Page 4 - HaMizrachi #32 RH-YK 2021 USA

statehood in the Land of Israel in any in Durban. This conference, which was As mentioned, instead of supporting
size, shape or form. 3 supposed to tackle racism, turned into Israel for its moral and defensive stance
a hate fest of prejudice and racism against a breach of its sovereignty and
Flu and Covid viruses spread quickly
and are transmitted even through against Israel. Every international ongoing rocket fire, many around
the world sided with Hamas. Despite
human rights issue was trivialized
breathing. The ability for airborne
transmission without any physical while democratic Israel was accused of uprooting its own citizens from Gaza,
relinquishing land and doing its utmost
the greatest crimes against humanity.
contact makes it particularly prone to
spreading in pandemic proportions. So Israel-stigmatization dominated the not to harm Palestinian civilians, Israel
was increasingly and disgracefully
whole conference.
too the spread of ideas today. The great
transformation of global information As Bernard-Henri Levy, one of France’s smeared for its actions. The virus
was clearly spreading in pandemic
technology, particularly the internet, leading public intellectuals noted:
created an unparalleled medium of “Some 6,000 NGO representatives invited to proportions.
connectivity for carriers of cultural the event slid easily from rabid anti-Zionism Needless to say, since the virus is rooted
change. Unfiltered information can to good old-fashioned antisemitism... It was in classic Jew hatred, each operation
now spread further and faster than Act 1 of neo-antisemitism. Never had we was followed by acts of violence against
ever before. Prejudicial views can witnessed its full expression on such a scale Jews around the world. It can no longer
spread contagiously in ways unimag- and with such a dark force.” 4 be argued that Israel’s policies in the
inable even a generation ago. Respon- ‘territories’ is the issue, but rather Isra-
sible checks and balances and global The virus had not only successfully el’s very right to exist as a Jewish State.
mechanisms and institutions are yet to mutated but now had ‘carriers’ from Attacks on Israel are no longer about
be created to curb this global dissemi- countries throughout the world. The politics but about prejudice, and criti-
nation of hatred. mechanism for an immoral contagion cisms of the Jewish State are no longer
was in place. policy but moral perversion.
Twenty years of pandemics What made the discriminatory con- Thankfully, viruses can be conquered.
in the making clusion of the Durban Conference so Not all can be eradicated but they can
abhorrent was that it came only a year be overcome by living alongside them
Since the turn of the century, I have after the most generous peace offer the
noticed some parallels between the Palestinians had ever received at the without surrendering to them.
spread and mutations of biological Camp David Summit. The Palestinians May 5782 be a year of great healing
viruses and that of the virus of antisem- were offered the opportunity to estab- and discovering better ways to protect
itism and Israel demonization. Indeed, lish their own State, free of settlements ourselves from the viral variants, both
the threat of a global pandemic has in the West Bank and Gaza, with a capi- biological and moral, and a year of inoc-
been lurking for almost 20 years. The ulations of moral and spiritual truth,
Covid-19 virus is officially known as the tal in East Jerusalem. Incredibly, and to justice and fairness in combating the
the dismay of President Clinton, Arafat
SARS-COV2 virus and is actually a muta- world’s oldest hatred.
tion of the SARS1 virus, which began to rejected the offer.  Part 2 will appear in the upcoming Sukkot
spread in 2002. SARS stands for Severe How could absolute Palestinian denial- edition of HaMizrachi.
Acute Respiratory Syndrome. SARS1 ism of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish
spread rapidly between 2002–2004. In State be rewarded by a UN conference
2005, there was a significant spread of criticizing Israel of the most horrific 1 Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Future Tense, pp. 91–92.
the Avian or Bird Flu. Between 2013– human rights violations, while fully
In the next edition of HaMizrachi, I will focus on
2016, the world experienced the deadly absolving the other side? The virus was 2 another two: its parasitic nature, i.e., it cannot
spread of the Ebola virus, and begin- clearly infecting its hosts. reproduce without finding a host organism, and
ning in late 2019, SARS-COV2, Covid-19, how it corrupts the host.
the most hazardous of all. Disengagement, denialism 3 See HaMizrachi Vol. 4 No. 3, p. 3, Tisha B’Av
Coupled with the reality of global air and demonization edition (mizrachi.org/hamizrachi/archive). The
Gaon’s explanation sees Moav as the root of spir-
travel today, the pandemic is a menace The plague of Israel demonization itual antisemitism, Edom as wishing to physically
to overcome. Israel is a prime example, would continue to spread. In 2005, destroy the Jewish people and the Philistinesּ as
having had as few as two cases a day in Israel implemented the Gaza Disen- opposing any Jewish sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael
February and at the time of writing, up gagement, uprooting all 9,000 civil- (Aderet Eliyahu, Chavakuk 3:14).
to 7,000 a day mainly due to the open- ians who had settled in the Gush Katif 4 The Jerusalem Post, Friday, August 13, 2021, p. 19.
ing of the skies and the intrusion of the area. However, instead of responding 5 Over the last 14 years, Hamas has forced Israel
Delta variant. to defend itself in five different operations: 2008,
in kind, choosing peace, reconciliation Hot Winter; 2008/2009, Cast Lead; 2012, Pillars of
Incredibly, a parallel phenomenon and freedom, Gazans chose Hamas in Defense, 2014, Protective Edge and 2021, Guard-
occurred with the antisemitism virus, their last democratic election to date, in ians of The Walls.
as its new mutation into Israel demon- 2007. With full control of Gaza, Hamas
ization began to threaten as a potential chose a path of death, denialism and Rabbi Doron Perez is the Executive Chairman
pandemic in 2001 at the UN Conference destruction. 5 of World Mizrachi.

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