The notoriety of Guardian journalist Deborah Orr is well deserved.
Following the 2011 release of Gilad Shalit by Hamas, after five years of captivity and in exchange for over 1000 Palestinian prisoners (including scores of cold-blooded terrorists who had murdered Israelis), the Guardian journalist expressed anger, not at Hamas, but at Israel.
Israel’s sin?
Racism.
She wrote:
“[Hamas’s] eagerness to accept a [prisoner] transfer…tacitly acknowledges what so many Zionists believe – that the lives of the chosen are of hugely greater consequence than those of their unfortunate neighbours.“
Her tortured logic, which included an antisemitic understanding of “chosenness” to infer that Jews are racist due to theological first causes, was stunning even for the Guardian and rightfully elicited a chorus of condemnations, resulting in a (mealy-mouthed) apology from Orr.
More recently, Orr employed her penetrating insight to pass judgment on the sins of recent Western blasphemers (the creator of the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’, and the editor of a French satirical magazine who published depictions of Muhammad) who believe that their freedom of speech includes the right to offend people of various faith traditions.
In a Guardian piece titled ‘The West and the Islamic world should leave one another to live and let live’, September 21st, Orr wrote the following:
“Free speech does not confer the right to be wrong, mistaken, biased or merely a doggedly axe-grinding pain-in-the-ass about your pet hates.”
Actually, the “right to be wrong, mistaken, or biased” is EXACTLY what free speech in the West confers – a liberty unconditionally bestowed upon those who criticize Muslims or mock their prophet and even, in fact, to “journalists” with an axe to grind against Jews and express their pet hate on the pages of the Guardian.
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