Personally, I think this connects to something even bigger. We often say that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. In much the same way, a great deal of the world's obsession with blaming Israel is simply another form of antisemitism.
If a local problem needs a scapegoat, the Jews become the scapegoat. If an international problem needs a scapegoat, Israel becomes the scapegoat. The scale changes, but the mechanism remains remarkably similar.
Is every criticism of Israel antisemitic? Of course not. Just as not every criticism of a Jew is antisemitic. But when Israel is blamed for problems it did not create, judged by standards applied to no other country, and treated as uniquely responsible for the world's failures, we are no longer talking about ordinary criticism.
At that point, Israel has simply become the Jewish scapegoat among nations.
Which raises the larger question. Why, throughout history, have Jews so often become the preferred scapegoat for societies facing problems of their own making?
That, in many ways, is the real conversation hiding underneath all the others.
Here is a summary of how Switzerland, Germany and several Arab states handled the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its radical offshoots to prevent domestic terror attacks, along with the historical references. [1]
Summary of Payoffs and Capitulation
Switzerland (Direct Secret Pact): Following devastating attacks—including the mid-air bombing of a Swissair flight in 1970—Swiss authorities established a secret, decades-long agreement. They traded political diplomatic legitimacy and covert concessions for a guarantee that Swiss targets would no longer be hit.
West Germany (Political and Judicial Extortion):
Unlike Switzerland, West Germany avoided direct cash "protection money" but bought its safety through severe diplomatic and judicial capitulation. Following the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, West German authorities conducted secret meetings with the Black September organization to buy peace on German soil. They routinely rushed to release captured terrorists during hijackings, dropped criminal investigations, and even deliberately refused to extradite the mastermind behind the Munich attacks to keep the peace. [2, 3, 4, 5]
Arab States (Direct Subsidies): Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, wealthy Arab League nations—most notably [Saudi Arabia](https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/01z215) and [Kuwait](https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/047yc)—provided major direct financial subsidies to the PLO. These payments operated simultaneously as support for the Palestinian cause and as "protection money" to ensure their own oil-rich regimes remained safe from PLO-instigated subversion or violence. [1, 6]
Swiss Historian Investigations (2016): The publication of the book Swiss Terror Years (Schweizer Terrorjahre) by journalist Marcel Gyr uncovered the hidden 1970 Geneva meeting between Swiss Minister Pierre Graber and PLO operatives. [1]
On Arab States Subsidies:
[Encyclopedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization): The historical profile on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) details how the group financially depended on sympathetic host countries to fund its operations and sustain its regional presence. [6]
It is deeply troubling that the UN chose to honor and accept Yasser Arafraud in 1974 — a man with the blood of thousands of innocent victims on his hands, who had not taken any concrete steps toward peace and chose terror campaigns to destabilized many parts of the Middle East (Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Israel) and terrorize Eurabia.
Arafraud was invited to address the United Nations General Assembly in 1974 because the international community officially recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the representative of the Palestinian people. Backed by a regional diplomatic breakthrough and a changing global political alignment, the UN sought to include Palestinian national claims directly within its formal diplomatic channels. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Summary of Key Drivers
Arab League Endorsement:
At the Rabat Summit in October 1974, Arab leaders unanimously declared the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people," shifting the official responsibility for Palestinian diplomacy away from Jordan. [1, 2]
UN Resolution 3210: On October 14, 1974, a coalition of 71 nations sponsored and passed [UN General Assembly Resolution 3210] (https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/109) with a 105–4 vote.
This resolution formally invited the PLO to participate in plenary deliberations on the "Question of Palestine". [6, 7]
Third World Bloc Support:
A growing voting bloc of newly independent African, Asian, and Non-Aligned Movement states viewed the PLO through the lens of national liberation, providing the necessary majority to grant Arafat an international stage. [1, 7]
Impact and Aftermath
On November 13, 1974, Arafraud became the first representative of a non-governmental entity to address a UN plenary session. His speech famously contrasted an olive branch with a freedom fighter's gun. Following this appearance, the UN General Assembly approved [Resolution 3237] (https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/110) on November 22, 1974, granting the PLO official [UN Observer Status] (https://www.nad.ps/en/media-room/media-brief/palestine-and-united-nations-70-years). [2, 8, 9]
References
UN Documents: [UN General Assembly Resolution 3210 (XXIX)] (https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/189832) (October 14, 1974) and UN General Assembly Resolution 3237 (November 22, 1974).
