Images of distinguished rabbis hacked to death in a blood soaked synagogues floor during a prayer service are about a hatred so deep that any rational discourse cannot assuage it. These images evoke memories of the Holocaust and the flight from Europe to a national home. Israelis’ are assailed by the same venomous loathing they sought to escape and the same international indifference to their plight.
Hamas has praised the butchery and Palestinians celebrated the killers as martyrs. President Mahmoud Abbas, the P.A. president, said he condemned the murders, but added, “We also condemn the attacks on al Aqsa mosque.” What is truly remarkable is not merely the association of the two incidents, but the fact there haven’t been any attacks on the mosque. This is a fiction promoted by Abbas as an incitement that resulted in the massacre.
In fact, a spokesman for Fatah noted that Abbas was “obliged” to use the language of diplomatic – speak because of his position. “He is forced to speak this way to the world.” According to the perverse logic of this spokesman, the Israeli victims were “extremist settlers” who have been storming al Aqsa mosque leading directly to their “justifiable” murder.
To make matters worse, President Obama issued a statement condemning the slaughter of worshippers, but ended his remarks by noting, “At this sensitive moment in Jerusalem, it is all the more important for Israeli and Palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence, and seek a path forward towards peace.” However like Abbas, President Obama has engaged in false moral equivalence.
Israel doesn’t promote violence, it responds to violence. Israelis want to live in peace, but Hamas and Fatah believe in the destruction of the Jewish state. Israel wants to exist without tension, but its neighbors believe in escalating tension. Why then even introduce this sentence in a speech condemning the horrific attack on rabbis?
If this sangunic attack reveals anything, it is the barbarism and savagery of the enemy Israel faces. It also establishes beyond any reasonable doubt that negotiations with killers is futile. The Middle East isn’t subject to rational discourse. Moreover, the world through the United Nations usually ignores the spilling of Jewish blood. It is as if the Nazi view that Jews don’t count is now the U.N. Human Rights Commission motto.
It is noteworthy that Palestinian terrorists have killed more Americans than ISIL fanatics, yet we are not requesting special sessions in the U.N. to deal with the atrocities. Once again what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.
There is only one way to respond to this mindless murder: reinforcing the strength and determination of the Israeli Defense Force. After World War II Jews sought a safe sanctuary from the horror of European atrocities. Israel was that place. But where can Jews go today?
The rise of anti-Semitism worldwide is a matter that cannot be ignored. French Jews have been swarming to Israel in record number and English Jews are buying second homes in Tel Aviv if they can afford them. The signs are unmistakable. A rising Muslim population has been correlated to an increase in atrocities aimed at Jews. It is a topic difficult to discuss in the era of multiculturalism since most Muslims are peaceful and those that aren’t are insulated from criticism by the chastening charge of “racism” or Islamophobia.”
If reasonable opinion, even common sense, prevailed the condemnation of murder would be unequivocal. Imagine the outcry, appropriate outcry I might add, if four imams were massacred in a mosque during prayer service. The world would stand still for a moment. But with the murder of rabbis, the reaction is different. Jews are seen as different. So much for sympathy and apologies. Guns, tanks, planes and automatic weapons are what is called for, even as the politicians call for a negotiated settlement.
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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