by Isi Leibler
While Hamas leaders continue to behave in this outrageous manner, we should cease providing electricity and services to Hamastan. The prime minister should state that if those in control of Gaza are going to continue publicly calling on their people to murder us, we will simply terminate all contact.
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The horror that engulfed the
entire nation in the wake of the barbaric murder of Jews engaged in
prayer in a Jerusalem synagogue remains palpable.
Although there have been other
devastating acts of terror against innocent civilians, this time it was
clearly religiously motivated. It was undoubtedly inspired by the
incitement and despicable lies repeatedly broadcast by our purported
peace partner, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who
created frenzy among Muslims by alleging that Israelis would
“contaminate” the Temple Mount by praying there and then invade and
destroy Al Aqsa mosque. Such outbursts are reminiscent of the Arab riots
in the 1930s.
Abbas also sent his condolences
to the family of a terrorist slain while attempting to murder a Jew the
previous week, hailing him as a “martyr” who “rose to heaven while
defending our people’s rights and holy places.” This was followed by
false allegations that Israelis had murdered a Jerusalem Arab bus
driver, even though a Palestinian coroner confirmed that it was a
suicide. To top it off, the day following King Abdullah's meeting with
Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jordan in order to ease tensions, Abbas
called on his people to launch “a day of rage” against Israelis.
This latest escalation of
incitement is yet another extension of the traditional hatred against
Jews inculcated among the Arabs but which accelerated after the Oslo
accords. Yasser Arafat and then Abbas have effectively brainwashed
generations of Arabs -- from kindergarten age -- into fanatically hating
Jews and sanctifying as “martyrs” those willing to sacrifice their
lives and gain paradise by killing them.
The Palestinians have, in fact,
been molded into a criminal society adopting a culture of death
comparable only to the Nazis who, once in power, also brainwashed
Germans into committing barbaric crimes. And those, including Jews, who
morally equate this monstrous society with Israel because the Jewish
state like any country also includes deviants and degenerates, are
making obscene analogies.
Every level of Israeli society,
from the leadership to the media and down to the man in the street,
reacts with shock, horror, disgust and condemnation against our
deviants. Contrast this to the public display, not merely in Gaza but
also in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nablus, as Palestinians celebrated the
most recent horror their “martyrs” had inflicted on Jews praying in a
synagogue.
It is noteworthy that our “peace
partner” Abbas had to be cajoled twice by U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry (who subsequently thanked him profusely) for condemning this
latest act of terror. Yet even when he did, he had the chutzpah to blame
Israel for inciting Muslims by repeating his lies that Israel is
attacking Al Aqsa mosque. His Fatah spokesmen immediately stressed that
he was forced to make the statement for “diplomatic” reasons.
Furthermore, Sultan Abu
Al-Einein, his senior adviser and member of the Fatah Central Committee,
praised those who carried out the synagogue massacre, stating, “Blessed
be your quality weapons, the wheels of your cars, your axes and kitchen
knives because [they are being used] according to Allah’s will. We are
the soldiers of Allah.”
These murders, some of which
were committed by Arab Israelis who worked and interfaced with Israelis,
have had a devastating impact on good relationships between Israeli
Jews and Arabs. Understandably many Jews now feel uncomfortable and
suspicious of their Arab neighbors.
The majority of Israeli Arabs
are law-abiding and wish to live in peace with us but major efforts are
required to convince Jews to regain their trust in those Arabs living
and working among them. This will require more than government and media
appeals calling for tolerance. Much will depend on whether there are
moderate responsible Arabs willing to speak out, condemn the terrorists
and take active steps to effectively excommunicate the minority of
fanatics in their midst -- including their Knesset representatives who
currently openly identify with the terrorists and praise their vile
acts.
The outrageous public
celebrations by the Arab residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of
Jabel Mukaber are an example of what must no longer be tolerated. This
village was an incubator of dozens of terrorist attacks, including the
recent synagogue massacre, the murder of the eight Merkaz Harav students
in 2008 and many others. The family of the murderers publicly
proclaimed: “We are proud of what they did. … They are heroic martyrs.”
