Editor's Letter
HANSONS
SPRING
FIX UP SALE!
Beseeching Our People
W
To illustrate that core message to the ZOA, Cantor shared
e must answer our enemies' dangerous resur-
an anecdote about Claude Lanzmann, a French filmmaker
gence with renewed vigilance, lest we invite
whose documentary Shoah is a definitive film statement on the
greater dangers for both Israel and America.
Holocaust. As Cantor recounted, Lanzmann was interviewed
So said Rep. Eric Cantor before guests at the Zionist
on French television and was asked — almost contemptu-
Organization of America (ZOA) national dinner in New York.
The U.S. House Republican Whip is one of the brightest think- ously — what the film's purpose was since everything already
had been said about the Holocaust.
ers and staunchest Zionists in Congress. He's a man of integ-
"Well," Lanzmann replied, "I discovered that for myself at
rity, conviction and humility — and undeterred in spelling
least, one question remained unasked: At what moment did it
out our people's perilous stake.
become too late?'
Cantor chairs the Congressional Task
"Clearly, it was too late when the shivering, naked victims
Force on Terrorism and Unconventional
were herded into the gas chambers. It was too late when they
Warfare. So he's dialed into the threats
were being stuffed into cattle cars.
of and defenses against international
"At what moment did we lose the chance to save the six
terror. He routinely receives hate mail
and a half million souls? 1936? The Nuremberg Laws? The
because he is Jewish.
Versailles treaty? When did it become too late?"
Elected in 2000 and re-elected four
times, Cantor represents the Seventh
District of Virginia. He's the only Jewish Modern Application
Fast forward: Today, many people are pointing guns at Israel
Republican in the House. It's significant
Robert Sklar
— indeed, at Jews everywhere.
he holds such a prominent role.
Editor
Cantor captured the essence of this reality "Too many
The ZOA dinner was held Dec. 13. I
American
Jews:' he said, "have become desensitized to the
only received a copy of Cantor's pre-
fires
that
threaten
the Jews of Israel and of Europe"
scient remarks last week, however, and felt compelled to share
Is
that
because
they
think anti-Semitic rants surging across
them; they were that powerful and important.
the
Internet
and
infesting
our college campuses are a momen-
The Richmond resident reminded the 700 ZOA dinner
tary
blip
without
long-term
repercussions?
goers that Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948
I
applaud
how
Cantor
responded
to Lanzmann's seminal
"issued a clarion call to the diaspora" — a call just as urgent
question,
"When
is
it
too
late?"
today as it was then: To rally around the Jews of Eretz Yisrael
Cantor gave several examples of when: When world
[Land of Israel] and stand by them in the struggle to realize
capitals
welcome Hamas, and Americans divert their eyes;
the age-old dream of Israel's redemption.
when
the
U.N.-sanctioned Goldstone Commission accuses
"Answering this plea has helped sustain the Jewish state,'
Israel of war crimes, essentially stripping our
Cantor said.
ancestral homeland of its right to defend itself
He's right, of course.
against terror, and we do not cry out; and when
Despite its high-tech stature, rebounding
Scandinavia's largest newspaper publishes a
economy and military might, Israel requires the
story that Israel steals and traffics in Palestinian
diaspora's support to keep its Muslim and Arab
body
parts, and the blood libel is repeated
enemies at bay. I continually say not all Muslims
across
the Middle East yet we defer protest.
and Arabs hate Israel or Jews; some bravely
Political
correctness should never trump the
espouse their support. But the Middle East
rigors
of
confronting
evil. America has spoken
boasts enough anti-Zionists, Jew-haters and, by
out
against
Iran's
nuclear
pursuit, but there's
extension, despisers of the West to instill deep
something
peculiar
about
Obama seeking open
concern within the Jewish state and support-
discussion
with
Iranian
President
Mahmoud
ive nations — like America. The List of Hate
Ahmadinejad
when
we
should
be
pulling
out
includes top-tier haters like Hamas, Hezbollah,
the
stops
to
harden
our
sanctions
against
the
Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Damascus
Rep. Eric Can for
Islamic republic.
and their not-so-tacit fonder, Tehran.
Alas, the challenge before America is to remove the shades
of gray and then honor the heritage of freedom by protect-
Never Again!
ing it here and elsewhere, including Israel, not because it is a
In Cantor's so-simple-to-grasp terms, "Israel and America
Jewish cause, but because it is the civilized way.
face dire existential threats from our enemies. We must stand
Take it from Rep. Cantor: "Israel's security is synonymous with
up and allow our voices to be heard!"
our
own. The people who point guns at her with murder in their
Whispers aren't enough. This week, we observed Yom
eyes
will next turn to us. Her enemies are our enemies — and
HaShoah — a time to remember how fright on the part of
polite
silence amounts to complicity in our own demise" ❑
European Jews and initial indifference from the rest of the
world helped nurture the conditions for the Holocaust.
Rep. Cantor's Birmingham visit: page 28
As American Jews wonder about President Obama's alle-
giance to Israel — America's strongest ally in the Middle
0 •
East — Cantor told the ZOA what many Jews are think-
ing in the privacy of their homes about the administration
Do Americans take freedom for granted?
to tal
and Congress: "It often seems that Washington cannot stay
I—
Z Z Is anti-Zionism a version of anti-West?
focused; its attention darts from one thing to the next."
0 0
At issue is how high a priority a strong U.S.-Israel relation-
a. a-
ship really is. We can't release our watch or our guard.
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■
April 15 - 2010
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