Yesterday in Manchester, right during the time when Jews celebrate Yom Kippur, there was an Islamist attack on a synagogue. In the midst of the ongoing war in Gaza, this appalling act once again fueled passions on both sides. On top of that, more than forty vessels of the Flotilla for Gaza were intercepted yesterday by the Israeli navy. Emotions are escalating to the highest possible level.
Since morning, a Jewish acquaintance has been flooding me with manipulative posts, including one where some imam — God knows where, speaking to God knows whom, at God knows when — claims that Islam will take over Europe. Meanwhile, another demonstration is planned here in London tomorrow in support of Palestine Action, which was declared a terrorist organization after attacks on British military facilities. The leadership of the London police asked the organizers to postpone the protest, because officers now, in the immediate aftermath of the Manchester attack, must protect every synagogue in the city. In vain.
I try in vain to explain to that Jewish acquaintance that it’s manipulative bullshit, deliberately spread by the author who relies on useful idiots like him to keep spreading it. I try in vain to explain to other friends that the Flotilla for Gaza is just a carefully orchestrated PR stunt by Hamas, and that Western activists led by the faded star of the environmental movement Greta Thunberg have served just as well as useful idiots.
I feel as if I’ve suddenly and unwillingly found myself in the position of a referee in the middle of a heated football match, where the competing teams are made up entirely of useful idiots, coached from the sidelines by extremists. Maybe they’ll all turn on me in the end and tear me to pieces, but they will never force me to abandon reason.
Because this is NOT a football match!