Editor's Letter Bibi Talks Tough I n bold, sweeping terms before the United Nations General Assembly, Israel's prime minister said the U.N. Human Rights Council's Goldstone report on the Israeli-Hamas war last winter was a perversion of truth. Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu was outraged how the report equated Hamas terror against Israelis with Israeli soldiers protecting the Jewish state. And Bibi had every right to be. The report follows the path of its commissioning body, the U.N. Both are hypocritical examples of democracy and freedom. It's about time some- body defended Israel's defensive incur- sion into Gaza. Thank you, Bibi. "For eight long years;' Netanyahu said, "llamas fired from Gaza thou- sands of missiles, mortars and rockets on nearby Israeli cities. Year after year, as these missiles were deliberately hurled at our civilians, not a single U.N. resolution was passed condemning those criminal attacks." Netanyahu recounted recent history to underscore the shill for anti-Zionism that is the U.N. Human Rights Council: In 2005, hoping to advance peace, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. It dismantled 21 settlements and uprooted 8,000 Israelis. But instead of peace, Israel got an Iranian-backed ter- ror base 50 miles from Tel Aviv. Life in Israeli communities near Gaza became a nightmare. Hamas rocket attacks not only continued, but also increased tenfold. "Again, Netanyahu said, "the U.N. was silent." no Council would have dragged Roosevelt and Churchill to the dock as war criminals." The fear, of course, is that the U.N., already farcical in so many respects, might revert to those dark days not too long ago when human rights abusers judged lawful democracies — and could rule, for example, that Zionism is racism. Netanyahu correctly assessed that by not renouncing the report, the U.N. was signaling to terrorists that terror pays. "The same U.N. that cheered Israel as it left Gaza and prom- ised to back our right of self-defense now accuses us — my people, my country — of war crimes:' he said. The Goldstone report — biased, exaggerated and unjust — indeed is a clear-cut test for all governments. As Netanyahu asked, "Will you stand with Israel or will you stand with the terrorists?" I'm appalled that so many rational nations are afraid to publicly answer that reasoned question. Clearly, all Israel wants is peace in the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people as well as a peaceful border with the Palestinian people. "Any time an Arab leader genuinely wanted peace with us," Netanyahu said, "we made peace. We made peace with Egypt led by Anwar Sadat. We made peace with Jordan led by King Hussein. And if the Palestinians truly want peace, I and my government, and the people of Israel, will make peace. But we want a genuine peace, a defensible peace, a permanent peace' That's a powerful pledge — an olive branch for the taking. But the deal-breaker for the Arab states is that it includes saying yes to a Jewish state — a no-go for 62 years since the Arab rejection of a U.N.-proposed, two-state division of Palestine in 1947. SOMERSET SOUTH & JARC 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AT SOMERSET COLLECTION 8 - 11 PM • Dress for the 60s1 Martinis • Food • Dancing Shopping to Benefit JARC Oct. 15-17 Back Israel had no choice but to respond militarily, Elusive Peace Netanyahu said in a brilliant analysis: "There The peace that Bibi envisions — side by is only one example in history of thousands side, self-governing nation states; two free of rockets being fired on a country's civilian peoples living in peace, prosperity and dignity population. It happened when the Nazis rock- — requires secure borders. That means any eted British cities during World War II. During Palestinian state would have to be demilita- that war, the allies leveled German cities, caus- rized. "We don't want another Gaza, another ing hundreds of thousands of casualties. Israel Iranian-backed terror base abutting Jerusalem Benjamin Netanyahu chose to respond differently: Faced with an and perched on the hills a few kilometers from enemy committing a double war crime of fir- Tel Aviv:' the Likud Party leader said. ing on civilians while hiding behind civilians, Israel sought to Optimistically, Netanyahu believes peace is achievable conduct surgical strikes against the rocket launchers:' — "but only if we roll back the forces of terror, led by Iran, Such strikes were far from easy given that the terrorists that seek to destroy peace, eliminate Israel and overthrow the fired from homes and schools, used mosques as weapons world order." depots and moved explosives in ambulances. "Israel, by con- That's a tall order — one I sadly don't see the international trast, tried to minimize casualties by urging Palestinian civil- community rallying around for various reasons, including ter- ians to vacate the targeted areas;' Netanyahu said. rorist retribution. If you recall, Israel dropped flyers over homes, sent thou- In closing, Prime Minister Netanyahu aptly captured the sands of text messages and called thousands of cell phones global challenge: "Let us confront this peril, secure our future urging Gazans to leave before air strikes. "Never has a country and, God willing, forge an enduring peace for generations to gone to such extraordinary lengths to remove the enemy's come." civilian population from harm's way:' Netanyahu said. Much, much easier said than done. 29TH ANNUAL FALL FUNDRAISER FISHER THEATRE 7:30 PM ia" * V111, 14,Z *W".* * .z.',".. ■ • i.:****C***4 ,• Wayward Ithsking Yet against this backdrop, who did the Goldstone report choose to condemn as somehow the aggressor? Israel. Netanyahu cogently summed up this travesty of justice: "A democracy legitimately defending itself against terror is mor- ally hanged, drawn and quartered — and given an unfair trial to boot. By these twisted standards, the U.N. Human Rights 0 : I— • tn Ct Is Netanyahu's analysis on target? Ca Z z 00 Do the Palestinians want peace? a. a- IN October 8 • 2009 5