The Moral Compass

* In the 7/16/14 Investor's Business Daily, an opinion piece by Dennis Prager presented an interesting juxtaposition between Israel and Gaza. Prager noted that Hamas, as the elected government in Gaza, seeks to destroy Israel, has no free press or freedom of religion or independent judiciary, oppresses gays, tortures and kills political opponents, sends missiles into Israeli cities, and "saturates its education and airwaves with demonic hatred of (Israel)."

* In contrast, Israel has a free press and freedom of religion and an independent judiciary. Israel protects the rights of gays, and even has political/rights groups "dedicated to the welfare" of the Gazans. Prager notes that Freedom House ranks countries on a 1 to 7 scale, with 1 being the most free. Hamas ranks 6 in overall freedom, 6 on civil liberties and 6 on political rights. Israel ranks 1.5 in overall freedom, 2 on civil liberties and 1 on political liberties.

* Prager notes that "The moral gulf between Israel...and Hamas...is as clear and great as the one that existed between the Allies and Nazi Germany." So who does the mainstream media and much of Western Europe and at times Obama side with? You know who. Sad, is it not?

* Said Obama, in a 7/8/14 editorial in Haaretz (a left wing Israeli newspaper): "...the only solution is a democratic, Jewish state living side-by-side in peace and security with a viable, independent Palestinian state." Where is the requirement for the Palestinian state to be democratic? If it is an Islamist state, where in the world does an Islamist state exist without threatening its neighbors and its own non-Muslim citizens?

* The New York Times opined in their 7/19/14 lead editorial that the best solution was a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority (headed by Abbas), which controls the West Bank. As always, Abbas is described as a "moderate." The same "moderate" who honors terrorist suicide bombers, and names schools and public squares after them. The same "moderate" who accused Israel of genocide. The same "moderate" who last month congratulated Bashar Assad on his "re-election" in Syria. This is the same Assad responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Syrians. (Information from 7/15/14 Wall Street Journal piece by Bret Stephens.)

* Meanwhile, the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, upped the inflammatory language with this: "Since (Israel's creation) in 1948, we have been witnessing this attempt at systematic genocide every day and every month." (Quote from the 7/18/14 Times of Israel online.) And I thought that the day after Israel declared their independence in 1948, the Arab world attacked in their first effort to wipe Israel off the map. And how convenient to ignore the fact that Egypt controlled Gaza and Jordan controlled the West Bank from 1949 until the 1967 war. But Erdogan then went one better when he accused Israel of "barbarism that surpasses Hitler." (Quote from 7/19/14 story on FoxNews.Com.)

* We have seen pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel demonstrations in London and Paris and other cities. In Paris, over 200 Jews were blocked from being able to leave their synagogue. On Saturday, anti-Israel demonstrators held a "die-in" in the Boston Commons. As the names of Gazans killed in the latest war were read, a demonstrator holding a placard with that person's name would fall to the ground. Among the phrases shouted at some Jewish students were these: "Jews back to Birkenau" (one of the Nazi death camps), and "Drop dead, you Zionazi whores." (As reported in the Times of Israel online, 7/20/14.) I guess these Muslim and leftist protestors do not feel the same way about the over 2000 Nigerians killed in just the first half of 2014 by the Islamist group Boko Harem.

* While anti-Israel Muslims in the US, along with supporters on the left, continue to demonize Israel and Jews, there remains one solidly pro-Israel group - Republicans. In a Pew Research poll conducted from 7/8-7/14/14, people were asked if they sympathized more with Israel or the Palestinians. Over 7 out of 10 (73%) of Republicans sympathized with Israel. Less than 1/2 of the Democrats (44%) sympathized with Israel. The difference was even more striking among those who identified as conservative Republicans (77% favoring Israel) vs. those who identified as liberal Democrats (only 39% favoring Israel).

* What, if anything, should Obama do? Ric Grenell, an adviser to four US ambassadors to the UN, suggested this: "How refreshing would it be if the US Government...if we actually came out and said (to the Palestinians) there are consequences for your actions; and we are no longer going to give US taxpayer dollars to rebuild..." How refreshing indeed. But the Palestinians, including the terrorist organization Hamas, never suffers any negative consequence for their actions. Like a tempestuous child, they are never held to account. That responsibility all too often lies with Israel.

* As Charles Krauthammer notes in his 7/18/14 column in the Ventura County Star, when Israel vacated Gaza, the Gazans were given 3000 industrial greenhouses "that had produced fruit and flowers for export." However, the Palestinians destroyed them. Then, he notes, they elected Hamas as their government. Completing their reaction to Israel leaving Israel, Hamas turned Gaza into a "massive military base," and has been launching rockets into Israel virtually non-stop since Israel left. What a shame that Obama, the Europeans, the media and the Left do not ask: where are your factories (not just munition factories), why have you not built homes and helped your people to grow businesses? These, then, are the people Obama believes will live side-by-side in peace with the Jewish State of Israel.