Freeing of Lockerbie bomber to hero’s welcome in Libya ....

...highlights Europe’s ignorance of Middle Eastern realities

Robin Shepherd
Think Tank Blog
21 August 09

I have frequently argued that it is not really possible to reach a proper understanding of Europe’s problem with Israel (and its appeasement strategies in the Middle East) without addressing the civilisational weakness which underpins it. The freeing of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on “compassionate” grounds by the Scottish Justice Secretary highlights the problem in bold relief.

Let us leave aside the question of whether oil and other business concerns had a hand in the decision. They probably did, but this cannot be proved. Let us also put to rest the dissembling about whether al-Megrahi was guilty as charged. That was irrelevant. The decision to release him was made on the basis that he was in fact guilty.

Now let’s get to the core of what happened. The Scottish authorities released the greatest mass murderer in the history of the United Kingdom to a vile Middle Eastern tyranny which then sought to make political capital out of his release via a massive hero’s welcome back home. What does this tell you about Britain (and by extension Europe) and the Middle East?


The most important thing it tells you is that their approach to the Middle East is characterised by denial, naivety, insouciance and outright ignorance. From the foreign ministries down, these people have no clue what they are doing or who they are dealing with.

All the while, of course, they feel they are in position to pass judgment on Israel — a state which stares these regimes in the face and has no choice but to see Arab political culture for what it is.

But how exactly has it come to such a pass? It is not hard to understand the nature of the Arab world. It is not challenging, for example, to look at the opinion polls showing mass denial about who committed the attacks on 9/11. One only needs to consult freely available websites such as memri.org to recognise the deep-seated anti-Semitism or the conspiracy theories about western malevolence. Gaddafi’s Libya, to return to the country in question, is not a mystery.

The ignorance must, therefore, be self-imposed. But again, one must pause to ask the question: why?

I deal with all of this in my forthcoming book — A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel. In very brief summary, two points are worth making at this stage:

First, the post-colonial, multi-culturalist agenda which dominates the thinking of Europe’s opinion forming classes simply cannot deal with the notion that dark-skinned, formerly colonised peoples should be judged according to the same standards as everyone else. In effect, this is the racism-of- low-expectations paradigm and it plays a contributory role in the obvious double standards that are applied in addressing the Israelis on the one hand and the Palestinians and Arabs on the other.

Second, pacifism and relativism has combined to produce an approach to the Middle East where moral indignation is only brought forth where it is “safe” to do so. The thought of adopting a confrontational stance towards dozens of Arab dictatorships, many vital energy suppliers, has Europe quivering. In other words, it’s cowardice. Slating Israel is a cost free option. Telling the truth about Arab political culture might cost you your oil and gas contracts. Worse, it might “provoke” them.

As a result of all this, the realities of Arab political culture have been sanitised throughout the European media and across the continent’s foreign ministries. It is a form of self-censorship which has been necessitated in order to preserve the illusion of moral probity.

As the bumbling incompetence surrounding the release of al-Megrahi shows for all to see, sometimes those illusions come crashing down in front of us. This is a lesson we would do well to remember.
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