JNS.org – As Hamas violence along the border with Israel intensified last week, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay E. Mladenov tweeted, “In light of today’s planned Gaza march, I urge all to exercise restraint, to proceed in a peaceful manner, and to avoid escalation. The U.N. is working with Egypt and its partners to avoid violence, address all humanitarian issues and support reconciliation.”

The day before, EU Ambassador to the United Nations Joanne Adamson said,

We expect the de facto authorities in Gaza to do their utmost to prevent further escalation. The E.U. urges all actors concerned to act with utmost restraint to avoid further loss of life, to prevent any escalation, to not encourage resort to violence, and to not exploit the demonstrations for other means. While recalling Israel’s right to self-defense, we expect the Israeli authorities to respect the principle of necessity and proportionality in its use of force. Serious questions have risen about the proportionate use of force which must be addressed through independent and transparent investigation. … Facts must also be established regarding reports about violent attacks against Israel under the guise of the protests.

“Reports”? The EU apparently thinks that Israel is making it all up, even while acknowledging, a little earlier in the statement that “Launching of incendiary kites and balloons has now continued for over half a year.” Now the EU ambassador is demanding investigations into whether Israel has used “disproportionate force” against this jihadist attack storm and calling on Israel to show “restraint”?

The United Nations, the European Union, and its member states have been fast asleep, completely ignoring the terrorist arson, missiles, and general destruction aimed at Israel for the past eight months. Since a Hamas missile destroyed a Jewish home in Beersheva recently, there have been signs that Israel might finally retaliate and actually defend itself. So suddenly, the Europeans and the United Nations wake up and pay attention: The mere prospect of Jews defending themselves is more than they can bear.

The devastating ecological destruction was not mentioned with a single word in the EU ambassador’s long statement, apart from the brief acknowledgment of the incendiary kites. The damage to Israel is still completely ignored.

Both Mladenov and Adamson called on “all parties” to “show restraint,” even though there is only one aggressive party, Hamas, and one restrained party, Israel, which up until now has effectively refrained from properly defending itself and its land, out of fear of what the international community might say and do.

Israel has effectively allowed the Islamic terrorists to keep destroying precious farmland and wildlife, and sending rockets into Israel — one of them smashing into a house in Beersheva where a mother and her three children just managed to save themselves. Parents all over Israel now have to explain to their children that kites and balloons can be dangerous, as apparent copycats in other Arab villages send similar devices into central Israel, where, if touched by a curious child, will blow up in their face.

None of this was mentioned by Adamson or Mladenov, even though booby-trapped toys are strictly prohibited under international law. It is remarkable how prominent representatives of international organizations conveniently and deliberately overlook certain aspects of the very international law of which they claim to be proponents, as long as it suits their purposes.

Deliberate environmental destruction on an unprecedented scale, blood-crazed terrorists seeking to tear down the border fence so they can get into Israel and murder as many Jews as possible, missiles fired at Israeli civilians, terror tunnels dug underground, young Israeli mothers and fathers being handcuffed and executed or stabbed just for being Jewish — none of these deliberate war crimes brought Mladenov and Adamson to call on the Arabs to exercise “restraint” in their lust for Jewish blood.

No. What got to them was the prospect of Jews defending themselves.

Judith Bergman is a columnist and political analyst and a fellow with the Haym Salomon Center. You can find more in-depth articles on Israel and the Middle East @en.mida.org.il.

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