The Irony that Can Only Befall Israel

What an irony there is occurring in Israel right now. Can any journalist worth the title not see it? Judging from the kinds of coverage we are treated to, my guess would be that the answer is no and that is the greatest irony.

This week, Avigdor Lieberman joined Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition, causing the Arab Knesset members and their supporters to lobby and protest against the move, complete with a full-scale PR campaign.

That they would protest Lieberman's ascendancy is not ironic. The Israel Beiteinu leader is, after all, highly controversial and perhaps even bigoted, and far to the right for their comfort or even for the comfort of many Jewish Israelis.

What is ironic is that the media fail to see something remarkable in this that they cannot see anywhere in the Arab Middle East: A religious and or political minority protesting with the full protection of the law against a political figure who now is also a government minister. If a Jew attempted to launch a similar protest, say, in Iran, about the only thing there would be to cover would be his execution. In Israel, not only may Israeli Arabs protest, they may vote, they may-and do-send their own representatives to the parliament, write and publish as they will, and a whole lot more.

Even the "enemy," so to speak, meaning Palestinians in the territories, the so-called "occupied peoples," have access to and have availed themselves of the Israeli legal system to protest actions they consider unfair-and they often win. Can anyone seriously say that even in "democratic" Baghdad a Jew would be afforded a similar opportunity?

And yet the media-and especially the liberals among them who really should know better-flock to the side of the autocrats and theocrats when Israel is involved. Israel, they proclaim at every opportunity, is the great violator of human rights in the Middle East.

Alas, that is not the only irony. The media seem to see nothing untoward about the criticisms of Lieberman coming from those very same autocrats and theocrats.