APPARENTLY THE POLITICAL LEADERS of NATO’s European communities either forgot about or never heard of Martin Niemöller.
Or perhaps they are about to follow Gandhi’s advice to the Jews and to Churchill’s England.
Either way, the Europeans have once again proved cowardly in the face of a bully.
No one should be surprised.
MARTIN NIEMÖLLER1 (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.
Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Niemöller was the first name that came to mind as I read the Israel HaYom headline:
NATO chief says alliance won't aid Israel if Iran attacks2
Imagine if the U.S. had that stance in 1943. Europe and England national flags would be nazi swastikas. Hong Kong, Korea, much of China, and Shanghai flags would be Japan’s red ball.
But then I thought of Gandhi. Like NATO’s European members, Gandhi was a pacifist. He was such an extreme pacifist that:
In a 1938 essay, Mohandas ("Mahatma") Gandhi, the spiritual and political leader of the Indian independence movement, counseled Jews in Nazi Germany to neither flee nor resist but rather offer themselves up to be killed by their enemies, since their "suffering voluntarily undergone will bring them an inner strength and joy."3
To be fair to Gandhi, not satisfied with telling the Jews to go happily to the slaughter. In the spring of 1940, Gandhi wrote to the British viceroy of India4 and advised surrender to the Germans, whose tanks were rolling over Western Europe:
“This manslaughter must be stopped. You are losing; if you persist, it will only result in greater bloodshed. Hitler is not a bad man....”
Then, on July 4, 1940, he wrote an open letter to the British people:
“Let them take possession of your beautiful island with your many beautiful buildings. You will give all these, but neither your souls, nor your minds.”
Perhaps the European NATO members are afraid of a Muslim Fifth Column in their midst, or, perhaps, the leaders believe – albeit falsely – that BECAUSE their countries have been more or less overrun by Muslims, Iran will have mercy on therm and attack only Israel, U.S. interests, and very likely Saudi Arabia since it’s brand of Islam is not Iran’s brand of Islam.
The European heroes of NATO are correct: Israel is NOT part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a/k/a NATO.
Yet Turkey and Greece are members and neither has a border on the Atlantic Ocean. As the map, below, clearly shows, there are a number of member countries that lack an “Atlantic” connection. (Click on map to enlarge.)
Perhaps the Eurocowards’ support is NOT unnecessary.
Israel assuredly will receive, after the first dozen of so Iranian rockets land on Israeli cities, some support from a typically slow-to-react U.S. government. It is more likely that some of Israel’s neighbors will respond with whatever limited resources they have against the Iranians.
Unlike the U.S., always concerned about “collateral damage” (read “civilian causalities”), Israel’s Muslim neighbors may not be so restrained. Certainly Israel will retaliate in a manner the UN’s and U.S. State Department’s anti-Israel personnel will declare “not proportional” as they count bodies.
Syria, with its Iranian Revolutionary Guards contingents, can expect to have more than a few attacks from Israel to assure it – and Hezbollah in Syrian Lebanon – never will threaten Israel again.
HOPEFULLY, Iran will continue to be satisfied with saber rattling and castigating the Great and Little Satans with bellicose rhetoric.
One thing the belligerents need to bear in mind: No matter WHERE a nuclear bomb falls, the radioactive particles will “dust” a considerable area populated by both friends and foe. Some people in the area – e.g., U.S. and Russian troops – have suitable clothing to protect themselves. In Israel, newer residences include rooms that can be sealed against chemical weapons; how well they will protect against a nuclear weapon remains an unknown.
A close look at the map (above) suggests that the European NATO leaders may be in more danger than they realize from the fallout.
The European NATO members who so quickly point out that Israel is NOT a NATO member and that Israel should expect zero aid from a European NATO member perhaps should re-think their attitude. Like it or not, a nuclear weapon exploding in Israel probably will scatter fallout on the European NATO members’ countries.
Sources
1. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392
2. http://tinyurl.com/yaxebgyf
3. http://tinyurl.com/y9leevll
4. http://tinyurl.com/y9zdb736
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