Israel is different. Surely that must be the case. Why else would the world hold Israel to a different standard than — well, than everyone?

There must be something different between Israel civilians and U.S. civilians. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 the world rose with one voice to condemn the attacks. When Israel suffers from daily terror attacks focused on women and children, the world again rises with one voice, but this time to condemn the victim.

There must be something different between the U.S. and Israeli militaries. When the United States attacked Afghanistan for its refusal to curb terrorist activities in that country, the primary units of deployment were fighter jets and bombers, enabling us to avoid casualties — but this meant a few errant bombs were inevitable. The world saw no problem with this. Israel, on the other hand, left its air force on the ground, instead using ground troops fighting door-to-door to capture a massive number of known terrorists in Jenin. For this, Israel was vilified and accused of a massacre, reports which have proven to be wildly exaggerated.

There must be something different between Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat. A few weeks ago several members of the committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize publicly declared they wished they could revoke the 1994 prize — from Peres. Never mind that Peres has been the main proponent in Israeli politics for negotiations with Arafat. No, it’s enough that he serves in an administration that is trying to stop what Arafat actively encourages — attacks on innocent civilians.

There must be something different between the Star of David and the Stars and Stripes. As the United States mourned its dead in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, countries the world over flew the American flag at half-mast. In a particularly touching ceremony, the guards at Buckingham Palace played “The Star-Spangled Banner.” But when Israeli civilians are being murdered at a rate 10 times that of Sept. 11 (proportionally speaking), the Norwegian Parliament orders a visitor to remove his jacket because a Star of David was displayed on the chest pocket.

There must be something different between Israel and the Netherlands. Twenty years ago, Ariel Sharon was forced to resign as Minister of Defense after Christian Lebanese militias called the Phalange massacred approximately 800 Palestinian refugees. An independent commission determined beyond a doubt that the Phalange were responsible, but criticized Sharon for not following up on reports of the massacre quickly enough. For this, many have labeled Sharon a terrorist and a Hitler-type figure. As for the Dutch, seven years ago Dutch peacekeepers were responsible for protecting the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. According to the BBC, “The United Nations had declared the town a safe area, but it fell to the Serbs without the 110-strong UN contingent firing a shot, and up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys were then executed.” Still no word on whether the Dutch are terrorists or Hitler-type figures — actually, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is still unsure if the Dutch did anything wrong; it is impossible “to say whether a more decisive action by the Dutch would have saved lives,” he said.

There must be something different between Israel and Kuwait. After the Persian Gulf War, Kuwait ethnically cleansed their country of Palestinians, yet no one compared them to South Africa. After the 1948 war, Israel made those Palestinians who remained in Israel citizens, and today several Israeli Arabs serve in the Knesset (Israel’s governing body), yet the world insists that apartheid lives.

There must be something different between Israel and Syria and Iraq. After the 1967 war, the latter two countries expelled over 7,000 Jews and stole their property, but no one called for a right of return. Since its inception, Israel has welcomed any Jew who can make it with open arms.

There must be something different between synagogues and mosques. After Sept. 11, voices throughout the United States and the world urged tolerance against Muslims and unconditionally criticized the few isolated incidents that did occur. Yet in the last few weeks, when anti-Semitic attacks have taken place with alarming frequency throughout the world, criticism has been at best conditional, at worst nonexistent.

There must be something different between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. After Camp David, when Israel made massive concessions, Arafat instead chose violence. Yet it is Israel that is vilified for sabotaging the peace process.

There must be something different between targeting terrorists and targeting civilians. According to world opinion, in the case of Israel the former is unacceptable; the latter is ignored.

The world is wrong.

Benjamin Thompson ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.