Amnesty International Official Calls Israel A “Scum State”

Martin Peretz
The New Republic
26 August '10

Actually, almost no one should be surprised that a member in high standing of the “human rights internationale” and a Scandinavian besides resorts to such scummy language when talking about Israel. The London headquarters of the world-wide organization seemed to be in a panic, as reported by Benjamin Weinthal in yesterday’s Jerusalem Post. AI’s spokesperson took umbrage at the criticisms and said that the culprit, Frank Johnansson, had only said that Israel was a “creep state,” as if that were much of an improvement.

In any case, Finnish experts said that the “highly derogatory term” is most often translated as “scum” or “scum bag” or “douche bag.” Oh, how the human rights internationale contributes to a better world. By the way, Johansson relies on extraordinary evidence for his views. His opinions are “based on my own visits, which occurred during the 1970s and for the last time in the 1990s.”

This news from the pretentious and portentous NGO establishment came on the same day that Tony Blair, coordinator of the Quartet’s efforts at peacemaking, denounced the “delegitimization of Israel” as an “affront to humanity.” This speech was reported by Herb Keinon in the same issue of the same newspaper.

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The Only Permissible Hatred?

Barry Rubin
The Rubin Report
24 August '10

The chairman of Finland's branch of Amnesty International, Frank Johansson, wrote in his blog at a Finnish newspaper that Israel is a "scum state." It makes me recall a British ambassador who used a nastier word at a dinner party a couple of years back. And I've heard from several diplomats equivalent things over the years.

Isn't it something that in this day of Political Correctness and multiculturalism and humanitarian kindness that there is only one people and one country in the world that supposedly respectable Europeans don't hesitate to insult in the most vicious language? There is still one people to whom the alleged rules of non-stereotyping and anti-racism doesn't apply in many quarters.

Of course they would not dare to speak in this way of Iran or Sudan, Saudi Arabia or Syria, Venezuela or North Korea, Zimbabwe or Cuba, or for that matter Hamas or Hizballah, or other terrorists, torturers, murderers, and thieves in power. Greed? Fear? Support for repressive dictatorships that brandish populist and anti-Western rhetoric? Indeed, if such a person were to so criticize any other country in the world--from Albania through Zanzibar--he would be forced to resign immediately.

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