Standing with Israel
We join in solidarity and prayer with the State of Israel given these past weeks of terror.
As much as I believe that the settlement enterprise erodes Israel’s democratic character and that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s continued refusal to acknowledge this danger is perilous to Israel’s future, the current wave of terrorism is not about settlements but instead directed against Israel’s very legitimacy. The statements by Palestinian leaders are evidence of this. Their continued denial of the Jewish people’s 3,000 year ties to the land in general, Jerusalem in particular, and the Temple Mount most explicitly, make a mockery of the claim that this intifada is about the occupation. The goal of a separation from the majority of Palestinians living in the West Bank is not only to shore up Israel’s founding democratic principles but to first and foremost create increased safety and security, and then we pray, the space for a measure of hope to emerge on both sides of an agreed upon border and from that in some distant moment, I stubbornly continue to pray, peace. Nonetheless, my sentiment at present is singular in its commitment: we stand with Israel.
As much as I believe that the settlement enterprise erodes Israel’s democratic character and that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s continued refusal to acknowledge this danger is perilous to Israel’s future, the current wave of terrorism is not about settlements but instead directed against Israel’s very legitimacy. The statements by Palestinian leaders are evidence of this. Their continued denial of the Jewish people’s 3,000 year ties to the land in general, Jerusalem in particular, and the Temple Mount most explicitly, make a mockery of the claim that this intifada is about the occupation. The goal of a separation from the majority of Palestinians living in the West Bank is not only to shore up Israel’s founding democratic principles but to first and foremost create increased safety and security, and then we pray, the space for a measure of hope to emerge on both sides of an agreed upon border and from that in some distant moment, I stubbornly continue to pray, peace. Nonetheless, my sentiment at present is singular in its commitment: we stand with Israel.
David Horovitz concurs:
There is however a measure of light amidst the darkness. There is as well the example of Lucy Aharish, an Israeli Arab newscaster, who speaks forcefully against such incitement. She also speaks about God!
They say that this is the latest uprising against the occupation. It isn’t. It’s the latest uprising against Israel.
Most Israelis don’t want to rule over the Palestinians. Most Israelis want to separate from the Palestinians. If the Palestinians want a state based on the 1967 lines, they have to convince a majority of Israelis that their independence would not threaten our existence. You’d think this would be obvious. Evidently it isn’t.
This latest phase of terrorism and violence — like the conventional wars, and the suicide bomber onslaught, and the relentless campaign of misrepresentation and demonization and denial of Jewish history in the holy land — sends the opposite message to Israel. Much of the rest of the world — so short-sighted in viewing Israel as the Goliath when it’s a tiny, loathed sliver in a region seething with Islamist extremism — refuses to see it. But in bloody, unmistakable capital letters, the perpetrators of this new round of evil mayhem proclaim to Israelis: We don’t want to live alongside you. We want to kill you and force you out of here.There are unfortunately too many instances of what Horovitz writes about. Palestinian leaders incite. They stand guilty of antisemitism. There is no other way to label the call to "Kill the Jews!" than the word antisemitism. It is horrifying to read and watch. Here is but one chilling example.
There is however a measure of light amidst the darkness. There is as well the example of Lucy Aharish, an Israeli Arab newscaster, who speaks forcefully against such incitement. She also speaks about God!
My devotion at this moment is one: we stand with our people. I stand with the Jewish people!