Editor's Letter

jarc

Taking Israel For Granted

I

wonder if American Jews have grown immune to the ter-
rorist threat to Israel's survival. Our yearlong celebration
of Israel's 60th anniversary as the modern Jewish state
reinforced our common heritage. But it also helped obscure
the danger posed by radical Arab and Iranian factions.
Repeatedly, we heard about Israel's knack for surviving. We
heard about its military might, ingrained courage and U.S.
support. And we heard about its God-
given sustenance.
Alarmingly, we've lost some of the
anger and edge that propelled us
alongside Israel in its relentless fight
against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and,
yes, even Fatah.
How sad.
Israel belongs to the diaspora as
well. It's the ancestral homeland for
Jews everywhere.
We know we can't let down our
guard against the Palestinian terror-
mongers who control Hamas from Gaza City, or the radical
Iranian imams and their Lebanon-based Shiite henchmen
who make up Hezbollah. It was just Sept. 7 when Hamas
Minister of Parliament Fathi Hammad, according to the
Washington-based Middle East Media
Research Institute, declared on Al Aqsa TV
that Allah had chosen the Palestinians "to
fight the people he hates most —the Jews!'
We suspect that the shooter in the March 6
attack on a Jerusalem yeshivah had ties to
Hezbollah; the gunman, who killed eight
students, was an east Jerusalem Arab.
But for some bizarre reason, we think
that Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party in the
West Bank is Israel's friend at the nego-
tiating table despite nothing more than a
stream of empty promises and continued
attempts by suicide bombers seeking
martyrdom" from Allah for killing "devil-
infested Jews!'

C(

Disturbing Video

in 70 C.E. amid Israel's revolt against the Roman Empire.
As the PMW tells it, the video image spotlights the Al
Aqsa Mosque and praying Muslims, which, together with
the lyrics, echo the Palestinian deceit that Israel intends to
topple the Al Aqsa Mosque. The obvious deduction is that the
mosque requires protection from the Zionist aggressor. The
clip declares: "Oh, God, protect Al Aqsa; Oh, Allah, Al Aqsa is
ours; [protect Al Aqsa] from every thief and every oppressor"
Pictures identify the so-called thieves and oppressors as Jews
wearing kippot as well as Israeli police and soldiers. The clip
sings for another Saladin; the Muslim conqueror of Jerusalem
in 1187: "How you [Al Aqsa] suffer! How you have bled for
years! How you scream! How you call out to the millions!
What are you hoping for, who are you crying for? Saladin!"
Both PA TV and Hamas TV have shown the clip intermit-
tently over the last year and a half. "It constitutes part of a
prolonged hate campaign against Israel: says PMW's Itamar
Marcus.
And it is a vital reminder as Jews in America demonstrate
their pride in Israel's 60th.
"The campaign denies the historical fact of the connection
between the Jewish people, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount,
while infusing hatred and fear by pretending that Islam's holy
site and its adherents are in great danger; Marcus says.

Alarmingly, we've
lost some of the
anger and edge
that propelled us
alongside Israel in
its relentless fight
against Hamas,
Hezbollah, Iran
and, yes, even
Fatah.

Palestinian Authority TV, an official arm of
Fatah, continues to fill the airwaves with
hate, lies and propaganda — all aimed at
misleading gullible and deprived viewers.
On Sept. 23, another east Jerusalem Arab,
this one driving a car, injured 20 Israeli soldiers in a terror
attack near the Old City of Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate. The same
day, a PA TV music video denied any historical connection
between the Jewish people and Jerusalem.
The music video's message is chilling: "Oh, Zion, no matter
how much you dig and no matter how much you destroy, your
imaginary Temple will not come into being!'
It adds: "My land, my Jerusalem, my blood and my honor
will not be scorned!' And, "Al Aqsa is ours, how you suffer!
How you have bled for years! How you scream! How you call
out to the millions!"
The repeated refrain, "Al Aqsa is ours:' is meant to empha-
size the deception, stresses the Jewish-operated Palestinian
Media Watch (PMW). The Al Aqsa mosque, of course, is built
on Judaism's holiest site where the Temple stood before falling

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Tarnished Disney

Two weeks before the video, PMW reported
that PA TV was trying to recreate a Mickey
Mouse Club atmosphere for Palestinian
kids while glorifying a mass murderer of
Israelis. The hook: Mickey and Minnie
Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. In a PA
TV studio built for a Ramadan children's
program, the smiling images of those
Disney characters formed the backdrop for
a TV quiz that venerated Daal Mughrabi,
who took part in the murder of 12 kids and
25 adults in a 1978 Israeli bus attack. She
is idolized as the "beloved bride, daughter
of Jaffa, jasmine flower" while figures of
Mickey and Minnie Mouse are prominent
in the background, as if the scene were a
Disney program, Marcus relates.
Using Disney characters to market terror
is deplorable yet a staple of Fatah's Abbas,
our chameleon-like "peace" partner.
This Sukkot, which begins Monday night,
let the simple huts of this harvest festival remind us of the
determination and perseverance of our ancestors after the
Exodus from Egypt and their sojourn through the wilderness
on the way to Canaan. Let these sukkot also reinforce in our
hearts the importance of Israel to our very being as Jews. The
Jewish journey, though remarkably unbroken for 3,300 years,
is ever so fragile, like the huts of the Israelites.
Chag sukkot sameiach! And Shabbat shalom! ❑

Do you still think Israel's survival is at
stake?

Do we really have partners to negotiate
with?

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October 9 • 2008

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