Equal before the virus? A reply to alain catzeflis  | thearticle

My neighbour hates me. We argue about many things: who is occupying who’s parking space in front of our houses; why does his trash always seem to end up on my side of the fence; why do

friends of his children throw stones at mine and vice versa? Of course, all this is merely petty squabbling. Isn’t it? Unfortunately it is becoming more serious. My neighbour’s family are

ill, as are mine. Fortunately, my side has taken a risk, which appears to be paying off. It has ordered ample supplies of an experimental vaccine against the disease which is proving to be

effective and is now being delivered in quantity.  Should I now offer my neighbour the vaccine, even when all things public health are the responsibility of his national medical authority?

Legalistically the answer is no. Why so? Let’s take a real life example. Say the UK had come up with a new wonder vaccine that slays the virus. Then would the UK be legally bound to offer

France this Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for use on its French citizens? This while France is using every possible tactic to stop goods moving from Dover to Calais, aiming to bankrupt England.

Moreover, France has not even asked the UK for any vaccine. In law there is _no_ international or domestic legal provision that suggests the UK would be under any obligation to deliver the

French any vaccine, and as far as I know it has not. So the answer is: no! _Nevertheless_, there is a MORAL OBLIGATION. Detailed in all the monotheistic religions’ holy texts, there is the

moral imperative on how to treat “the stranger at your gate”. And so, another country, Israel, has done as its ancient texts prescribe in dealing with its neighbour, the Palestinian Arabs.

Regrettably that neighbour, having not asked for Israel’s initial help, has not even bothered to reply to its offers of further aid. Instead, it is choosing to avail itself of less

trustworthy suppliers of vaccine from Russia. Israel wishes them well. So there it is. Nothing more than a scrap between neighbours. But, of course, it is not just that. It is not just a

disagreement between two neighbours, but between two races. It is between the race of Jews and that of the Palestinian Arabs. The Jews have claimed ownership of the land for at least five

millennia, while the Palestinians have less than 50 years’ history as a nation. In his recent piece for _TheArticle, _Alain Catzeflis argues that “we are all equal before the virus. But when

it comes to the vaccine some are more equal than others”. This is, of course, true. Here is the UK, those who work in care homes, are over 80-years-old and have underlying serious health

conditions have priority over younger, fitter souls. Those in high priority groups who choose not to have the vaccine are entitled to do so, despite being encouraged to take the jab. I

sincerely hope that the Palestinian Ministry of Health, whose word is notoriously unreliable, having now received massive doses of the Russian vaccine, has a similar list of priorities. But

has the Sputnik vaccine actually been delivered? And has it been delivered in sufficient quantities that will enable it to dribble down to the ordinary, oppressed Palestinians, once their

privileged, corrupt leadership has received theirs? According to reliable reports the Sputnik vaccine has not even been delivered and when it is delivered then it will be administered first

to the Palestinian Authority leadership, then terrorist grandees of Hamas, plus infiltrators from Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The poor Palestinians are oppressed by their

leaders who live privileged luxury lives, while they barely survive in the Palestinian Authority’s camps in the so-called West Bank and in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. They will be at the end

of the queue.  In those areas governed by the Palestinian Authority, which is the vast majority of the disputed territories, the PA has a choice. Accept Israel’s help and save many of your

Arab citizens’ lives, or let the pandemic decimate your population because you hate Jews and then you can blame the Israelis. Alain Catzeflis and I agree on who the real losers are: they are

the ordinary Arab Palestinians. Despising everything associated with Jews and rejecting all offers made in good faith and blaming Israel for everything that is wrong with their society only

leads to a dead end. Yet, despite this hatred, and to the everlasting credit of the Israelis, they will continue to find ways to help their Palestinian neighbours, because that is what

their religion tells them. It is the essence of what it means to be a Jew. A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an

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