Paradoxically, the village pleaded with the High Court to remain on the
Israeli side of the separation barrier.
We must adopt tough measures if
we are to avoid a breakdown between Israeli Jews and the Arab minority.
The first step must be for the government to reinforce security,
including in Arab areas that had until now been unsupervised. This is an
awesome challenge and requires punitive measures for those engaged in
anti-state or antisocial activities such as stone throwing, destruction
of private property and incitement against the state. The homes of the
terrorists’ families should be destroyed and the residence status of
convicted terrorists and their families revoked, as this will serve as a
major deterrent even to those willing to die in order to kill Jews.
Should the international community condemn this as an infraction of
human rights or the U.S. again complain that such steps “harm the
interests of peace,” we should remind them that it is our lives that are
at stake and that they should not interfere.
Beyond that, we should now
repudiate the misplaced displays of goodwill we have made over the years
in order to placate the international community. These have been
counterproductive and only served to camouflage the Palestinians’
criminal society and culture of death.
It is one thing to demonstrate
our high moral standards to bleeding hearts abroad by providing the top
medical facilities to relatives of Hamas leaders calling for our
destruction and applauding barbaric acts. But while Hamas leaders
continue to behave in this outrageous manner, we should cease providing
electricity and services to Hamastan. The prime minister should state
that if those in control of Gaza are going to continue publicly calling
on their people to murder us, we will simply terminate all contact.
The situation with the
Palestinian Authority is different, because unlike Hamas, it does not
have total authority in the region under its jurisdiction. Abbas remains
in office despite the absence of elections since 2006. But he is party
to the violation of civil rights among his own people, the rampant
corruption and the rabid incitement against Israel. Yet his PA maintains
order on the West Bank, not merely in order to retain his “moderate”
image with the U.S., but more so to prevent the upheavals that would
eventuate if a full intifada broke out, which could enable Hamas to
assume control. Thus Abbas directs his terror incitement to Jerusalem
and creates religious hysteria about Israelis destroying Al Aqsa mosque.
Abbas has been emboldened and
encouraged in the knowledge that U.S. President Barack Obama and his
administration will continue to stand by him. The U.S. criticisms
against Israel, before, during and after the Gaza war, together with the
repeated categorical whitewashing of Abbas and the PA, have paved the
way for the current situation.
In contrast to previous
occasions, Kerry unequivocally condemned the synagogue massacre, but
Obama, appallingly, again felt impelled to employ moral equivalency by
bracketing the attack in the context of “innocent” Palestinians who had
also been killed.
The time has come to openly
confront the international community and above all, Obama, for having
mollycoddled Abbas and failing to exert pressure on him to bring an end
to this murderous incitement.
The government must initiate a
campaign in conjunction with friends of Israel throughout the world, to
highlight the criminality of Palestinian society and explain why it
would be an act of suicide under the prevailing circumstances to create a
new terrorist rogue state.
We should appeal to our friends
among the American people and Congress and, if necessary, challenge the
president’s moral equivalency and betrayal of a loyal ally. The silent
American Jewish establishment must now also speak out. They should take
their cue from the Zionist Organization of America, which condemned
Obama for linking his condemnation with the deaths of “innocent “
Palestinians, and Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Los Angeles-based Simon
Wiesenthal Center, who called on the U.S. and EU to suspend PA funding
until such time as they cease their incitement to murder Jews.
It is time for the U.S. and the
international community to recognize that Hamas and other Arab
extremists are not nationalists but birds of a feather with Islamic
State.
We would have greater success
conveying this message if our political leaders felt accountable to the
public, which overwhelmingly yearns for a unity government during these
difficult times. Alas, in our current dysfunctional political system,
that is highly unlikely.
We must therefore gird ourselves
to confront our adversaries, confident in the knowledge that we can and
will defend ourselves and will not allow Jerusalem to be transformed
into a Belfast or enable the international community to appease the
extremists by offering us as a sacrificial lamb.
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
Isi Leibler’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com.
Source: http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=5411
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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