The EU’s Baroness Catherine Ashton was reprimanded by Israel for daring to compare the murder in France to deaths of children in other parts of the world. But she was right.
Like most people, particularly Europeans, I’m not extremely fond of Baroness Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. I certainly never thought I’d ever feel the urge to defend or support anything she said, but here goes.
For those who aren’t in the loop, after the disgusting murder of three Jewish children and an adult in Toulouse this week, Ashton made some remarks that infuriated quite a few:
Speaking at the event, the EU’s foreign minister said all should remember the young people who have been killed in all sorts of terrible circumstances – the Belgian children having lost their lives in a terrible tragedy and when we think of what happened in Toulouse today, when we remember what happened in Norway a year ago, when we know what is happening in Syria, when we see what is happening in Gaza and in different parts of the world – we remember young people and children who lose their lives.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu lead the way with the revenge:
Netanyahu said that one cannot compare “intentional massacre of children and an execution-style killing of an 8-year-old with the IDF’s defensive and surgical actions meant to harm terrorists who use children as human shields.”
Apparently, the EU said the statement was missing a word that Ashton said. “Sderot” was somehow omitted after the word “Gaza.” Everybody was totally distorting her words, the EU and Ashton said.
Well, Ashton’s right. She was distorted. She mentioned children around the world dying in horrible circumstances. I think that’s relevant, and legitimate.
But God forbid anyone dare compare an anti-Semitic murder to any other murder. No, killing Jewish children is so much worse than killing a Palestinian child. How dare Ashton compare that sick, disgusting, vile murderer to us? How dare she say “Jew” and “Palestinian” in the same breath?!?! And certainly children who die because they were – or believed to be by military “intelligence” – human shields are of a lower species.
Well let me tell you something, Bibi. There are kids dying in Gaza, and there have been dozens and hundreds – if not thousands – of kids who have died over 45 years of occupation. In fact, quite a few of them have died thanks to those “surgical actions” you mentioned.
I can’t help but remember a particular “surgical action” I’m particularly fond of. The one where Israel decided to kill that Salah Shehade, the Hamas mega-terrorist, who was one of those despicable guys using children as human shields. You see, what Israel said back then, was basically: “Fuck the kids.” And then, in the middle of the night of July 22, 2002, Israel dropped a bomb that weighed one ton on his house.
Israel got Shehade, alright. But it also got his wife and nine kids.
That’s murder. Not “ugly war,” not “collateral damage.” Cold, sick murder.
Oh, and how can we forget what Air Force Chief Dan Halutz said in an interview when asked what he thinks a pilot feels when he drops a bomb like that:
No. That is not a legitimate question and it is not asked. But if you nevertheless want to know what I feel when I release a bomb, I will tell you: I feel a light bump to the plane as a result of the bomb’s release. A second later it’s gone, and that’s all. That is what I feel.
So let me tell you something, Bibi. Ashton went easy on you. Real easy.
Because that murderer in Toulouse was a seriously sick person.
But to do some of the things the IDF does, you have to be pretty sick, too.
In fact, I would have used different words than Ashton. Instead of “terrible” circumstances, “sick” would have been more appropriate.