How is a rational person to deal with someone under the influence of Israel Derangement Syndrome? One possibility: Don’t waste your time with such a person.
By Alan G. Futerman and Walter E. Block
Participants march way up Fifth Avenue in New York City during the annual Israel Day Parade on June 4, 2023 | Photo: Getty Images / Ryan Rahman
There is a new virus that has been spreading all over the world. It is called Israel Derangement Syndrome. It is especially virulent at prestigious university campuses, newsrooms and left-wing political parties the world over. It consists of simply being unable to see any merit in the Israeli side in its present battle with Hamas, and also, to see any fault with the latter group of terrorists. As early as October 8, 2023, one day after one of the worst, most vicious attacks on civilians in all of history, those afflicted with IDS were blaming the victims.
Consider trying to show someone suffering from IDS the error of his ways. If you show him pictures, he’ll claim they’re fake; show him videos, he’ll claim they are created by AI; show him testimonies, he’ll say they are lies; show him documents, he’ll claim they are fabricated; show him audio, he’ll claim they are hoaxes; show him historical facts, he’ll claim they never happened or are lies; show him the videos uploaded by Hamas assassins themselves, he’ll claim that Israelis died of “friendly fire” anyway; show him that even if Israelis died as a result of “friendly fire”, this was in the course of eliminating the Hamas invaders and as a consequence of Hamas genocidal invasion, he’ll claim that in fact it was all a false flag because the border “could not have been easily overcome by Hamas” (paraphrase); show him that Hamas indeed prepared for the attack and launched its operation motivated by what they themselves say in their own Charter, he’ll claim that the Charter changed; show him that the Charter really never changed, he’ll claim that Hamas in fact was created by Israel; show him that Hamas was created by followers of the Muslim Brotherhood and is funded by Qatar, Iran and Turkey, he’ll claim that Hamas is the result of Israeli “occupation”; show him that the intent to destroy Israel preceded Israeli control of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, he’ll claim that it all began in 1948 with the ethnic cleansing of Arabs; show him that there was no ethnic cleansing of Arabs in 1948 and that the Arabs who left (most of them due to fear) or were displaced while the ongoing fighting during the War of Independence did so as a result of the war the Arab states themselves launched, he’ll claim that Arabs were dispossessed before the creation of Israel and that created the animosity against Jews; show him that Jews were attacked by Arabs in the preceding decades even before the creation of the state of Israel, he’ll claim again that this was due to dispossession; show him that Arabs sold land to Jews and Jews homesteaded a part of the land, he’ll claim that Arabs owned most of the land anyway; show him that Arabs did not own most of the land, that a great part of that which was regarded as Arab land was considered “uncultivable” and hence unhomesteaded and illegitimately owned actually as government concessions, and that most of the land was really owned by the government (Ottoman or British), he’ll claim that the Jews had no right to any land in any case and that the land was “Arab” anyway; etc. etc. etc.
The motto of those afflicted with IDS might well be, “Don’t confuse me with the facts.” Or, “No matter what has happened, Israel is in the wrong.” Or, “No matter what are the facts, Israel is a colonist, racist, genocidal, western, evil country, unmatched by any other in all of human history.”
We doubt it because IDS, as the Anti-Zionist mentality in general, is not motivated by reason but by hate. In any case, truth will eventually prevail.
This lead-in says it all. Reading the rest of the article will annull you blood pressure medication.