The Jew factor

Apparently, it’s the fear of an Arab boycott of the opening ceremonies that is preventing the IOC from holding a moment of silence for the victims of the Munich Massacre.

According to an interview given by Thomas Bach, the Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, the threats to boycott the opening ceremony made by Arab states in the event of an official minute of silence, have led the IOC to mark the 40 year anniversary in other ways, including a minute of silence on Monday inside the Olympic Village, led by IOC President Jacques Rogge.

The Arab boycott “had been a possibility, according to some of our advice”, Bach said according to Israel’s Channel 2 news.

After eleven years of covering the Jewish/Israel beat, I am unsurprised by the cowardice. But you can’t rule out Jew-hatred as the root of Arab intransigence. Decades of demonization has led to this:

Egyptian actors fooled into thinking they were on an Israeli television show flew into violent rages and assaulted presenters on a candid camera-type program aired in Egypt in recent days.

The program was broadcast on Egypt’s Al-Nahar channel, and was made available by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

One of the actors, Ayman Kandeel “Tuhami,” became irate after being led to believe he was speaking to Israelis, and struck a female presenter across the face, sending her flying to the ground.

There’s video at the link. In Egypt, it’s perfectly okay to hate Israelis and react violently if forced to interact with them. Hatred of Israel is so bitter that the Syrian rebels have refused humanitarian aid from Israel.

And it’s not just the Arab and Muslim nations. The BBC refuses to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel. The EU refuses to acknowledge that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization. And Barack Obama let Turkey freeze Israel out of an international conference on terrorism.

So the IOC’s cowardice is not unprecedented. It is merely part of a pattern, a pattern that has been repeated over the centuries when it comes to Jews. Let us not pretend that it is simply about Israelis. It’s the Jew factor.

If eleven European or Arab athletes had been killed, we’d be having an annual moment of silence at the Olympics. But since it’s Jews, well–Jewish blood is cheap.

But not, at least, for one man: Bob Costas is going to hold his own moment of silence during the opening ceremonies, with the blessing of NBC.

I haven’t watched the Olympics in years. I think I’ll watch the opening ceremonies because of Costas. He gets it. He’s not Jewish, but he knows that it’s the right thing to do. The Jew factor is not an issue for this mensch.