The first and most obvious event which has helped shift world opinion is Israel's historic pullout from the Gaza Strip. Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, ordered the dismantlement of all Jewish settlements and a complete withdrawl of all Israeli troops from the occupied Gaza and parts of the West Bank. In August 2005, the world watched as crying Israelis were escorted out of their homes by crying Israeli soldiers. They watched the pain of Israelis as this pullout was implemented, despite the threats of violence by Jewish extremists. Many in the western world viewed this as a historic move by Israel to achieve peace with the Palestinians. This opinion was even reflected by the U.N., an organization which has been accused of bias against Israel. When Ariel Sharon, a man once deemed as a 'war monger', spoke at the U.N. summit on September 15 2005, he was greeted with cheers and applause. While some in the Arab world saw the pullout as a way for Israel to strengthen its hold on the West Bank, some Muslim leaders viewed it as a gesture for peace. Shortly after the withdrawl Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, as well as other Islamic countries began establishing contacts with Israel. After watching the pullout, the world saw no reciprocal move by the Palestinians for peace. This eroded the false perception, especially among Europeans, that Israel didn't want peace. The pullout greatly improved Israel's image across the world.
On July 7 2005, suicide bombers detonated bombs on a London railway system. The feelings of fear felt by the British people after this tragic incident was similar to that felt by Israelis after suicide bombings. Isreal began to help Britain in counter terrorism efforts. This terrorist attack helped bring Europe in solidarity with Israel.
Then in October/November 2005, violent race riots broke out across France. The rioters were largely of African and Muslim origin. Since this didn't happen in the middle east, I did not cover this story on this site. The rioters brought France near a standstill. The riots also spread into Germany and Belgium. The riots were origanally intended to protest "racism" and lack of employment opportunities for minorities. But they quickly turned into racism when the black/Muslim immigrants began attacking white Frenchman and burning French and Israeli flags. These Islamic enemies of France and Europe were also enemies of Israel. When Europe saw how irrational these Muslim rioters were they began to feel more sympathy toward Israel and began to see how irrational the Islamic enemies of Israel were.
Then in October 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his infamous speech at an anti-Israel rally where he denied the holocaust and called for Israel's destruction.. We all know that Jews find holocaust denial very offensive. But was Ahmadinejad really targeting Jews? The fact is that holocaust denial is equally offensive to non-Jewish Europeans, since it is perceived to be justifying Hitler's actions, which many Europeans are ashamed of. Even Iran's closest ally, Russia, condemned Iran for the comments. One can argue that Ahamadinejad actually meant to insult Europe and the west with these comments since he once made the suggestion that Israel be moved to Europe. While many Europeans disagree with Israel's policies towards the Palestinians, very few of them support 'wiping Israel off the map'. Many European leaders strongly condemned Ahmadinejad. By making his threat to destroy Israel and denying the holocaust, Ahmadinejad did an excellent job rallying the Europeans behind Israel and not since 1973 have the Europeans been so firmly behind Israel.
In January 2006, The Palestinians went to the polls to elect their parliament. The secular and more moderate Fatah party was expected to win the most seats on the parliament. To the world's shock, the Palestinians willingly elected the terrorist group Hamas into power. Hamas is known for its violent and senseless acts of terror against Israel and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian civilians. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., Europe, and much of the western world. Hamas refuses to renounce violence, recognize Israel, or even honor past peace agreements made between Israel and the Palestinians. Any last bit of sympathy for the Palestinians in Europe was destroyed after this election. The U.S., Canada, European Union, U.N., and Japan all cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority to protest the actions of Hamas. Despite this intense pressure from the west for Hamas to moderate its views, Hamas has continuously refused all calls to reounce violence and recognize Israel. This defiance was largely recognized by the rest of the world and began to open the eyes of many European leaders who have routinely criticized Israel's response to terrorism.