The beam in one’s own eye” is a proverb and a biblical metaphor: “why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?” although the new testament quotes this idea, those who read it often do not recognize it in themselves. it is as if israel were at war for its own amusement; they are afflicted by a blindness that prevents them from seeing why they are fighting. no nation would tolerate such treatment toward itself, yet israel is expected to tolerate it. over the last fifteen years, perhaps even longer, the wound has only become more infected, and the holy scriptures do not present any improvement before the fulfillment of the new covenant. those who are called antisemitic should already understand that they themselves are living in falsehood; in their blindness they are doing exactly what they expect some future beast to do. israel is deeply bound to the promises of the torah. before those promises are fulfilled, its opponents will bear upon themselves all the crimes that israel has committed, in addition to their own.
The Judeo-Christian Western tradition is under siege from the inside and the outside. Marxist European politicians are gutting Western civilization. Leftists are ideologues who are operating surreptitiously to grab power in higher education, NGOs, the media, etc. Now Marxists outnumber conservatives 50 to 1 at many universities. Marxists are slow learners who don't do history too good. And if Israel gets sacrificed so that the "oppressed" (insert group name here), Marxists see this is as a price worth paying.
The American colonies were supposed to be the “New Jerusalem,” founded on economic opportunity and the “hands to work, hearts to G-d” mentality. Culture in the Anglo-sphere did not tolerate sloth or excuse-making. The individual was expected to “do one’s best” based on “G-d given abilities.”
Social contracts were based upon trust: trust that your Government, Church, Civic, leaders, at all levels, were working toward securing a better future for all, regardless of political and religious affiliation.
The mantras of “Palestinians are partners for peace,” and “Islam is a religion of peace,” are fictitious. Islamic culture and societies are not based on love for G-d , fellow man, hard work. We can save our country by returning to the American System of Political Economy. Economy based on production and skilled labor, rather than financialism and debt slavery. Economic Security is National Security
A nice summary by Ms. Berg; however, I have one minor disagreement with a comment in the last paragraph. Western leaders, whether government, academia, or NGO, have no problem identifying their friends and enemies. See the excellent summary below from "The Holy Land News." Follow the money. Those who continue to pour money into reelection campaigns, endowment funds, targeted NGO funding, are identified as "friends." Those who would actively resist or attempt to uncover this fraud are the "enemy." Simple.
Vanessa, good article.
Personally, I think this connects to something even bigger. We often say that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. In much the same way, a great deal of the world's obsession with blaming Israel is simply another form of antisemitism.
If a local problem needs a scapegoat, the Jews become the scapegoat. If an international problem needs a scapegoat, Israel becomes the scapegoat. The scale changes, but the mechanism remains remarkably similar.
Is every criticism of Israel antisemitic? Of course not. Just as not every criticism of a Jew is antisemitic. But when Israel is blamed for problems it did not create, judged by standards applied to no other country, and treated as uniquely responsible for the world's failures, we are no longer talking about ordinary criticism.
At that point, Israel has simply become the Jewish scapegoat among nations.
Which raises the larger question. Why, throughout history, have Jews so often become the preferred scapegoat for societies facing problems of their own making?
That, in many ways, is the real conversation hiding underneath all the others.
Here is a summary of how Switzerland, Germany and several Arab states handled the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its radical offshoots to prevent domestic terror attacks, along with the historical references. [1]
Summary of Payoffs and Capitulation
Switzerland (Direct Secret Pact): Following devastating attacks—including the mid-air bombing of a Swissair flight in 1970—Swiss authorities established a secret, decades-long agreement. They traded political diplomatic legitimacy and covert concessions for a guarantee that Swiss targets would no longer be hit.
