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Leftists, Islamists and FlagsReader comment on item: About Those Billboards in Israel ... Submitted by Dave (United States), Nov 2, 2022 at 21:01 Leftists and Islamists share hatred of Zionism for similar superficial reasons: The identity of Israel as an ethnic-religious (Jewish) state with an exclusionary immigration policy. The difference is what they ultimately envision for Israel. Leftists are globalists. They dislike the nation-state concept, hence their affinity for open borders and global citizenship. They are cultural relativists, and view the assertion that Western Civilization is superior as racist. Many Jewish leftists reject the idea that Israel should be a Jewish state; they would prefer that it be a melting pot, blind to ethnic and religious distinctions. The argument that the history of persecution of Jews as minorities in other countries necessitates their own state is a weak rationalization for them, a betrayal of their universalist ideals. Your Israeli flag prop merely reinforces their argument that Israel the Jewish State is discriminatory. They reject the ad's implicit assertion that Muslims should respect a Jewish state because they themselves do not. In contrast, Islamists are not globalists or multiculturalists. They are not looking to transform Israel into a Middle East version of California. They want it to be ruled by Muslims, with any religious minorities left after most of the Jews are expelled to be dhimmis, powerless underlings. If they ruled Israel, chaos would probably reign while the various Islamist militias slugged it out with each other Syria style (or Yemen, Libya or Iraqi style). They would try to impose Sharia law. Women's rights, free speech and other basic rights would go out the window. There would be no democracy. They are not freedom fighters or civil rights activists. The Israeli flag thing is too subtle. You need to spell out in explicit detail how Islamist statements and actions paint them as the fascists that they are. For example, you state : "In the period May 11-16, 2021, Arab rioters set fire to 10 synagogues, 112 Jewish homes and 849 Jewish-owned cars, plus much looting." Put that fact up there, maybe along with some of their hateful pronouncements. If you want to wrap them in a flag, I suggest the flag of jihad or the ISIS flag. Don't be polite. Go for the jugular. After all, this is war. Submitting....
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Daniel Pipes replies: On your final point: Israel is not at war with its own citizens. That is a more subtle matter, so the Israeli flag is appropriate. Reader comments (49) on this item![]() |
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