The unholy coalition of radical Islam and social Leftists in Europe

Two people wearing Israeli flags are told to leave by a protest organizer during a pro-Palestinian demonstration against Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip. (photo credit:REUTERS)

What began as a submission to the Arab embargo has resulted in more than 40 years of non-stop incitement, propaganda and constant condemnation of Israel.

Israeli discourse about Europe often falls victim to generalizations. The Right claims that Europe is anti-Semitic, that Europe is already lost. The Left claims that we should not engage with European parties from the Right, falsely associating them with fascism. Reality is far more complex: Since the infamous Arab oil embargo after the Yom Kippur war, social leftists have created an unholy coalition with radical Islamists. Although efforts have been made to keep this alliance hidden, or disguised as “support for Palestine” or “legitimate criticism of Israel,” recent events in European parliaments and local city councils clearly show it is alive and well.

First, it goes without saying that there has always been an anti-Semitic base in Europe, historically rooted in religion. According to a 2012 study by the ADL, 21.6 percent of respondents in 10 major European countries – some 60 million people – agree that the Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus. However, when you include attitudes about the Jewish state, you get approximately 45% of respondents in seven European countries agreeing that “Israel is conducting a war of extermination against the Palestinians,” according to a 2011 Bielefeld University study. In addition, in the ADL study already referred to we get 31.5% of respondents in 10 countries choosing “possibly true” of three anti-Semitic stereotypes. It seems that above the basic religiously- motivated anti-Semitism, there must be another factor causing so many Europeans to hold anti-Jewish views. This is where the “unholy coalition” comes into action.

In her great book Eurabia, Bat Ye’Or (Gisele Littman) unveils the beginning of the anti-Israeli propaganda in Europe. Already amid the Yom Kippur War, in October 16, 1973, Arab countries gathered in Kuwait. The decided to raise oil prices by 400% and decrease oil production by 5% per month until Israel retreated to the 1967 borders. In light of these threats, Germany and France panicked. On November 9, nine members of the European Economic Community (ECC) issued a declaration from Brussels of three new principles regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. The most important was the third, which stated that, “The legitimate rights of the Palestinians must be included in any peace agreement in the Middle East.” Basically, The ECC acknowledged the existence and rights of the Palestinians for the first time. This is why to this day, many high-profile European officials claim that “one of the main sources for unrest in the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The author is a writer and researcher of anti-Semitism and Israel-Europe relations, a student of law and political science at Bar-Ilan University and an intern in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

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