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How Anti-Israel Zealotry Threatens Europe

(Commentary) Evelyn Gordon - Two recent developments show the extent to which the mainstreaming of rabid anti-Israel sentiment in Europe is harming Europe itself. One, an exhibit at the Jeu de Paume Museum, funded by the French government and glorifying Palestinian suicide bombers, undermines France's security. The other, a British union's decision to effectively bar members from contact with another British workers' group because the latter opposes boycotting Israel, undermines Britons' civil liberties. The danger here is that fame and glory are powerful motivators for terrorists. But the Jeu de Paume is far more important to Frenchmen than to Palestinians. Thus being lionized by one of France's most famous cultural institutions is primarily an inducement to its own citizens. But the decision by GMB, one of Britain's largest unions, may be even more chilling: Last week, it voted to bar its chapters from visiting Israel on any trip organized by Trade Union Friends of Israel, a British group that supports cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian workers, or addressing any TUFI event. One has to wonder when Europeans will finally realize that their anti-Israel zealotry is exacting too high a price at home.
2013-06-14 00:00:00
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