Editor's Letter
WOMEN'S
EUROPEAN & AMERICAN
Obama And The Jews
A
merica's strong bond with Israel is well known.
This bond is unbreakable, based upon cultural and
historical ties.
That's how President Barack Obama, whose father was a
Muslim from Kenya, began his Cairo speech to the Muslim
and Arab world on June 4.
So far, so good. There's no question
that Obama, who commands strong
Jewish support, sees Israel as a strong
and enduring ally in the war against
radical Islam.
But then he said the bond also is
based on "the recognition that the
aspiration for a Jewish homeland is
rooted in a tragic history that cannot
be denied" — namely, the Holocaust.
It's true that the United Nations cre-
ated the State of Israel in 1948 in the
aftermath of the Holocaust. But the
Jewish people's claim to their homeland goes back to biblical
times. As Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post senior contributing
editor, explains: "In 1922, the League of Nations mandated
Great Britain to facilitate the reconstitution of the Jewish com-
monwealth in the Land of Israel [Eretz Yisrael] on both sides
of the Jordan River. The international community's decision
to work towards the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in
Israel owed to its recognition of the Jewish people's legal, his-
toric and moral rights to our homeland."
I applaud the president for condemning people who deny
the Holocaust, threaten Israel with destruction
and stereotype Jews. But his poor recollection
of history plays into the hands of revisionists
who believe the Jewish people's claim to a state
of their own is political restitution for Nazi
Germany's atrocities.
rier on its border and checkpoints within the West Bank.
Many Palestinians live in squalor. And most of them aren't
terrorists. But Obama sidestepped the core issue: State-sanc-
tioned terrorism is considered heroic in Palestinian society.
Broken Leadership
Obama went on to dissect the stalemate — "two peoples with
legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes
compromise elusive." He said the best resolution is two states,
side by side, where Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and
security.
I would favor Obama's two-state call, which is the prevail-
ing moderate view. But two states, each living in peace and
security, is a pipedream. The Palestinian people may want two
states, but their leaders want one both next to Israel and in
place of Israel.
The Palestinians indeed must abandon violence both in
the Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas, which America has deemed
a terrorist organization, and in the West Bank, governed by
the Palestinian Authority, a puppet democracy for the corrupt
leadership. But did Obama have to use the Arab euphemism
"resistance" to denounce Palestinian terror?
Obama then seemed to equate Israel with American slave
owners and segregationists and Palestinians with black slaves.
I find it implausible that he really meant that. But when he
made that connection, he overshadowed his argument that
violence is a dead-end — "that it is a sign of neither courage
nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children or to blow
up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is
claimed; that is how it is surrendered."
Stepping Up
Obama urged the Palestinian Authority "to
develop its capacity to govern, with institutions
that serve the needs of its people." That could
happen with better West Bank leadership. Obama
Palestinian Intrigue
urged Hamas "to end the violence, recognize past
Obama also talked about the Palestinian
agreements and recognize Israel's right to exist:'
people's undeniable pursuit of a homeland.
That won't happen; one of Hamas' founding prin-
"For more than 60 years:' he said in his Cairo
ciples is Israel's destruction.
University speech, "they have endured the pain
White-hot as it is, the matter of settlement
of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in
expansion in the West Bank is fodder for nego-
the West Bank, Gaza and neighboring lands for
tiation. For that, you require an authentic peace
a life of peace and security that they have never President 0 bama
partner, which Israel does not have.
been able to lead.
Obama said that the Arab states must rec-
He added, "They endure the daily humiliations — large and ognize the Arab Peace Initiative, which provides Israel rec-
small — that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt:
ognition by the Arab world in exchange for Israel's return to
the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America its pre-1967 borders and a just settlement of the Palestinian
will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspira-
refugee issue. "He said the initiative "was an important begin-
tions for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own."
ning, but not the end of their responsibilities."
I'm sure that echoed for his target audience.
I just hope that a just settlement wouldn't mean repopulat-
ing Israel so there's an Arab majority, effectively ending the
But it reeks of misplaced blame.
Arab dislocation from Palestine following Israeli statehood
Jewish state.
was more the result of Arab leaders urging flight than any
Let's Not Forget
Jewish action. The surrounding Arab lands sought to destroy
Given his tenor that "too many tears have flowed" and "too
the fledgling Jewish state so gave fellow Arabs the get-out
warning. The lack of progress toward Palestinian statehood is
much blood has been shed;' I implore the president to
more the result of Arab leaders wanting sympathy and victory remember:
than Jewish opposition.
• Hamas sees Islam's house of worship, the mosque, as
the prime factory for instructing jihad fighters. Hamas
The humiliations that Obama speaks of are byproducts of
Arab instigation. Arab leadership has kept the refugee camps
believes that even the Muslim fetus seeks jihad, accord-
in place to thwart peace and for propaganda purposes. Also,
ing to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a highly respected,
rampant Arab terror has forced Israel to set up a security bar- Jerusalem-based Israeli watchdog.
Obama on page A6
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