You need not belong to the Jewish faith to understand that the Talmud is right when it says: "If you are gentle with the wicked, you end up being wicked with the gentle." In Denmark's Kristeligt Dagblad (The Christian Daily) we find this outstanding article:
Europe brings the prayer mat forth in submission, while Israel is dancing againInterestingly, the title is turned two different ways in the newspaper itself and on the newspaper's website: While Israel is dancing again, Europe brings the prayer mat forth in submission. On Facebook, Daniel Karpantschof's article is simply called "Israel won. Europe lost." Daniel Karpantschof is a theology student, entrepreneur, and former Danish film consultant (thanks to my cousin Ellen).
Israel has won over terror, but Europe can look forward to a wave of evil that we ourselves have brought upon us, believes theology student Daniel Karpantschof
ON OCTOBER 7, 2023, Israel was attacked in one of the most brutal terrorist attacks in modern times. Thousands of civilians were murdered, raped, and abducted. It was not a territorial conflict, but an attempted annihilation. Documents show this: “Burn. Slaughter. Broadcast”; handwritten by Sinwar, in his network of cowardly tunnels.
Two years later, it is unequivocal: Israel won. Europe lost.
Hamas’s leadership — Deif, Sinwar, Haniyeh — has been eliminated. The organization’s tunnels, command centers, and weapons depots have been destroyed. Gaza City and Rafah lie in ruins. Hezbollah’s leadership is divided, Nasrallah himself is killed, while Iran is reduced to a social media superpower.
The military results exceeded even Israel’s own expectations. Hamas’s infrastructure was not only knocked out — it was rendered impossible to rebuild. Its networks in Qatar and Lebanon have been burned down. Its “army” exists only in propaganda videos. Iran, which for years tried to control the region through proxies, is now seeing its grip weakened in Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
Israel fought a war that combined technology, strategy, and exhausting patience. Israel’s beeper networks and drone control systems changed modern warfare. The precise coordination between air tactics, cyber warfare, and infantry regiments allowed the country to fight an enemy used to hiding among civilians without losing its moral compass.
BUT ISRAEL’S VICTORY was also political.
The country stood firm despite massive international and media pressure. It refused to let world opinion dictate its right to self-defense — and ended up creating results that even skeptics must now acknowledge: a new regional order. All attempts to renounce the Jewish state on the world stage have — once again — been met with a stone wall. Eurovision, UEFA, FIFA, and Hollywood can stand with as many red hands as they want.
The new European reflex — to respond to terror with understanding and to violence — should raise alarm bells throughout the West.
And Israel is no longer isolated. Several Arab countries — including Lebanon and Syria — have opened diplomatic channels. Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have all signaled that Hamas’s time is over. Even Jordan and Iraq have allowed Israel to use their airspace.
For the first time in recent times, Hamas has been pressured by the Arab world — not supported by it. Iran has been put on the defensive, Hezbollah has hesitated, and the Houthi attacks (or the “Hezbollah of Temu,” as they are known in Israel) that once caused global fear have been met with coordinated responses from Western and Arab forces.
The Middle East has learned what Europe has forgotten: that peace is not created by those who understand terror, but by those who defeat it.
THE GAZA IMAGES OF RECENT DAYS show that terror not only corrupts the soul — it consumes itself. After the hostage deal, Hamas is now executing its own people in the streets, while only the male hostages return home alive. The women — whom the world claimed to be fighting for — have disappeared under pretexts that even the régime’s supporters no longer believe. And for every civilian released, Israel has been forced, under international pressure, to release convicted mass murderers and perpetrators of terror against children and families. That is not symmetry — it is moral inversion.
WHILE ISRAEL HAS RECOVERED its strength, Europe has sunk into moral disorientation. It is not that anti-Semitism has returned — it never disappeared in the first place. In France, anti-Semitic attacks have increased by 400 percent. In Germany, by 80 percent. 96 percent of EU Jews say that anti-Semitism is now part of everyday life. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the numbers reached record highs in 2024.
