27 Feb Our absurd obsession with Israel is laid bare
Our absurd obsession with Israel is laid bare
Nick Cohen
The Middle East meant only Israel to many. Now the lives of millions of Arabs have been brought to Europe’s attention
The Arab revolution is consigning skip-loads of articles, books and speeches about the Middle East to the dustbin of history. In a few months, readers will go through libraries or newspaper archives and wonder how so many who claimed expert knowledge could have turned their eyes from tyranny and its consequences.
To a generation of politically active if not morally consistent campaigners, the Middle East has meant Israel and only Israel. In theory, they should have been able to stick by universal principles and support a just settlement for the Palestinians while opposing the dictators who kept Arabs subjugated. Few, however, have been able to oppose oppression in all its forms consistently…the lives of hundreds of millions of Arabs, Berbers and Kurds who were not involved in the conflict could be forgotten. Read the entire article
