The Problem With Terrorists

Back in October, members of the Presbyterian Church USA meet with members of that oh so reasonable group of murderers known as Hizbollah. The PCUSA has been one of the more vocal Christian groups urging divestment from Israel. I wonder if their minds will be changed after the Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV Symposium was held on November 29 at the Lebanese Government University.


Some of the topics discussed:

Mediator: "The Arab regimes have all accepted the establishing of a Palestinian state on the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In other words, the 1967 borders only. They believe that the reality and the balance of power do not allow more than that at this stage. Do you support this 'realism,' or do you adhere to what has come to be known as the historical, original Palestine? Let us... Let us... Go ahead."

Student 1: "My name is Hisham Sham'as, and I study political science. I just want to say everyone is talking about..."

Mediator: "Please address the question."

Hisham Sham'as: "The state shouldn't be only within the 1976 borders... Or rather, 1967... Israel must be wiped out."

Mediator: "You mean, reviving the motto of erasing Israel from the map."

Hisham Sham'as: "Israel should be completely wiped out, so the Palestinians will have a country to return to."

Mediator: "If someone tells you this motto is unrealistic, how would you respond?"

Hisham Sham'as: "There is no such thing as unrealistic. Just as Israel... Just like Hitler fought the Jews - We are a great Islamic nation of Jihad, and we too should fight the Jews and burn them." MEMRI

Perhaps these people and Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can say such outrageous things because of the long history of Arabs with Nazism and Hitler. Take the case of Haj Amin Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem:

Haj Amin had given in to his hatreds early. He was charged with incitement in the pogrom that erupted in Jerusalem in April 1920, and he became a fugitive from justice, hiding in Transjordan. Ironically, he was brought back by a British Jew, Herbert Samuel, the British high commissioner for Palestine, who made him mufti. The mufti'’s machinations helped ignite the notorious killings of 1929, when religious Jews were driven from Hebron, where Jews had lived for centuries.The mufti lost his post following the riots of 1936, whereupon he went to Lebanon and then to Iraq, to maneuver, abortively, against the British. It was from there that he fled to Berlin and into the arms of Hitler.

In the 1930's people did nothing while Germany was applying special laws against Jews and denying them their rights. Nothing was done when the concentration camps that killed 6 million Jews began operating. Borders were closed against a desperate people.

Little is being said today about the UN's outrageous Day of Solidarity with Palestinians when a map was used from 1948 that did not show Israel. Little outrage is shown at the almost dailyoccurrencee of terrorist attacks against Israel.

Why is there no outrage against the murders of these innocent people by terrorists? Is it because these innocents happen to be Jews? Why is there no outrage that groups such Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Fatah, and a long stream of terrorist groups call for the destruction of Israel and actively plan and execute terrorists attacks against innocent Israeli citizens? Is anti-Zionism now the new anti-Semitism?

In the 1930's very few people stood up and denounced what was going on in Hitler's Germany. Today, there are few governments that voice outrage against what Israel faces. Many actually condemn security measures that the Israeli government must enforce to stop the deluge of those attempting terrorist attacks. On November 29, 1947, UN Resolution 181 was passed. It called for an Israeli state and a Palestinian state. Israel accepted and the Palestinians rejected it. Every since then the Palestinians have rejected any peaceful resolutions, the last being the Oslo Accords.

The tone against Israel is getting ugly. The UN could not bring itself to condemn the latest terrorist attack in which 5 Israelis were killed. Why? Because Algeria objected to Islamic Jihad being named and telling Syria to close the group's offices. These are the neighbors Israel has. A very tiny country faced with hostility from all borders who hassuccessfullyy defended itself against invasion many times. It has also managed to have a vibrant society with an advancedtechnologyy based economy.

More people and governments must condemn the daily onslaught that Israel faces. Terrorists must be called what they are, murderers, and not given the romantic name of militant. Hizbollah and the other terrorist groups must know by all that their words and actions will not be tolerated. There is some hope. The EU and the US Congress have both said that if the terrorist group Hamas wins in the Palestinian elections, aid may be cut.