The new bearers of hatred call themselves “anti-Zionists,” but they recycle the old narratives. They march not in boots, but in academic robes. They do not shout Sieg Heil, but "From the river to the sea". But when monuments to the rescue of Danish Jews during the Holocaust have to be hidden away, or are considered for removal once and for all, the writing is clearly on the wall. Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism cannot be separated.
Europe's media play along. The headlines talk about "battle between parties" and "proportions", as if a democracy and an Islamist militia were moral counterparts. Journalistic balance has turned into ethical blindness. While Jotam Confino had to resign as a correspondent on TV2, journalists at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) have been signing statements against Israel.
SEVERAL EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS — including Spain, Norway and Ireland — have chosen to recognize a Palestinian state in the midst of war. This is not peacemaking, but a precedent stating that violence is fruitful and lucrative.
When humanism becomes selective, it becomes meaningless. It is no small thing that the same politicians who call a defensive war "genocide" call an activist's deportation "kidnapping" and "concentration camp detention." The Dhimmis' submission has become total.
Not even the church stood firm. In 2024, eight of Denmark's 10 bishops chose to condemn Israel's military actions — but without a word about the Jewish hostages, the raped women, or the Hamas child soldiers. Nor do the eight bishops have the time, energy, or Christianity to condemn the tens of thousands of Christian corpses lying in Sudan, Nigeria, Syria, or Egypt. Christian blood is worth no more than it can be forgotten in order to shed Jewish blood.
That Europe's priests are again condemning Jews before condemning anti-Semitism is nothing new. It is a repetition. Instead of defending the basic principle of civilization — that man has the right to defend himself against evil — church leaders likewise succumbed to the temptation of moral symmetry.
Europe’s Jews are figuring this out faster than their leaders. Applications for Aliyah — emigration to Israel — from France have exploded. In Germany, the Netherlands, and Britain, homes are being quietly sold while children are being enrolled in schools in Tel Aviv. Synagogues have armed guards. Schools have panic buttons. Politicians have hashtags. Bishops have blindfolds.
The new European reflex — to respond to terror with understanding and to violence with respect — should set off alarm bells throughout the West. If appeasement becomes a principle and if weakness turns into tolerance, it will affect not only Jews but all of European civilization.
When terror is once again seen as a legitimate political language, it will not stop at the walls of Jerusalem. The same forces that threaten Israel today are already testing Europe’s borders — culturally, socially, and physically.
Every concession to extremism becomes an invitation for more of the same.
The only future for a possible Palestinian self-rule must begin where the hatred ends. As in Germany after the fall of the Third Reich, as in Rwanda following the genocide, as in South Africa in the wake of apartheid: only when the population itself takes responsibility for its crimes can reconciliation begin.
A future Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Palestine can only be built on an absolute and unconditional rejection of terror, hatred, brutality, and violence: a total and unconditional surrender. From here a new beginning can grow. Not as revenge, but as acknowledgment.
But today that path is blocked by European politics.
When countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, Belgium, and Slovenia recognize a state before violence is rejected, they teach the region and their fellow citizens that terror is a lucrative proposition. They undermine the future reconciliation they were supposed to support, and at the same time invite extremism into their own societies.
Europe is likely facing a wave of evil that even the Arab states were wise enough to avoid.
Europe brings the prayer mat forth in submission.
Israel is dancing again.
Europa finder bedemåtten frem i underkastelse, mens Israel danser igen
Israel har vundet over terroren, men Europa kan se frem til en bølge af ondskab, som vi selv har bragt over os, mener teologistuderende Daniel Karpantschof
Pudsigt nok er titlen vendt to forskellige veje i selveste avisen og på avisens hjemmeside: Mens Israel danser igen, finder Europa bedemåtten frem i underkastelse. På Facebook hedder Daniel Karpantschofs kronik simpelthen "Israel vandt. Europa tabte." Daniel Karpantschof er teologistúderende, Iværksætter, og tidligere dansk filmkonsulent (tak til min kusinde Ellen).
