By: Gašper Blažič
Lady Astor, considered the first female representative in the British Parliament, was known for her sharp wit and her often acerbic exchanges with the British statesman Winston Churchill. Several anecdotes have arisen from their interactions. One of them tells of a debate where Lady Astor sarcastically remarked to Churchill that if she were his wife, she would put poison in his tea. Churchill replied, “If I were your husband, I would drink it with pleasure.”
Do you understand the point? You might wonder if this anecdote has anything to do with the current domestic and international political situation. Oh yes, it does, and very much so. The anecdote hints at how some characters find it difficult to live together. Many would think of Palestinians and Israelis in this context, who have been in constant conflict since the establishment of the present Jewish state in 1948, entirely surrounded by (dangerous) Arab neighbours. In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Yasser Arafat, signed the Oslo Accord, for which they were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. However, it became evident that the accord would not bring about lasting peace. The ongoing Palestinian uprising, known as the Intifada, continued and persists to this day. Its main proponent is Hamas, a terrorist organisation that significantly increased its influence on Palestinian official policy after Arafat’s death. When you ask Palestinians about the Oslo Accord, they will explain that, in their view, it was a total defeat and capitulation for them.
It should be recognised that this terrorist organisation is not only a threat to Israel but to the entire West. Until the fateful Saturday, October 7th, we were not sufficiently aware of this. Globally, an (unholy) coalition or axis of evil is forming, extending from Pyongyang through Beijing, Moscow, all the way to Tehran and Gaza. As a result, the danger of military conflict is greater than ever before. Unfortunately, this is also due to the Chamberlain-like blindness of the European Union, which, despite its declarative condemnation of the attacks on Israel, refuses to cease further financing of the Palestinians. The greatest victims of this situation are the minority Palestinian Christians, who are being killed by both Hamas and Israeli rockets.
Yes, it is true: Israel has been a militarily offensive state from the very beginning, and Hamas is well aware of this. That is why they repeatedly sacrifice Palestinian civilians as their “cannon food” to purportedly demonstrate the alleged criminality of the “Zionists” to the world. Does this remind you of anything? For example, it reminds me of the actions of the Slovenian Communist Party and its present-day successors. Let’s recall the “famous” Battle of Dražgoše, which was not really a battle but a terrible tragedy and a bloody cost for the communist provocation of the German occupiers. And, of course, today’s young revolutionaries, who would like to continue the crimes of their ancestors and kill the “descendants of collaborators”, suddenly find that Adolf Hitler, whom they so often attribute to others, is actually their idol. If you have been closely following social media, you may have seen how many far-leftists, including in Slovenia, celebrated Hamas’s brutal attack on October 7th on social media and expressed the desire to see Israel permanently erased. Photos of Adolf Hitler also surfaced. Given the common socialist foundation of our left (Levica party), Bolsheviks, Nazis, and Islamists, this is not surprising at all. Even in Islamic radicalism, the dignity of a person as an individual counts for absolutely nothing because a person’s life is always in the service of “higher goals”.
Whether it is the Intifada or the National Liberation War (NOB), in both cases, we are dealing with violent revolutionary uprisings in which casualties are considered acceptable, often under the pretext of a struggle for liberation. Recent threats by masked individuals to participants in the March for Life are additional evidence that Hamas has its sympathisers in Slovenia, some of whom even have a representative in the government coalition. This representative holds significant influence in the government, similar to Hamas’s role in Palestinian politics. No normal European democratic option can coexist with such a totalitarian organisation.