oints of view

>> Send letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com

Editorial

Abbas Fuels Palestinian Climate Of Terror On Jews

P

alestinian leader Mahmoud
Abbas — who considers terrorists
"martyrs" and all of Israel part of
"Palestine" — denounced the murder-
ous attack on a Jerusalem synagogue in
November, saying he condemns "the killing
of civilians, no matter who is doing it:' Don't
bank on the sincerity of that condemnation.
Evidence strongly suggests the Palestinian
Authority (P.A.) president issued it for
diplomatic reasons to satisfy the West. The
expression was meant to appease the radical
elements of his governing Fatah party in the
Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank.
The truth is Abbas has encouraged and
endorsed the incitement that has thrust
Jerusalem into a heightened state of unrest
even as he has cooperated with Israel on
security to help appear a peace broker.
Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch
(PMW) documented that Abbas bowed to
international pressure to condemn the syn-
agogue violence, which claimed the lives of
four Jewish worshippers (including former
Detroiter Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky, 43) and
an Israeli police officer. Abbas' demeanor
mirrored that of his predecessor, Yasser
Arafat, who would deceptively denounce
heinous Palestinian terrorist acts against
Israelis when the pressure cooker of inter-
national outrage demanded he do so.
PMW further documented how Supreme
Shariah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash, an
Abbas adviser, assured Palestinians that
Abbas supported the latest wave of riots,
edginess and terror in Jerusalem, engi-
neered in part by ribat, the Islamist desire
to defend or reconquer land defined as
Islamic by Palestinian leadership.

The truth is Mahmoud Abbas has
encouraged and endorsed the
incitement that has thrust Jerusalem
into a heightened state of unrest.

Fomenting Hatred

In an October speech, Abbas urged
Palestinians to carry out ribat in Jerusalem
to deter Jews "in any way whatsoever"
from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the
Temple Mount because they have "no right
to enter it" and "no right to defile it." No
doubt that's an implicit call to violence.
To inflame this presidential call, the
official P.A. daily newspaper published
a cartoon depicting an Israeli soldier
decapitating the Dome of the Rock. Fatah
published a visual on its Facebook page
depicting Israelis outside the Al-Aqsa
Mosque as wild and dangerous dogs.
Al-Habbash declared on Nov. 5 on offi-
cial P.A. TV, "First of all, allow me to say
that we kiss every forehead, every hand
and even every foot that carries out ribat
at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in Jerusalem:'
He added, "We are behind them. The lead-
ership is with them:'
In reality, Israel gained control of the
Temple Mount, which Muslims call the
Noble Sanctuary, in the Six-Day War of
1967. Israel opted to leave management of
the site to the Muslim religious trust, the
Waqf, while permitting open visitation to
people of all faiths, including Jews. Jews,

however, have chosen to limit visits to
limit tension; also, Jewish prayer is prohib-
ited at the site.
Then-Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon
visited the Temple Mount in 2000, sup-
posedly sparking Arab rioting that esca-
lated into the second intifada, a five-year
reign of Palestinian terror that left 1,200
Israelis dead. But it's likely Arafat actu-
ally preordained this intifada, irrespective
of Sharon's visit. A few Israeli lawmak-
ers to the right of Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu have exacerbated the
current situation on the Temple Mount by
pushing Israel hard to overturn its ban on
Jewish prayer there, giving Abbas some
political cover.

Intensifying Campaign

After the Nov. 18 synagogue attack in west
Jerusalem, another Abbas adviser, Sultan
Abu Al-Einein, a Fatah Central Committee
member, lauded the two terrorist cousins
from east Jerusalem and their choice of
weapons: pistols, knives and axes.
In October, both Al-Einein and Abbas
glorified the Arab shooter of Rabbi Yehuda
Glick, a champion for giving Jews freer
access to the Temple Mount.

It's the P.A. practice to justify violence
against Israelis as religiously mandated
and to describe ribat believers as "the sol-
diers of Allah:' according to PMW.