West Germany (Political and Judicial Extortion):
Unlike Switzerland, West Germany avoided direct cash "protection money" but bought its safety through severe diplomatic and judicial capitulation. Following the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, West German authorities conducted secret meetings with the Black September organization to buy peace on German soil. They routinely rushed to release captured terrorists during hijackings, dropped criminal investigations, and even deliberately refused to extradite the mastermind behind the Munich attacks to keep the peace. [2, 3, 4, 5]
Arab States (Direct Subsidies): Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, wealthy Arab League nations—most notably [Saudi Arabia](https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/01z215) and [Kuwait](https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/047yc)—provided major direct financial subsidies to the PLO. These payments operated simultaneously as support for the Palestinian cause and as "protection money" to ensure their own oil-rich regimes remained safe from PLO-instigated subversion or violence. [1, 6]
On West Germany's Capitulation:
Der Spiegel Investigation (2012): Declassified documents published in the article ["Germany Maintained Contacts with Palestinians after Munich Massacre"](https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/germany-maintained-contacts-with-palestinians-after-munich-massacre-a-852322.html) exposed how the German government initiated secret diplomacy to appease the PLO weeks after the 1972 Olympics.
MIT Press / Journal of Cold War Studies (2023): The academic paper ["Covert Diplomacy to Overcome a Crisis"]
(https://direct.mit.edu/jcws/article/25/4/101/118945/Covert-Diplomacy-to-Overcome-a-Crisis-West-German) provides a granular breakdown of how Germany coordinated with hijackers to release imprisoned terrorists during the Lufthansa Kiel incident. [1, 2, 3]
On the Switzerland Secret Deal:
Swiss Historian Investigations (2016): The publication of the book Swiss Terror Years (Schweizer Terrorjahre) by journalist Marcel Gyr uncovered the hidden 1970 Geneva meeting between Swiss Minister Pierre Graber and PLO operatives. [1]
On Arab States Subsidies:
[Encyclopedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization): The historical profile on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) details how the group financially depended on sympathetic host countries to fund its operations and sustain its regional presence. [6]
[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Liberation_Organization)
[2] [https://www.spiegel.de](https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/germany-maintained-contacts-with-palestinians-after-munich-massacre-a-852322.html)
[3] [https://direct.mit.edu](https://direct.mit.edu/jcws/article/25/4/101/118945/Covert-Diplomacy-to-Overcome-a-Crisis-West-German)
[4] [https://www.bmi.bund.de](https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/EN/2023/04/historikerkommission.html)
[5] [https://www.britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-massacre)
[6] [https://www.britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization)
It is deeply troubling that the UN chose to honor and accept Yasser Arafraud in 1974 — a man with the blood of thousands of innocent victims on his hands, who had not taken any concrete steps toward peace and chose terror campaigns to destabilized many parts of the Middle East (Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Israel) and terrorize Eurabia.
Arafraud was invited to address the United Nations General Assembly in 1974 because the international community officially recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the representative of the Palestinian people. Backed by a regional diplomatic breakthrough and a changing global political alignment, the UN sought to include Palestinian national claims directly within its formal diplomatic channels. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Summary of Key Drivers
Arab League Endorsement:
At the Rabat Summit in October 1974, Arab leaders unanimously declared the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people," shifting the official responsibility for Palestinian diplomacy away from Jordan. [1, 2]
UN Resolution 3210: On October 14, 1974, a coalition of 71 nations sponsored and passed [UN General Assembly Resolution 3210] (https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/109) with a 105–4 vote.
This resolution formally invited the PLO to participate in plenary deliberations on the "Question of Palestine". [6, 7]
Third World Bloc Support:
A growing voting bloc of newly independent African, Asian, and Non-Aligned Movement states viewed the PLO through the lens of national liberation, providing the necessary majority to grant Arafat an international stage. [1, 7]
Impact and Aftermath
On November 13, 1974, Arafraud became the first representative of a non-governmental entity to address a UN plenary session. His speech famously contrasted an olive branch with a freedom fighter's gun. Following this appearance, the UN General Assembly approved [Resolution 3237] (https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/110) on November 22, 1974, granting the PLO official [UN Observer Status] (https://www.nad.ps/en/media-room/media-brief/palestine-and-united-nations-70-years). [2, 8, 9]
References
UN Documents: [UN General Assembly Resolution 3210 (XXIX)] (https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/189832) (October 14, 1974) and UN General Assembly Resolution 3237 (November 22, 1974).
