EUROPE ISN’T HOPELESS It’s depressingly true that practically every European paper of note last week decided to “report” on the pitched urban warfare in Jenin between the Israeli Defense Force and Palestinian terrorists and fighters as if what had taken place there were a “massacre” by ruthless Israelis. Such political unanimity among the elites of the continent has rarely been observed during the last, oh, 60 years or so. But the single most eloquent response to Europe’s shameful obsession with anti-Israel propaganda has also come from Europe, in the form of a pamphlet by Oriana Fallaci published April 12 by the Italian newsweekly Panorama. The Fallaci polemic has quickly found sympathetic readers by the thousands across Europe and around the world. French journalist Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, who runs an Internet mailing list called Reponses-Israel, told The Scrapbook that she had “received so many messages of thanks” after making available a French translation that she had to set up a separate e-mail address for all the fan mail, which “received hundreds of messages from the most unexpected places (Australia, Bosnia, Morocco).” An English translation by Chris and Paola Newman has been widely circulated on websites and in e-mails. Here are some excerpts for The Scrapbook’s many old-fashioned, non-wired readers: “I find it shameful that in France, the France of Liberty-Equality-Fraternity, they burn synagogues, terrorize Jews, profane their cemeteries. I find it shameful that the youth of Holland and Germany and Denmark flaunt the kaffiah just as Mussolini’s avant garde used to flaunt the club and the fascist badge. I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe, Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism. . . . “I find it shameful that state-run television stations in Italy contribute to the resurgent anti-Semitism, crying only over Palestinian deaths while playing down Israeli deaths, glossing over them in unwilling tones. I find it shameful that in their debates they host with much deference the scoundrels with turban or kaffiah who yesterday sang hymns to the slaughter at New York and today sing hymns to the slaughters at Jerusalem, at Haifa, at Netanya, at Tel Aviv. I find it shameful that the press does the same, that it is indignant because Israeli tanks surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, that it is not indignant because inside that same church are 200 Palestinian terrorists well armed with machine guns and munitions and explosives. . . . “I find it shameful that L’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the pope–a pope who not long ago left in the Wailing Wall a letter of apology for the Jews–accuses of extermination a people who were exterminated in the millions by Christians. By Europeans. I find it shameful that this newspaper denies to the survivors of that people (survivors who still have numbers tattooed on their arms) the right to react, to defend themselves, to not be exterminated again. . . . “I find it shameful that many Italians and many Europeans have chosen as their standard-bearer the gentleman (or so it is polite to say) Arafat. This nonentity who thanks to the money of the Saudi royal family plays the Mussolini ad perpetuum and in his megalomania believes he will pass into History as the George Washington of Palestine. . . . This false warrior who always goes around in uniform like Pinochet, never putting on civilian garb, and yet despite this has never participated in a battle. War is something he sends, has always sent, others to do for him. That is, the poor souls who believe in him. This pompous incompetent who playing the part of Head of State caused the failure of the Camp David negotiations. . . . This weathercock who keeps his wife at Paris, served and revered like a queen, and keeps his people down in the shit. He takes them out of the shit only to send them to die, to kill and to die, like the 18-year-old girls who in order to earn equality with men have to strap on explosives and disintegrate with their victims. And yet many Italians love him, yes. Just like they loved Mussolini. And many other Europeans do the same.” MOMMY DEAREST As a matter of policy, The Scrapbook generally refrains from mocking the handicapped, cuddly animals, or members of the Osmond family. But we’re forced to make an exception just this once. Last week, the National Mother’s Day Committee announced it will be dispensing its annual “Outstanding Mothers of the Year Awards.” In years past, distinguished mothers like Kathie Lee Gifford (who never missed a chance to use her children in her treacly Christmas specials) and Dr. Ruth Westheimer were honored. This year, Marie Osmond is one of the recipients. The best we can tell, Osmond’s qualifications seem to be that she suffered from post-partum depression after the birth of her seventh child. But Marie’s wasn’t just any post-partum episode, an affliction suffered by millions of women who don’t receive awards for their woes. Hers was celebrity post-partum depression, which means her condition manifested itself in several unique ways. “She couldn’t figure out what to eat,” said one writer on Osmond’s now-cancelled show. “We’d get her smoothies and order stuff like salmon and fresh fruit for her lunch. I could tell she was completely unable to make a selection.” Osmond’s condition culminated in her abandoning her children for a few days, handing her newborn off to one of her (two!) nannies, and driving up the California coast, where she slept in a fleabag motel until her scared-witless husband could track her down. She did come back of course, so she could raise her family, and more important, write a book about her troubles (Behind the Smile). She also talks about her affliction, and talks, and talks and talks–to Bryant and Paula and Katie, often while offering not-very-convincing defenses of fellow post-partum sufferers, like bathtub-murderer Andrea Yates. In the spirit of Marie (which we like to think of as “a little bit country, a little bit nausea-inducing”), The Scrapbook would like to offer our Outstanding Father of the Year selection. He is Luther Crawford, 49, of Louisville, Kentucky. Though Luther doesn’t have any nannies or smoothies or salmon, he does have 12 children by 11 different women. He owes at least $54,000 in child support, is blind in one eye and nearly blind in the other, has high blood pressure, and a heart problem. That would be enough to drag most fathers down. But Luther isn’t most fathers. He’s currently fighting a clause in the plea agreement he reached to settle the support cases. That clause forbids him from having sex again. Presumably, Luther feels he has more children to father. We salute his courage. LEDE OF THE WEEK Brilliant reporting from Mariam Fam of the AP, in an April 18 dispatch: “CAIRO, Egypt–Amr Sayed, 17, says he supports calls raised across the Arab world to boycott U.S. companies because of Washington’s perceived pro-Israel bias. But on Thursday, as he munched on fries and a burger in a downtown McDonald’s, he said there was no Egyptian alternative to the U.S. franchise that he just happens to like.” READ THE NEW REPUBLIC! Well, at least one piece. Besides the cover pieces in last week’s Weekly Standard, we’re delighted to recommend as required reading on the topic of cloning the essay by contributing editor Charles Krauthammer, “Crossing Lines,” in this week’s New Republic. Let no one say we never praise the competition.
