Anti-Israel bigotry and bias Helsingin Sanomat Israeli/Palestinian Conflict Olli Kivinen

Islam and the Middle-East According HS Columnist Olli Kivinen……..

Olli Kivinen:

Ending the Arab-Israeli conflict would solve all the problems in the ME, from Islamic terrorism (violent jihad) to the boils on P.A. ‘president’ Mahmoud Abbas’ arse. So lets all hope Obama is successful in pressuring Israel to think more about “world peace” and less about its own security concerns. Remember, the less of Israel equals more peace.

That’s the domino theory meme of the “solve the Arab-Israeli conflict and the rest of the ME will follow” crowd. Such thinking highlights the mentality of many in the Leftist media/think tanks/academic institutions and political circles here in Finland. It’s a result of decades worth of brain washing by radical Leftists in practically every sphere of Finnish learning institutions. Thanks to the Internet, many Finns have been introduced to competing ideas and are now thinking for themselves, and drawing their own conclusions.

Though the columnist mentions Hamas’ being strengthened as partly contributing to the difficulties in solving the conflict, what he really means though, (as he has written in past articles) that it’s Israel’s fault for not wanting to talk with Hamas. And since Israel is seen by these media types as being the stronger of the two, being in what they call “the drivers seat”, Israel is expected to make the far reaching proposals/concessions to help kick start the “peace process than their opposition, Hamas and Fattah.

For people like Kivinen, somehow Israel, and Israel alone, holds all the keys in ending the various conflicts that are ablaze around the world. If only “these Israeli hardliners” (read= those intent on staying alive) would start appeasing the Arabs the way they did in the early 90’s, -during which time Arab terrorism was unleashed by the Oslo “peace process” to unprecedented levels in Israeli history- all would be well.

Olli Kivinen, just repeats that extremely naive notion, that real US pressure on Israel holds the keys to a brighter future for us all. He wrongly and unjustly places the world’s entire future upon Israel’s shoulders alone, thereby setting the Jewish state up to be the fall guy once their expectations are dashed by Israel’s refusal to commit national suicide for the good of the world.

Such thinking actually projects Israel into a messiah like position, as a Christ offering itself for the benefit of the world. “The self sacrifice of the one is needed for the good of the many“. That’s Kivinen’s thinking in a nutshell, though he refrains from saying so in black and white, you just have to read between the lines and fall back on earlier articles of his to understand where he’s coming from.

Here’s a translation of the tail end to the subscription only article, that began dealing with Finnish soldiers serving in Afghanistan, and ended with dumping the world’s problems on Israel.

NOTE: The TT agrees with the columnist that the Taliban needs to be defeated, but not that Israel holds the keys to their defeat.

Kivinen: The Islamic world is fragmented, and it’s not about a war of civilizations. Still the current situation strongly unites Muslim believers. They perceive the West’s power and the way they deal with Arab countries, as humiliating and ignorantly irrelevant. Western countries should take the spoon in its beautiful hand and change its thinking and activities.

The basis for this demand is simple. The UN, NATO, EU and other players – Sweden among them – will not succeed in Afghanistan unless they provide genuine cooperation between western countries and Muslim countries, and moderate parties. This can not happen unless Israel and Palestine negotiate a reasonably fair peace agreement.

The signs of the times are unfortunately poor. The Israeli right-wing government’s tough policy, as well as the strengthening of Hamas and other of Israel’s stringent opponents does not bode well. A crucial role is reserved for the difficulties in U.S. president Barack Obama’s internal politics that arose during the summer. They undermine his position.

OKIVINEN@KOLUMBUS.FI The author is a Helsingin Sanomat INDEPENDENT columnist.

NOTE: TT contributor Al Avai opines:The concept of the whole complex of conflicts boiling down to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians has been dismissed even by the BBC. You could extend it to its absurdity by saying that if two Palestinian families are evicted or a residence built on Jewish-owned sites in Jerusalem, then Afghanistan cannot be solved.

As in 1930s Germany, the whole complex mess of the depression, hyperinflation, economic structural changes, war reparation payments, and so on were laid at the feet of the Jews, with the implicit conclusion that eliminating the Jews would eliminate all the other problems.

I defy Kivinen to demonstrate how the factors of poverty, illiteracy, opium cultivation, Islamic fundamentalism, vote buying, women’s oppression, and rampant corruption in Afghanistan (or Pakistan) have their roots in Israel.

Things were paradise in Afghanistan before 1948? 1967? Got better with Camp David, but lately worse?

Israel is an island of democracy and stability in the region, and it’s like blaming an island for raging of the sea. If an island is destroyed, the waves then just move on to crash on a more distant shore.

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