The photo that says it all

Every once in a while, a photographic image emerges which captures the very essence of a major international issue.

It doesn't happen every day, but when it does, the power of the underlying problem suddenly becomes eminently clear.

One such photo (see below) now appears on the website of Time magazine (of all places!!), where young kids in a Hizbullah scouting troop are shown pledging to die for the cause while raising their hands in the air in a chillingly-familiar salute.

Coincidence? I doubt it. Hizbullah leaders are knowledgeable enough to understand the meaning of that pose, which was burned into the memory of the Jewish people, and that of the entire world, some six decades ago in the heart of Europe.

Hizbullah's stated aim, of course, is to destroy the Jewish state, and their actions over the past two weeks have only served to underline their determination to target the innocent.

So take a good long, look at that photo, and you will see what Hizbullah is busying filling its children's minds with. And then, you'll also understand and appreciate far more profoundly just what it is that Israel is up against.

The Media's Selective Coverage

The soldiers have moved across the international border, with the aim of stopping an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist group.

The terrorists are occupying large swathes of the neighboring country, which has been wracked for decades by civil war and bloody internecine conflict.

Sounds familiar, right?

Well, in fact, the above scenario is playing itself out not only along Israel's northern border, but in the Horn of Africa, too, where Ethiopia has moved troops into Somalia to counter an Islamic fundamentalist militia that has seized control over parts of the country.

Ethiopia legitimately fears the destabilizing effect of having a fundamentalist terrorist group based next door, particularly since the Somali Islamists aspire to create a "Greater Somalia" that would incorporate parts of Ethiopia itself. And so, Ethiopia has done what any normal country would do in such a situation: they have moved to protect themselves and their interests from harm.

Why do I bring this up? Because it underlines the hypocrisy and double standard that is applied by the media and much of the international community, which is only too happy to denounce Israel for defending itself, while remaining silent when others do precisely the same thing.

Selective media coverage? You bet.

Selective morality at the UN? Case closed.

Europe's "Salonistas" Embrace Terror

Even when the moral calculus is clear-cut and simple, Europe still just doesn't get it.

Israel may be fighting a war of self-defense against Hizbullah and Hamas terrorists, who resort to kidnappings, rocket attacks and suicide bombings against innocent civilians, but that hasn't stopped the "salonistas" of Europe from coming down hard against the Jewish state.

But in what can only be described as a new low - even by European standards - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero yesterday openly identified with Israel's enemies, even as Katyusha rockets were raining down on Haifa, Tiberias and Nazareth.

Speaking at something called the Festival of Socialist Youth (didn't the Soviet Union disappear over 15 years ago?), Zapatero denounced Israel and accused it of using "abusive force" before draping a keffiyeh decorated with a Palestinian flag around his neck (see the photo below).

Zapatero's act was morally obscene – for a European leader to do such a thing at a time when Israel is battling terrorism only sends an unpardonable message of support and encouragement to the terrorists.

It becomes even more absurd when one considers that Spain itself has suffered from Islamist fundamentalist terror. Has Mr. Zapatero forgotten the horrific March 11, 2004 terror attacks in Madrid, which were carried out by Al-Qaeda? Why are Hamas and Hizbullah murderers any different?

Perhaps Zapatero thinks that by identifying with the "cause" of Hamas and Hizbullah, he can spare his own country from suffering additional Islamist-inspired attacks.

Obviously, he has failed to learn one of the central lessons of the post-September 11 world: namely, that as far as the fanatics are concerned, all of the West are "infidels".

Even those who speak Spanish.