Ministers accused of racism after removing hostage-taking badges
The decision by the British and French foreign ministers to remove the yellow badges in support of the hostages before a meeting with a Palestinian Authority leader was not only appalling and cowardly – it was also downright racist.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné wore the yellow pins when they met with the Israeli foreign minister last Friday, but removed the pins later that day before meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa.
This fear of offending a Palestinian Arab leader is, of course, reminiscent of the behaviour of the British and French towards the Nazis in the 1930s. Of course there are differences, but no one can deny that the spirit of appeasement displayed by the British and French last weekend is reminiscent of some of the worst times in recent history.
British and French politicians had the opportunity last weekend to show that their governments had learned the lessons of the 1930s and were prepared to confront the leader of a regime of terror rather than appease him. Instead, they demonstrated that they had learned nothing from history by parroting Chamberlain rather than Churchill.
The behavior of the British and French is also a slap in the face of the United States. At least eight Americans are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The yellow pin represents them as well as the Israeli and other non-American hostages. Removing this pin essentially means that the British and French governments do not care in the slightest about the fate of the American hostages.
Not only was this an act of cowardly appeasement and an insult to all Americans, it was also deeply racist.
Meaning behind pin removal
By removing their pins, the British and French suggested that a Palestinian Arab leader could not be expected to oppose the kidnapping, starvation and torture of innocent civilians. They say there is something inherently barbaric about Palestinian Arabs that compels them to support evil hostage-takers and gang rapists.
If the British and French foreign ministers had met with any other foreign leader, they would probably have kept their pins on. But when a Palestinian Arab entered the room, they said to each other: “This guy is a Palestinian Arab – so he must support the hostage takers. We’d better take our pins off so we don’t offend him! He can’t help it; he might get angry if he sees that we are against the hostage taking of innocent people!”
If that’s not racist, what is?
Michael Gerson, speechwriter for President George W. Bush, coined a phrase that perfectly describes this attitude: “the gentle bigotry of low expectations.”
The British and French treat Palestinian Arabs as if they were beasts or cavemen, incapable of meeting the basic standards of decency of civilized people. They say that the bar must be set lower for Palestinian Arabs than for other peoples because Palestinian Arabs are incapable of doing better.
This is extremely ironic, since the British and French also repeatedly claim that the Palestinian Authority is moderate and must be given its own sovereign state. Yet by claiming that the Palestinian Authority supports hostage-taking and cannot help but sympathise with Hamas terrorists, they are effectively admitting that a Palestinian state would be a dangerous terrorist state.
By saying that the PA is opposed to the release of the hostages, the British and French are admitting that the PA leadership is made up of incorrigible terrorists and terrorist sympathizers. They are saying that the PA will always harbor terrorists and refuse to hand them over to law enforcement, will always pay salaries to imprisoned terrorists and bonuses to their families, and will always teach its children to hate Jews and seek the destruction of Israel.
If that is the case, why on earth would the Israelis ever agree to the establishment of a state of Palestine in their neighboring country?
The author is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel, a pro-Israel advocacy and educational organization.