Historical Overviews: The [Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Historical Documents] (https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/33-general-assembly-resolution-3210-invitation-to-the-plo-14-october-1974) and the [Rabat Summit Documentation on Wikipedia] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat). [2, 10, 11]
[1] [https://www.joelsinger.org](https://www.joelsinger.org/my-first-encounter-with-yasser-arafat/)
[2] [https://en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat)
[3] [https://www.instagram.com](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN_mq-OE8gN/)
[4] [https://ojs.unito.it](https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/kervan/article/download/7729/6519/26020)
[5] [https://www.nad.ps](https://www.nad.ps/en/media-room/media-brief/palestine-and-united-nations-70-years)
[6] [https://ecf.org.il](https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/109)
[7] [https://www.gov.il](https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/33-general-assembly-resolution-3210-invitation-to-the-plo-14-october-1974)
[8] [https://www.instagram.com](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN_mq-OE8gN/)
[9] [https://ecf.org.il](https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/110)
[10][https://blogs.timesofisrael.com](https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-the-un-legitimized-the-palestinian-cause/)
[11] [https://www.facebook.com](https://www.facebook.com/trtworld/videos/history-seems-to-be-repeating-itself-after-the-uns-palestinian-delegation-was-bl/1486752969295321/)
9/11 Rememberances will be very telling 🤔
GOD BLESS ISRAEL AND ITS PEOPLE
The beam in one’s own eye” is a proverb and a biblical metaphor: “why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?” although the new testament quotes this idea, those who read it often do not recognize it in themselves. it is as if israel were at war for its own amusement; they are afflicted by a blindness that prevents them from seeing why they are fighting. no nation would tolerate such treatment toward itself, yet israel is expected to tolerate it. over the last fifteen years, perhaps even longer, the wound has only become more infected, and the holy scriptures do not present any improvement before the fulfillment of the new covenant. those who are called antisemitic should already understand that they themselves are living in falsehood; in their blindness they are doing exactly what they expect some future beast to do. israel is deeply bound to the promises of the torah. before those promises are fulfilled, its opponents will bear upon themselves all the crimes that israel has committed, in addition to their own.
The Judeo-Christian Western tradition is under siege from the inside and the outside. Marxist European politicians are gutting Western civilization. Leftists are ideologues who are operating surreptitiously to grab power in higher education, NGOs, the media, etc. Now Marxists outnumber conservatives 50 to 1 at many universities. Marxists are slow learners who don't do history too good. And if Israel gets sacrificed so that the "oppressed" (insert group name here), Marxists see this is as a price worth paying.
The American colonies were supposed to be the “New Jerusalem,” founded on economic opportunity and the “hands to work, hearts to G-d” mentality. Culture in the Anglo-sphere did not tolerate sloth or excuse-making. The individual was expected to “do one’s best” based on “G-d given abilities.”
Social contracts were based upon trust: trust that your Government, Church, Civic, leaders, at all levels, were working toward securing a better future for all, regardless of political and religious affiliation.
The mantras of “Palestinians are partners for peace,” and “Islam is a religion of peace,” are fictitious. Islamic culture and societies are not based on love for G-d , fellow man, hard work. We can save our country by returning to the American System of Political Economy. Economy based on production and skilled labor, rather than financialism and debt slavery. Economic Security is National Security
A nice summary by Ms. Berg; however, I have one minor disagreement with a comment in the last paragraph. Western leaders, whether government, academia, or NGO, have no problem identifying their friends and enemies. See the excellent summary below from "The Holy Land News." Follow the money. Those who continue to pour money into reelection campaigns, endowment funds, targeted NGO funding, are identified as "friends." Those who would actively resist or attempt to uncover this fraud are the "enemy." Simple.