The Cause du Jour: Anti-Israel Protests
Yesterday, reports Francis Menton, well-organized, rank anti-sematic protesters blocked various bridges and a tunnel that cross the rivers into Lower Manhattan.
The NY Post headline is “Anti-Israel protesters create commuter chaos at three NYC bridges, Holland Tunnel — over 330 taken into custody.”
The Manhattan Contrarian is among the fortunate. Mr. Menton is not required to navigate any of these crossings on a regular basis. He does note, however, for those caught in this misery, it was a nightmare.
Some of the protesters are Muslims of Middle Eastern origin, but most are not; they’re just run-of-the-mill everyday local leftists for whom being anti-Israel and anti-Jew has become the cause du jour. The Post has a list of some of the organizations behind the latest protests, which include “the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Palestinian Youth Movement.”
And of course, actress Susan Sarandon had to get into the act.
According to the Post: Susan Sarandon . . . said at the protest, “There’s no place for genocide.”
Francis Menton is “struggling” to understand how the treatment of Palestinians by Israelis at all fits the definition of that word (genocide).
Meanwhile, no shortage in the world of behavior that clearly fits the definition of the word genocide without any need to contort its meaning.
But for some reason you won’t find the Democratic Socialists of America or Susan Sarandon or any other leftist group uttering a peep about these real genocides.
No One Protesting Nigerian Genocide
As an example, Mr. Menton uses the ongoing slaughter of Christians by Muslims in Nigeria.
Do you even know about that one? If you do, it’s not from reading the New York Times, or from watching CNN. To get any details, you will need to go to a specialized site that specifically covers this subject.
(Francis Menton) recommends the Gatestone Institute, and its frequent contributor, Raymond Ibrahim. Ibrahim’s most recent post (from January 7) on the ongoing genocide of Nigerian Christians at the hands of Muslims is “’A Gory Christmas’: Christians Slaughtered in the Nigerian Genocide.”
From Ibrahim:
“At least 25 communities across three Local Government Areas [in Plateau State] were targeted. Survivors recounted militia men attacking in large numbers, indiscriminately killing and destroying homes, vehicles, farmlands and other properties. About 37 individuals, primarily women, children and the disabled, were burned to death in their homes. Eight churches and parsonages were also destroyed…”
One follower of the Manhattan Contrarian notes how equitable Muslims are in their treatment of infidels of all non-Muslim faiths: “they send them to Hell with equal vigor, but only if they fail to convert to Islam, the one true religion that also gives converts opportunities to have eternal life with 72 virgins by putting on a bomb vest and blowing up infidels.”
The Big Black Picture
The victims of this genocide, reports Mr. Menton, are all black.
Is that why the left has no interest? They will have to answer that question for themselves.
The big picture is that the North of Nigeria is mostly Muslim, the South mostly Christian; and then there is a middle zone — including the current flashpoint, Plateau State — where the Muslims and Christians live in close proximity. There, the Muslims regularly slaughter the Christians.