Ruth Dudley Edwards: Question for Sally Rooney – what would happen to women if Islamists destroy Israel?
I live in a part of London that cannot escape massive demonstrations against Israel. Young women wear keffiyehs, those black and white scarves defiantly displayed by the likes of Gerry Adams.
The Republic of Ireland, which used to be a jewel in the papal crown, is fast acquiring the reputation of being the most progressive, i.e. hard-left, secular and anti-semitic country in Europe.
Sally Rooney is a hugely successful young Irish novelist who is garnering massive publicity over her fashionable demonisation of Israel, support for the Palestinian-led BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, and Palestine Action.
Although like many other Zionists and friends of Israel who believe Hamas is a hateful terrorist threat that has to be eliminated, I am worried by Israel’s recent conduct of the Gaza war, but I still know who the good guys are, and they’re not people like Rooney.
She is the pseudo-intellectual young person’s poster girl who self-identifies as a Marxist, and who in 2021 said she had chosen not to sell the Hebrew-language translation rights of her new book to an Israeli-based publishing house, adding, "...if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the BDS movement’s institutional boycott guidelines, I will be very pleased and proud to do so".
I tried to understand her appeal, read her international bestseller Normal People (which I found dull, irritatingly pretentious and narcissistic) and I couldn’t stick even one episode of the TV adaption which had won large numbers of fans apparently largely because of young Irish heart-throb Paul Mescal’s chest and necklace.
I would love to see an interviewer asking Rooney why she apparently shows no interest in what would happen to women if Islamists succeed in destroying Israel and its free society.
Here’s a clue from Afghanistan.
In August 2021, after twenty years of years of war, the US and the UK caved in and left the country once more at the mercy of the Taliban.
Under the rule of the Sharia Law imposed by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, girls are now restricted to primary education, women are barred from most professions or occupations and public spaces like parks, they must wear full body and face covering, and cannot speak or sing in public or interact with unrelated men or non-Muslims.
Improper wearing of the hijab may merit a public flogging.
Forced and early marriages are smiled upon, and if a woman complains about rape or abuse, they may be arrested, tortured and raped in jail.
But never mind, all you Rooney fans.
Just keep wearing your keffiyehs and shouting ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free’ on that high moral ground beside terrorist sympathisers who present themselves as occupiers of the moral high ground.
Ruth Dudley Edwards is the author of ‘The Faithful Tribe: an intimate portrait of the loyal institutions’ and 'Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families’ Pursuit of Justice’
Ruth’s website is www.ruthdudleyedwards.com, Twitter is @RuthDE, Facebook is Ruth Dudley Edwards, phone is 07768 838344