DEN 7 OKTOBER 2023 blev Israel angrebet i et af de mest brutale terrorangreb i moderne tid. Tusinder af civile blev myrdet, voldtaget og bortført. Det var ikke en territorial kon-flikt, men et forsøg på udslettelse. Dokumenter viser dette: "Burn. Slaughter. Broadcast"; håndskrevet af Sinwar, i hans netværk af kujontunneller.
To år senere er det utvetydigt: Israel sejrede. Europa tabte.
Hamas' ledelse — Deif, Sinwar, Haniyeh — er elimineret. Organisationens tunneler, kommandocentre og vaben-lagre er ødelagt. Gaza City og Rafah ligger i ruiner. Hizbollahs ledelse er splittet, Nasrallah selv dræbt, og Iran reduceret til en stormagt på sociale medier.
De militæreresultater oversteg selv Israels egne forventninger. Hamas' infrastruktur blev ikke blot slået ud — den blev gjort umulig at genopbygge. Dets netværk i Qatar og Libanon er brændt sammen. Dets "hær" eksisterer kun på propagandavideoer. Iran, der i arevis forsøgte at kontrollere regionen gennem stedfortrædere, må nu se sit greb svækket i Syrien, Libanon og Yemen.
Israel førte en krig, der forenede tek-nologi, strategi og udmattende talmodighed. De israelske beeper-netværk og dronestyringssystemer ændrede moderne krigsførelse. Den præcise koordinering mellem luft, cyber og infanteri gjorde, at landet kunne bekæmpe en fjende, der gemte sig blandt civile, uden at miste sit moralske kompas
MEN ISRAELS SEJR var ogsa politisk.
Landet stod fast trods massiv international pression og mediepres. Det nægtede at lade verdensmeninger diktere sin ret til selvforsvar — og endte med at skabe resultater, som selv skeptikerne nu må anerkende: en ny regional orden. Alle forsøg på at frasige sig den jødiske stat pa verdensscenen er — endnu engang — blevet mødt med stenmur. Eurovision, UEFA, FIFA og Hollywood kan stả med nok så mange røde hænder.
Den nye europæiske refleks — at reagere på terror med forståelse og på vold — bør vække alarmklokker i hele Vesten
Og Israel står ikke længere isoleret. Flere arabiske lande — herunder Libanon og Syrien — har åbnet diplomatiske kanaler. Egypten, De Forenede Arabiske Emirater og Saudi-Arabien har alle markeret, at Hamas' tid er forbi. Selv Jordan og Irak tillod Israels brug af deres luftrum.
For første gang i nyere tid blev Hamas presset af den arabiske verden — ikke støttet af den. Iran er trængt i defensiven, Hizbollah tøvede, og de Houthi-angreb (eller "Hizbollah fra Temu", som de er kendt som i Israel), der tidligere skabte global frygt, blev mødt med koordinerede svar fra vestlige og arabiske styrker.
Mellemøsten har lært, hvad Europa har glemt: at fred ikke skabes af dem, der forstår terror, men af dem, der besejrer den.
DE SENESTE DAGES BILLEDER fra Gaza viser, at terror ikke blot korrumperer sjælen — den fortærer sig selv. Efter gidselaftalen henretter Hamas nu sine egne i gaderne, mens kun de mandlige gidsler vender hjem i live. De kvindelige — som verden ellers hævdede at kæmpe for — er forsvundet under påskud, som selv regimets støtter ikke længere tror pa. Og for hver en civil, der frigives, har Israel under internationalt pres været tvunget til at løslade dømte massemordere og gerningsmand bag terror mod børn og familier. Det er ikke symmetri — det er moralsk inversion.MENS ISRAEL GENFANDT sin styrke, er Europa sunket ned i moralsk desorientering. Antisemitismen er ikke vendt tilbage — den forsvandt aldrig. I Frankrig steg antisemitiske overgreb med 400 procent. I Tyskland med 80 procent. 96 procent af EU's jøder siger, at antisemitisme nu er en del af hverdagen. I Holland og Belgien nåede tallene rekordhøjde i 2024.
