The Troubling Historical Context of European funded Breaking the Silence

The release of a United Nations [UN] report on the deaths of Gazan civilians in UN shelters during the summer 2014 war between Israel and Hamas has served as the launching pad for another campaign to smear Israel. Breaking the Silence, a group that travels the world undermining Israel’s moral standing by presenting alleged testimonies of Israeli soldiers committing unconscionable acts against Palestinian civilians, is saturating news outlets with articles promoting its 240-page report consisting of testimonials alleging Israeli cruelty and reckless disregard for the safety of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Breaking the Silence is funded by a roster of organizations that seek to undermine Israel’s moral standing and force it into making concessions that would leave it vulnerable. Among the major donors are the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the European Union, several European Catholic organizations, including the German-based Miseroer and Flemish-based Broederlijk Delen, George Soros’s Open Society, and a number of organizations funded by the far-left New Israel Fund. These organizations fund a bevy of groups dedicated to defaming and undermining the Jewish state. A Swiss organization, Pro Victimis claims that its special emphasis is addressing violence against women. But somehow it found 273,000 NIS to donate to Breaking the Silence.

The Norwegian, Flemish and German representations to groups that smear the only sovereign Jewish state is troubling when one recalls the historical context; This is especially so concerning the involvement of Catholic Church affiliated groups. There is a seamy underside to the history of Church dealings with Europe’s Jews, involving the enlistment of disaffected Jews who were willing to villify and bear false witness against the Jewish community for self-serving reasons.

There is also more recent history. Aside from the obvious German link, Norway and Belgium were notable for collaborationist tendencies during World War II. Despite their relatively small populations, sufficient numbers of volunteers from both countries enabled the formation of entire SS divisions, suggesting a fertile soil for anti-Jewish animus among elements of the populations in both countries. In Belgium, the Flemish contributed a number of SS units, although it was from the French-speaking Walloons that the most fanatical SS foreign auxiliaries were drawn in 1945, led by the founder of the Catholic fascist Rexist party. Is this just distant history or is their still a deeply rooted animus lurking just beneath the surface that passes itself off as Christian humanitarian concern for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank?

As has been noted in this blog many times before, the Palestinians in the West Bank and even in Gaza are not anywhere near the most deprived or suffering group in the Middle East. With unmitigated atrocities occurring all over the region, the unchanging focus of these so-called humanitarian groups on alleged Israeli actions, backed up by vast funds handed over to groups that engage in overt political agitation against the region’s only functioning democracy, is morally indefensible.