In the international effort to undermine Israel every avenue of attack from the military to the cultural is being employed. The Arab world is continually stirred to a frenzy pitch on imaginary or exaggerated threats. Palestinian Authority President Abbas (seemingly president for life) spread the unfounded incendiary rumor that Israeli settlers were “desecrating” Al-Aqsa Mosque and noting “we must stop them (the settlers) from entering by any means possible.” But there isn’t a scintilla of evidence that this claim is true?
When Mahmoud Abbas maintained that Jerusalem should be inundated with massive Muslim tourism in order “to preserve its Muslim nature,” Sheikh Qaradawi repudiated this idea arguing instead that visiting Jerusalem is forbidden so long as it is under Israeli occupation; “Jerusalem must be liberated by force and not by ‘tourism’.” As al Qaeda sees it “Jerusalem is the capital of the imminently approaching Islamic Caliphate.”
These threats and the ever present hostile rhetoric create hateful responses. An intifada or the signs of it are breaking out in Jerusalem. Hundreds of young Palestinians have been arrested for the use of “cold weaponry,” such as stones, Molotov cocktails and light explosives. All of the assailants exhort the slogan of “popular resistance” preached to them by the Palestinian Authority President Abbas, even though those in the Obama administration insist on calling him “a moderate.”
None of these recent outbursts is surprising after Abbas’ speech in the United Nations in which he accused Israel of waging a “war of genocide” in the Gaza Strip. Needless to say, Abbas did not mention the thousands of rocked fired into Israel before war commenced.
On October 22 ChayaZissel Braun, a three month old infant, was killed when a Palestinian man slammed his vehicle into a crowd at a light rail stop in Jerusalem. Nine people were injured, three seriously and one woman died from her injuries. Hamas took credit for this heinous act.
Forty eight hours before the attack, Abbas announced that any Palestinian who is involved in property transactions with “hostile countries” (read: Israel) would be punished by “life imprisonment with hard labor.” Incitement is a way of life for the P.A. and Hamas and unless it is curtailed there will be other terrorist attacks.
But this internal war and exogenous pressure is not the only way the enemies of Israel exert pressure.
An international movement to sever Israel from commercial activity and cultural exchange is well under way. The BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement is a systematic effort to demonize and delegitimize the state of Israel. Front organizations for the Muslim Brotherhood such as CAIR and the Muslim Student Association have gained a foothold on many university campuses. In fact, they are often so successful that Jewish groups such as several Hillels have fallen for the rhetorical argument. This cultural assault continues unabated with many faculty groups censuring Israel and refusing to engage in conferences or exchange with Israeli scholars.
In banning Israel from the normal intercourse of state and non-state activity, the Muslim activists are trying to create an environment in which Israel is regarded as a pariah, a state isolated from the international community.
Israel is clearly up against it as has always been the case. Yet it maintains its resolve through a combination of military strength and unusual solidarity and morale, qualities attributed to military service. Truth is on Israel’s side, a point many do not understand. It is a bastion of individual freedom in a sea of totalitarian control. Admittedly as Mark Twain noted, “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Israel must contend with lies daily, but its shoes are on and it faces the struggle with a stout heart.
Herbert London is President of the London Center for Policy Research, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of the book The Transformational Decade (University Press of America). You can read all of Herb London’s commentaries atwww.londoncenter.org
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