Manfred Gerstenfeld Quotes

The Arab countries in the Middle East have for decades demonized Israel, to Western leadership, which for reasons not entirely clear, listen to them politely. The Bush Administration, for example, was infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood years before Obama began mainstreaming them and allowing them to have positions of influence within the White House.

It hinges on oil. Europeans feel they handled the boycott after the Yom Kippur War [1973] very badly. The Arabs need to sell oil; otherwise they cannot live.

The issue is, the Arabs have many allies. Among the worst reactionaries in the world. No religion out of which so much murder comes as there is in certain parts of Islam.

Most extreme acts of anti-Semitism go beyond the acts of anti-Semitism by native Europeans.

Shia phobia or Sunni phobia...we never hear about this. They murder each other!

The NGOs in Israel should devote more time to monitoring religious anti-Israel groups, chief among them the so-called "Christian Palestinianists."

Another touchy point: the inability of successive Israeli governments to deal with the propaganda war. Israel has a brilliant instrument in the IDF. We have a cyber-war unit which may become the best unit in the world to fight cyber problems. On the propaganda war...it is a large failure.

Journalists are divided into two groups: those who live by ethics, and those who don't.

Arabs and their allies are conducting a total war against Israel. A total war means a war of lies. The PA [Palestinian Authority] promotes lies; lying in Islam is permitted.

There are a variety of reasons. Not all Western leaders are equal. We have to make a certain separation from naïve Americans and Europeans. These are two different categories. For the Europeans, it affects the image of the "New Europe." The false image of Europe is that it is peaceful, separate from the past. Now the image of the New Europe is a radically false image.

It is a third generation anti-Semitism. First it was religious in nature. Today, the Jewish state is attacked and that is the new anti-Semitism. What they have in common is that in all versions, Jews are seen as absolute evil.

Emergence of Muslim communities in their own lands. They let in millions of people from a radically different culture and background. The Europeans have to ask themselves if all these people can be integrated. This has led to major problems. And...I do not stereotype all Muslims.

We have to separate here the church in its broad sense. We have Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox churches. The Catholic church is a corporation like a chief executive. A fairly homogenous operation. Today its attitude toward anti-Semitism is much more severe than it's ever been. The Catholic Church today is much less the problem than the other groups.

Media turned against Israel was a gradual process. And it has gotten worse over the years. I think the main development was the 1982 Lebanon War.

We are in a period called post. In previous periods, anti-Semitism was always direct. Today's anti-Semitism isn't direct. If you say today that the Jews are absolute evil, or Israel is absolute evil, you must say Israeli is committing genocide against the Palestinians. It is very rare to find a Western politician who repeats these things.

Eastern churches simply often try to please Muslims. Why doesn't the New York Times report this?

Protestants are the more segmented group. Mainline churches - you have problems in the U.S., Europe, the Scottish Church, the Dutch Protestant Church, the state church in Norway. The evangelicals have been pro Israel, but a major effort is to bring them in on the Palestinian side. A huge problem and the problems are rising.