Ted Ekeroth, Counterjihadist and Pro-Israeli

Our Swedish correspondent Carpenter has joined the defense of Sverigedemokraterna, Sweden’s anti-immigration political party. He sent this email to us today and included his translation of an op-ed by SD member Ted Ekeroth, which he has also posted on his blog:

As am immigration- and Islam-critical Swede, speaking both English and Swedish, I felt forced to contribute to this the discussion about Sverigedemokraterna, so I’ve translated an op-ed by Ted Ekeroth for Swedish local daily Kristianstadsbladet from November 27th, 2004, in which he criticizes the then prime minister Göran Persson (Social-Democrat) for his mourning over Arafat’s death. He has a great deal of knowledge of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and takes a pro-Israeli position.

Ted Ekeroth, as you’re probably already aware of, attended the Counterjihad Summit in Brussels and is Sverigedemokraterna’s treasurer in Lund, in southern Sweden. Before accusing him of being a Nazi, his criticism of Göran Persson should be read.

And now for Mr. Ekeroth’s editorial:

Arafat’s dream was to see Israel obliterated

Prime minister Göran Persson explained to Aftonbladet (November 23rd) what he considers required to create an enduring peace between Israel and the Arab world. One gets surprised of the prime minister’s statements which indicate both ignorance and misunderstanding of the root of the conflict. Briefly speaking, it’s that the Arab world never has accepted a Jewish state near to it. This has in different ways been reflected in Arabic government-controlled media, mosques and school books where Jew-hatred, tributes to martyrs, and encouragement of terror attacks flourish with no bounds.

The prime minister among other things says that occupation “conflicting public international law” by Israel is the root of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Comfortably, he forgets that Jordan in 1948 conquered Judea/Samaria territories which the surrounding world later has come to call the West Bank, for political reasons. In the same war of attacks against the newly-founded Israel, Egypt conquered the Gaza strip. What happened during the 19 years the Arab world controlled Judea/Samaria and Gaza? Nothing. No “Palestinian” state was founded and there was no peace and calm.

Most [organizations, groups et cetera,] the UN included, are aware of this, but have instead chosen to begin with Israel’s conquest of the same areas of 1967 in the historical description. Since it was a war of self-defense to put a stop to the instant terror raids at Israeli territory, and in defense against an explicit obliteration threat from Egypt among others, Israel’s conquests of the areas were in compliance to public international law.

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Right after the war, the Arab states were offered peace and negotiations to peace, in exchange for their recognition of Israel. At the Arab League’s meeting in the same year, the offer got what is nowadays the classical answer: No to peace, no negotiations, and no recognition of Israel. They said the same to the Peel commission’s proposal of 1937 and the UN’s plan for solution of 1947.

Arafat’s own organizations, Fatah and PLO, were founded respectively in 1959 and 1964 — that is, long before Israel occupied what was later called “Palestinian territory”. Their objective has always been to destroy Israel and build a Palestine out of the Jewish state’s ruins. So how could Persson claim that the Israeli control of the areas is the “root of the conflict”?

The prime minister’s reference to “[Arafat’s] dream of justice” appears disgraceful and insulting to everyone of Arafat’s terror victims —Arabs as well as Jews. This dictator has ruled, as have many other despots, by threats, violence and murders, and therefore ought not to get the “grief and sadness” of a Swedish prime minister, when he has finally passed away. Arafat’s objective was to destroy Israel — an objective he dedicated his life to accomplish. Is that the dream prime minister Persson shares?

— Ted Ekeroth