As the Attacks on Israel Accelerate, Where Do You Stand?

I understand that Israel is not the biggest issue for most Americans. I do not understand how Israel is not any issue for many American Jews. It bears repeating that 71 years ago Jews around the world celebrated the emergence of the new State of Israel. No one needed to explain to them the importance of having a Jewish homeland. Following the Holocaust, Jews could no longer live under the assumption that "it can't happen here." Not after it happened in the modern, industrialized country of Germany, with other European countries aligned with them. But here we are a single lifetime later and much has changed.

In a 1/19/19 Op-Ed in the New York Times, Michelle Alexander asserts that it's "Time to Break the Silence on Palestine." She claims that elected officials, many civil rights activists and many students fear expressing support for Palestinian rights, with fear of being labeled "anti-Semitic." This allegation is pure nonsense. The 11/28/18 Washington Examiner reported that "over 1,500 faculty at more than 250 U.S. universities have publicly supported the boycott of Israeli academics and institutions." On many major university campuses there is a yearly "Israel Apartheid Week," with a symbolic wall displayed with anti-Israel literature handed out. What is true is the increasing anti-Semitism on many college campuses across the country. What is true is that many Jewish students are fearful of openly supporting Israel. It has gotten so bad that the Algemeiner, an online Jewish paper, listed "The 40 Worst Colleges for Jewish Students, 2017." These are major colleges and universities on the list.

Alexander lauds the election of two new members of Congress, both Democrats (Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib), openly supporting the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement against Israel. Tlaib has called Israel a "racist" country, not worthy of receiving US aid. Tlaib wants to see a one-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, expecting the Palestinians to be in the majority. That amounts to a call for the end of the one Jewish state in the world. Nancy Pelosi has deemed it appropriate to put Omar on the very important House Foreign Affairs Committee. Omar: "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." As the left takes increasing control of the Democratic Party, we will see how long it takes for Israel to be considered unacceptable as an ally. Tlaib has hosted an anti-Israel activist who has praised Hezbollah and said "Israel does not have a right to exist." If you are waiting to hear any condemnation of these members of the House from the Democratic leadership - don't. However, House Republicans joined in the condemnation of Rep. Steve King for speaking well of white supremacy; and House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy stripped King from his senior committee assignments. But these leftists are now an essential part of the Democratic party.

Which brings us to the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic leaders of the Women's March. Linda Sarsour has said that "a Zionist cannot call herself a feminist." On PBS' "Firing Line," Tamika Mallory was asked if Israel has a right to exist. She refused to answer, saying that "people" have a right to exist. While claiming that Palestinians are native to the land of Israel, she would not acknowledge that Jews were. No acknowledgement of King David or King Solomon or the First Temple or the Second Temple. Sarsour has referred to Louis Farrakhan as the GOAT - Greatest of All Time. Farrakhan is likely the most outspoken anti-Semite in the country. Mallory and Carmen Perez allege that Jews have a "collective responsibility as exploiters of black and brown people."

Less than 74 years after the end of the Holocaust, how are the Jews in Europe faring today? The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights polled 16,500 Jews in 12 European countries. The Jews in those countries constitute 90% of the Jews in the European Union (as reported in the 12/12/18 Wall Street Journal article by David Schwammenthal). 85% reported that anti-Semitism is a problem in their country. A third, 34%, actually avoid going to Jewish events or Jewish locations, presumably out of fear. As the Muslim population in Europe has increased, and as the left has increasingly aligned themselves with the Muslims, hatred of Israel is often expressed as an attack on all Jews. 51% of those polled said they frequently or always hear that "Israelis behave like Nazis" towards the Palestinians. And a third said they hear frequently or all the time that "The world would be a better place without Israel."

In the UK, Jeremy Corbyn is the head of Labour, one of the two largest political parties. Currently, the head of the conservative Tory party, Theresa May, is the Prime Minister. Should Corbyn become Prime Minister, he has promised to recognize "Palestine" his first day in office. Corbyn welcomed members of Hamas and Hezbollah to the Parliament as "friends." He was seen laying a wreath at a memorial ceremony for the members of Black September, the group responsible for the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Muslims far outnumber Jews in the UK, with the 2011 census showing 261,282 Jews and 2,660,116 Muslims. It is a story that is being repeated throughout Europe. And it's coming to the United States. Pew estimated there were 3.45 million Muslims in the US in 2017, with a record number being admitted in 2016 under Obama. Am I anti-Muslim? Not if they believe in "live and let live." Not if they believe in government under the Constitution and not Sharia law. And not if they believe that Israel has a right to exist.

But I'm not the problem. The Palestinian Authority wants the UN General Assembly to reinstate a 1975 resolution (later repealed in 1991) stating that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." There is a fifth grade textbook used in Palestinian schools as of 2017, that discusses the importance of heroes. As noted in an article in the Jerusalem Post, the heroes mentioned were not artists or athletes, not scientists or doctors; no, they were combatants, including the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, responsible for killing 25 adult Israelis and 12 children, in an attack on a bus. The book tells Palestinian students that people like her are the martyrs, the heroes - "Bravo to the heroes, scorn to the cowards." At least 5 schools were named after Mughrabi, as the PA continues to support the families of those "martyrs" who kill Jews.

In the 1/6/19 New York Times was another Op-Ed about Israel: "American Jews and Israeli Jews Break Up." The article, by a Jonathan Weisman, tells us that, while 75% of American Jews voted for Democrats in the recent midterm elections, 69% of Israelis have a positive view of the US under Trump. Weisman tells us that "...for most American Jews, it is now accepted as a tenet of their religion: building a better, more equal, more tolerant world now, where they live." Weisman concludes: "Now many American Jews, would say, Israel is Israel's problem. We have our own." As I said, what a difference a single lifetime can make. As previously noted in this blog last year, were it not for Republican support for Israel, the US attitude towards Israel might resemble that of many European countries. But the January, 2018 Pew poll showed overwhelming support for Israel by Republicans - with 79% favoring Israel over the Palestinians. Not so for the Democrats, who showed 27% support for Israel over the Palestinians, with Independents coming in at 42% for Israel. The numbers are far worse in the UK.

Back to Ms. Alexander's Op-Ed. What was so blatantly missing from her blame Israel hit piece, was any discussion of the Palestinians' responsibility for their situation. There was no mention of the various wars launched against Israel in an effort to wipe the country off the map. No mention of the multiple opportunities the Palestinians had to have a state of their own, dating all the way back to the 1947 UN partition plan. There was no mention of Ehud Barak offering a state to Yasser Arafat in 2000, when they met at Bill Clinton's White House. Arafat walked out without making any counter proposals; rather, he returned to Ramallah to start the Second Intifada, when Palestinians wearing "suicide/homicide" vests blew up Jews on buses, in cafes, at malls, and even at a Passover Seder. Ms. Alexander made no mention of the state offered to PA President Mahmoud Abbas by then Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in 2008. Another rejected offer with no counter proposal. There was no mention of over one million Arabs living in Israel, with Abbas saying that not a single Jew may live in any future Palestinian state. And there was no mention of the endless terrorist attacks on Jews, and the teaching of Palestinian children that killing Jews is heroic.

So, where do I stand? If I truly had a reason to believe that giving the Palestinians a state would mean peace and the saving of lives, I would be in favor. But that would mean no more wars, no more terrorist attacks, no more trying to demonize Israel around the world. I have no reason to believe that would happen. I have every reason to believe that, as the Palestinians claim, they will not stop until they have all the land from the (Jordanian) river to the (Mediterranean) sea.