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THE KOSOVO PRECEDENT

by Arieh Eldad

The Moslem Republic of Kosovo declared its independence this week. The United States and several European countries have already recognized it. News reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry was urging swift Israeli recognition were denied, and reporters were told that Israel does not want to be the first to jump, but once the list of countries recognizing Kosovo is longer, Israel will be one of them.

If Israel does recognize Kosovo, this will certainly be the result of a decision made by the prime minister and foreign minister. Such a decision will be indubitable proof of the foolishness and malignant shortsightedness from which they suffer. If their willingness to establish an Arab terrorist state in the heart of our own country can be explained by their having internalized the Peace Now ideology concerning what they call the "occupation" and the demographic problem –– there can be no such explanation for Israel's giving support to Islamic imperialism in Europe.

The fear of the spread of Islam is expressed today in increasing support for conservative parties in Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. These are not extreme right or neo-Nazi parties but rather mainstream conservative parties. They view Israel as a frontline fortress of Western culture facing jihad, and they fear that this fortress may fall under Arab pressure and because of the weakness of Israel's leaders. Such Europeans fear the separatist trends among millions of Moslem immigrants in Western Europe, the demands to apply Islamic Sharia law in those countries, and the ideological and financial support the immigrants are getting from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Al Quaida. They are worriedly counting the thousands of mosques being built in Western Europe, and they are made anxious by their understanding of how Moslems have exploited Europeans' collective guilt feelings over the destruction of the Jews to win surrender to Moslem demands for collective rights, free immigration, and multi-culturalism –– all so that the Europeans will not be accused of racism. Millions of Moslem immigrants in Europe supported by billions of Saudi dollars are garnering more and more "rights" and influence.

Islamic proliferation in Europe took in a new country this week. The Moslem minority in Serbia in the Kosovo region bordering the Islamic state of Albania declared its independence. Serbia is a sovereign country, a member of the United Nations, with an ethnic minority. Based on the standards being used for Kosovian independence, the Basques should now be able to set up an independent state in Spain. Such states may also be established in Russia, Slovakia, Greece, and Cyprus. The flag of Kosovo is that of Islamic proliferation and a source of serious anxiety to Europe. Those European countries recognizing Kosovo are doing so under economic pressure from oil-rich Arab countries, the markets of Islamic countries, and internal pressure by millions of Moslem voters in Europe.

Expressing complete political blindness towards the nature of the conflict between Moslems and the rest of the world, Olmert and Tzippi Livni are convinced that establishing an Arab state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza is in Israel's political interests. Only someone who doesn't understand that the conflict has nothing to do with a particular boundary can think that drawing such a boundary line along the 1967 borders will solve anything. Only someone who doesn't understand what the Moslems in Europe want can think that the establishment of an independent Kosovo will resolve the conflict in the Balkans.

If Israel joins in recognizing Kosovo, there will be no political, legal, or moral claim it can make to oppose establishing an Arab state in the Galilee and Northern Negev. For what is the difference? An ethnic minority with territorial contiguity to neighboring enemy states demands, following a bloody war, to tear pieces from a sovereign country, and proclaim its independence. This is or will be exactly the demand of the Arabs after the first stage in the "strategy of stages," the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is, Heaven forbid, attained. And we cannot forget that Arabs and the haters of Israel in Europe portray Israel in colors no less cruel than those used to portray the Serbs, and accusations of genocide are thrown at us just as they were thrown at them. When the day comes when the Arabs in the Galilee declare independence, Israel will have no way to oppose it, assuming it today recognizes a country formed on exactly the same basis.

I have heard commentators explaining that neither we nor Europe should fear Kosovo because the Kosovians are "moderate Moslems." It was from these moderate Moslems that Haj Amin el-Husseini gathered tens of thousands of volunteers for the 13th SS Division ("Handschar") and 21st SS Division ("Skanderbeg"). On them he built his dream of marching with Hitler's armies into Palestine and destroying the Jews of Eretz Israel. Today Israel, together with its European partners, must present a solid front to stop the spread of Islam in Europe, for as long as the Moslem strength there increases, the tendency of European countries to prefer the Arabs over Israel will also increase.

Prof. Arieh Eldad is a former Commander of the Sanitary Corps of the IDF and currently a member of the Knesset. This was published February 22, 2008 in Maariv and posted on the IsraPundit website
http://www.israpundit.com/2008/?p=288 The comments to the article on Israpundit are well-worth reading.