De nye bærere af hadet kalder sig "anti-zionister", men genbruger de gamle fortællinger. De marcherer ikkei støvler, men i akademiske kåber. De råber ikke Sieg Heil, men "From the river to the sea". Men når monumenter til redningen af danske jøder under Holocaust må gemmes væk, eller overvejes helt at fjernes, står skriften utvetydigt på væggen. Antizionisme og antisemitisme kan ikke adskilles.
Europas medier spiller med. Overskrifterne taler om "kamp mellem parter" og "proportioner", som om et demokrati og en islamistisk milits var moralske modparter. Den journalistiske balance er blevet til etisk blindhed. Mens Jotam Confino matte afgå som korrespondent på TV2, har journalister i DR underskrevet erklæringer imod Israel.
FLERE EUROPÆISKE REGERINGER — herunder Spanien, Norge og Irland — har valgt at anerkende en palæstinensisk stat midt under krigen. Det er ikke fredsarbejde, men præcedens for, at vold virker.
Når humanisme bliver selektiv, bliver den meningsløs. Det er ikke så lidt sigende, at samme politikere, der kalder en forsvarskrig for "folkedrab", kalder en deportation for "kidnapning" og "koncentrationslejrophold". Underkastelsen er total.
End ikke kirken stod fast. Otte af landets 10 biskopper valgte i 2024 at fordømme Israels militære fremfærd — men uden ét ord om de jødiske gidsler, de voldtagne kvinder eller Hamas' børnesoldater. Ej heller har de otte biskopper hverken tid, energi eller kristelighed nok til at fordømme de titusindvis af kristne lig, der ligger i Sudan, Nigeria, Syrien eller Egypten. Kristent blod er ikke mere værd, end at det kan glemmes for at udgyde jødisk.
At Europas præster igen fordommer jøder, før de fordømmer antisemitismen, er ikke nyt. Det er en gentagelse. I stedet for at forsvare civilisationens grundprincip – at mennesket har ret til at forsvare sig mod ondskab – faldt også kirkens ledere for fristelsen til moralsk symmetri.
Europas jøder læser rummet hurtigere end deres regeringer. Ansøgninger om Aliyah — udvandring til Israel — fra Frankrig er eksploderet. I Tyskland, Holland og Storbritannien sælges hjem stille, mens børn indskrives på skoler i Tel Aviv. Synagoger har vagter. Skoler har panikknapper. Politikerne har hashtags. Biskopper har bind for øjnene.
Den nye europæiske refleks — at reagere på terror med forståelse og på vold med respekt — bør vække alarmklokker i hele Vesten. Hvis eftergivenhed gøres til princip og svaghed til tolerance, rammer det ikke blot jøderne, men hele den europæiske civilisation.
Når terror igen opleves som et legitimt politisk sprog, vil det ikke stoppe ved Jerusalems mure. De samme kræfter, der truer Israel idag, tester allerede Europas grænser — kulturelt, socialt og fysisk.
Hver indrømmelse til ekstremismen bliver en invitation til mere af det samme.Den eneste fremtid for et muligt palæstinensisk selvstyre må begynde dér, hvor hadet ender. Som efter Det Tredje Riges fald, som i Rwanda efter folke-mordet, som i Sydafrika efter apartheid: først når befolkningen selv tager ansvar for sine forbrydelser, kan forsoningen begynde.
En kommende Truth and Reconciliation Commission [kommission for sandhed og forsoning] for Palæstina kan kun bygges på en absolut og ubetinget afvisning af terror, had, brutalitet og vold: En total og betingelsesløs kapitulation. Herfra kan en ny begyndelse vokse. Ikke som hævn, men som erkendelse.Men den vej blokeres i dag af Europas politik.
Når lande som Spanien, Irland, Norge, Belgien og Slovenien anerkender en stat, før volden er afvist, lærer de regionen og deres herboende frander, at terror virker. De underminerer den fremtidige forsoning, de havder at støtte, og inviterer samtidig ekstremismen indenfor i deres egne samfund.
Israel danser igen.
Europa står sandsynligvis over for en bølge af ondskab, som selv de arabiske stater var kløgtige nok til at undsige sig.
Europa finder bedemåtten frem i underkastelse.