After Hamas' overwhelming victory in the Palestinian territories many in the world expected the Israelis to elect hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu of the right wing Likud party, since it was believed that his hardline response to terrorism would be necessary to protect Israeli civilians. Many in Europe have negative views of Netanyahu due to his association with right-wing groups. It was believed that if Netanyahu was elected, there would be hardliners in both the Israeli and Palestinian governments and then a deadlock would form between the Israelis and Palestinians. However the Israeli people proved the world wrong. Rather than vote for the hardline Likud, Israelis elected Olmert as Prime Minister. With the more moderate Kadima (as well as some of Labour) in power this brought back a slight hope for peace. Many in the world were happily suprised at the Israelis' decision not to elect a hardliner and this furthered the view that the Israelis really wanted peace and that it was the Palestinians who were at fault for the violence.
Then in February 2006, the humorous issue of the Danish cartoons began. Muslims across the world staged violent protests over the images printed in an independent Danish newspaper of Mohammed portrayed as a terrorist and a women oppressor. Muslims in many middle eastern countries began boycotting Danish goods, attacking Danish embassies, and recalling their ambassadors from Denmark. The other countries in Europe realized how irrational these protests were and began printing the cartoons on their own newspapers to show solidarity with Denmark. This led to more violent protests against many European embassies and more boycotts of European goods. Many Muslims were heard screaming slogans such as "behead those who insult the prophet" and "Osama attack!" Many called for Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, to punish the newspaper editors who published the cartoon. In response, Rasmussen correctly stated that his government “cannot make apologies on behalf of a Danish newspaper. That is not how our democracy works. Independent media cannot be edited by the government.” When the European people saw the irrational violence across the Islamic world over a few cartoons and the burning of American, European, and Israeli flags, this once again gave the European people another sense of solidarity with Israel. This proved that Israel is equally the victim of Islamic irrationalization.
All these events together have shifted European and worldwide opinion in favor of westernized, secular, and democratic Israel. Not since 1973 has the whole world been so firmly behind Israel. Unfortunately some anti-Israel sentiments still exist in Europe, especially in Sweden. However, the Europeans have reduced their condemnations of Israel for its responses against terrorism. The U.N. has not proposed a single one-sided anti-Israel resolution in the past several months. The U.N. has further proved to have changed its attitude toward Israel when the Palestinians were unable to even draft a resolution condeming Israel's recent raid in the Gaza strip. Throughout this whole time, even when the whole world was against Israel, America has stood by Israel like a loyal friend. America worked hard to stop one-sided resolutions from being passed at the U.N. America worked hard to improve Israel's image across the world and discourage humiliating boycotts against the middle east's only democracy. America has proven its committment to democracy by protecting Israel in this way. Now the Arab/Islamic world stands alone with Russia in its anti-Israel rhetoric. Hamas and the Palestinian extremists are finding themseleves more and more isolated with their extremist views. I'm sure that if another poll came out reguarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict the results would be much different than even a year ago.
Sharon's Words at the U.N.
Marshall Islands Proud to Support Israel
Since the Gaza Pullout
Hamas Now Represents the Palestinian People
World Leaders Stunned at Hamas Victory
America's Support for Israel
Gallup Poll: America's Support for Israel is Growing
Hamas' a-Zahar vs. Israel's Sharon
Furer Grows Over Cartoon of Prophet
British AUT Passes Boycott of Israeli Universities
Iran's Leader Calls for Israel's Destruction
Hamas Says it wont Arrest Militants Who Attack Israel
The Danish Mohammed Cartoon Issue
Understanding Pullout Opposition
World Leaders Condemn Iranian President
Presbyterian Divestment Israel
Pakistan, Israel to Discuss Diplomatic Ties
EU Stops Aid to the Palestinians
Iran's threat to Israel
Sweden Pulls out of Military Excercise Because of Israeli Involvement
The AUT Boycott Against Israel
Angry Crowds Attack Danish, Norweigen Embassies in Syria
Full Translation of Ahmadinejad's Speach
Putin Invites Hamas Leaders to Moscow
Europe, Israel's Faites are Connected
Harper's Defense of Israel Sparks Political Flap
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