Abbas' Role
The two terrorists who attacked the
Orthodox synagogue were members of
the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, not Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades terrorist wing. But that doesn't
mean Abbas didn't contribute substan-
tially to the building clouds of disdain that
drove them to murder. It was he who, for
example, permitted P.A. TV to broadcast a
Jerusalem documentary film that portrays
Jews praying at the Western Wall as "sin
and filth:'
Furthermore, Abbas' Palestinian unity
government cohort is Hamas, the Gaza
Strip-ruling terrorist organization that,
while not taking credit for it, took delight
in the synagogue massacre. Hamas long
has wanted to extend its influence to, and
inspire fervor against Israel within, the
West Bank and east Jerusalem.
President Abbas is no legitimate partner
for peace and never was, despite hollow
pleas to the contrary from U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry.
Clearly, however, Abbas is a better bet
than Hamas, which would commandeer
Ramallah in an instant if he lost power.
As long as he's in charge of the P.A.,
Abbas must deliver more than cooperative
security arrangements with Israel to dig-
nify continued U.S. financial aid. He also
must end government-inspired anti-Israel
incitement and violence.

❑

Guest Column

The Forgotten Story Of Jewish Refugees

B

y a 27-0 vote on June 23, the Israeli
Knesset passed a significant bill
into law. I discovered that fact by
chance when I glimpsed this Jerusalem Post
headline the next day: "Schools, embassies
to mark flight of Jews from Arab lands and
Iran"
The article quoted Knesset member
Shimon Ohayon as saying, "Finally, our sto-
ries and our history will be heard"
The news caught my eye because I was
very familiar with the
StandWithUs pamphlet
titled Jewish Refugees
of the Middle East: An
Unresolved Human Rights
Issue. I had learned
even more about these
Sephardic/Mizrahi Jews
when
StandWithUs-MI
Celia Romm
board
member Celia
Livermore

38

December 4 • 2014

Romm Livermore pushed me
and Iran had numbered more
to co-produce a presentation
than 1 million before Israel was
inspired by the pamphlet and
declared a Jewish state on May
her personal experiences.
14, 1948. When 99 percent of
Celia had grown up in a
Jewish communities in Arab
Beersheva community densely
lands and Iran underwent eth-
populated with Jewish refugees
nic cleansing, their Jews had
from Arab lands. She'd attended
been forced to leave behind an
school with their children and
estimated $100 billion in assets.
became passionate about the
The more I learned, the more
Barbara Moretsky I became convinced that Celia
need to share their stories of
suffering and hardship.
was right: To educate about
To quote Celia, "The public
Israel, one had to describe this
is aware of the Palestinian refugees, but not
"forgotten" half of Israel's immigrant Jewish
the Jewish refugees of the Middle East. We
population.
cannot have any meaningful discussion
about the Middle East without an under-
Call Grows Stronger
standing of the story of the Jewish refugees
In early 2014, new StandWithUs-MI board
and the crucial role that they have been
member Sylvie Jami Salei, whose family
playing in shaping events in the region"
fled the once predominantly Jewish city of
The Jewish population of Arab lands
Tunis, joined her voice with Celia's. Within

six months, these two determined women
educated six Jewish and Christian groups.
At their recent presenta-
tion hosted by the Jewish
Genealogical Society of
Michigan, they encour-
aged the organiza-
tion's members to help
Sephardi/Mizrachi Jews
pursue family research.
The new Israeli law
Sylvie Jami
designated
Nov. 30 as
Salei
the annual date to com-
memorate "the exile
and expulsion of Jews from Arab lands and
Iran" It specified the development of educa-
tional and community activities.
In August, a committee to meet this call
was formed by Rabbi Sasson Natan of Keter
Torah Synagogue. The West Bloomfield-
based Sephardi synagogue has members for
whom the Knesset law was written. Until

Forgotten Story on page 39

