Abrabanel: Musings on the Jewish condition

The claims of hypocrisy against international critics of Israel are as old as Israel itself. They’ve become one of those boring tropes of debate that people write off simply because it’s been heard before.

To our great surprise, one of the most boring of the Jewish advocacy groups, the American Jewish Committee, has published a spirited rant about anti-Israel hypocrisy that almost gives the argument new life.

It begins:

Dear Ms. Trine Lilleng,

You were an unknown Norwegian diplomat till this month.

No longer.

As first secretary in the Norwegian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, you recently sent out an email on your office account in which you declared: “The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors from World War II are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them by Nazi Germany.”

Accompanying your text were photos, with an emphasis on children, seeking to juxtapose the Holocaust with the recent Israeli military operation in Gaza.

Clearly, you are miscast in your role as a diplomat, all the more so of a nation that has sought to play a mediating role in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In fact, you’re desperately in need of some education.

Well written, to the point. It gets better:

Let’s begin with your current posting. You’ve been in Riyadh since 2007.

If you’re so anguished by human rights violations, perhaps you could have begun by devoting some of your attention – and email blasts – to what surrounds you.

Or were your eyes diplomatically shut?

Have you failed to notice the many legal executions, including beheadings, going on in your assigned country?

Have you ignored the often abysmal treatment of foreign workers, many from Asia, who also happen to be disproportionately counted among the victims of Saudi capital punishment?

Have you neglected the gender apartheid that surrounds you? Did you ever look out of your car to notice that Saudi women are proscribed from driving, and that’s hardly the worst of it?

Have you checked the skyline of Riyadh or Jeddah lately to count the number of church spires or other non-Muslim houses of worship?

Have you bothered to inquire about the fate of homosexuals?

Pretty damning. These letters usually focus on the most horrendous crimes, accusing them of lacking an interest in the fate of Congolese refugees or some other far-away group. Here the focus is on the city where Lilleng herself is posted. Kinda changes the dynamic, don’t you think?

Norway’s Aftenposten reports on yesterday’s opening of a new Jewish museum in Oslo. We don’t usually focus on such minute gestures, but this one includes (in the photo at left) one of our favorite people, rabbi and MK and former Dane Michael Melchior.

It’s worth noting that the government treated the opening as an important event. The crown prince presided, with the ministers of defense and culture in attendance. A clue to the reason comes in this telling quote:

“In other countries, Jewish culture is a natural part of the country’s culture,” said the new museum’s leader Sidsel Levin. “That hasn’t been the case in Norway.” …

The museum’s debut exhibit describes how Norwegian Jews have influenced both cultural life in Norway and the struggle against German occupation during World War II.

Little bit of guilt there, IMHO.