Reality doesn't matter: Israel is evil, harvesting Haitian organs

After writing my earlier post on the IDF field hospital in Haiti, I came across an argument from Ghost of a flea: The IDF in Haiti that gave me pause:

I have been watching IDF updates on their work in Haiti. I haven't posted them (yet) because - sadly - I think they are to miss the point. I think so much of the world hates and resents Israel precisely because of Israel's good works, precisely because Israel is good (much the same might be said of America).

Because the Enemy is evil and celebrates evil. Because there is no good deed the Enemy will not spin as self-serving or a cover for "imperialism". Because the Enemy does not see the dead of Haiti as human beings trapped by a wicked, disfunctional society but as so many counters in a game to control the world (in the name of Marx or Mohammed, the consequence for freedom - for human dignity - is much the same).

I didn't find this argument completely convincing for while there are indeed a large number of antisemites there is no point trying to talk to, there are yet some people, say youngsters misled at school, still able to be moved by exposure to reality. But then reading Elder of Ziyon, I saw a couple of quick links to the latest rendering of the age-old antisemitic blood libel:

Even as IDF travels across world to extend hand to country in need, there are those who take opportunity to spread slander, blood libel against Jewish state. Seattle resident, who presents himself as black activist, explains incendiary video he uploaded to YouTube
[...]
An American resident of Seattle, Washington uploaded a video to YouTube on Tuesday accusing soldiers in the IDF delegation to the earthquake site in Haiti of being involved in stealing organs from their patients.
[...]
The man, who calls himself T. West, fronts a group called AfriSynergy Productions, whose declared goal is to empower the black man. The video purports to present something to think about while exploiting the horrible tragedy that has befallen Haiti to recycle false claims that IDF soldiers engage in organ trafficking.

The bizarre host of the video collected praises broadcast on television channels regarding the advanced equipment and treatment the Israeli teams are providing in Haiti. After about a minute and a half of such praise, the man looks straight into the camera and made the claim that there are people operating in Haiti who do not have a conscience and are members of the search-and-rescue teams, including, he claimed, the IDF.

The man repeated the false claims that the IDF stole organs in the past from Palestinians and others. He asserted that there is very little oversight during such tragedies, and that the Haitian people must look out for their fellow citizens to protect them against international medical groups who arrived in the country "for the money." He claimed that some people were looking to make money off the tragedy.

In a conversation with Ynet, the man explained his beliefs behind the hate-filled statements he made. "I don't have anything against Israel. I have a lot against the ideology of Zionism," he explained. "We saw what you did in South Africa and with the Palestinians. Because of our history and the suffering of our people, I understand what the Palestinians are going through."

This youtube video was then picked up by the grandmasters of antisemitism, Iranian Press tv, which recently published the blood libel that was then in turn promoted by a local, Vancouver, Muslim newspaper apparently associated with the British Columbia Muslim Association (though this has been denied by the BCMA), the organization responsible for Sunni mosques in various parts of Vancouver.

I have been following that scandal with an eye to a future blog on why Muslims won't, in all kinds of situations, take responsibility for the lies other Muslims are promoting. But I'll leave the story here, for now, agreeing with Flea that many people are beyond the reach of much truth and beauty, having convinced themselves that evil is good; yet let us remember also that the foundational human experience of truth and beauty can only be blinkered, not permanently removed from any living being. Even the evil have to convince themselves that they are on the side of good. A certain amount of self-righteousness and self-justification is inescapable; that's often obvious when we look at evil people, but it's inevitable for all of us, even for those who know it's thus wise to take humility as their guide. And that is a paradox worth thinking about.