step up and to sometimes resort to unconventional approaches. This is often much to the chagrin of most western governments. But as the conflict is spreading into all corners of the world, it is also becoming one of life and death, everywhere.

Photo: last night’s anti-Semitic and pro-Israel rally on the square near Amsterdam’s Stopera building (which combines City Hall and the Opera).