viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com
commentary
Kerry Slaps Abbas’ Wrist
CREDIT: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
J
ust when you thought
P.A. police and security officers rou-
Secretary of State John
tinely imprison and torture the P.A.’s
Kerry couldn’t get any
political enemies. In other words,
weaker on the problem of
the P.A. has proven itself to be fully
Palestinian incitement and vio-
capable of squashing troublemakers,
lence, he did.
if it so chooses. If it wanted to stamp
Kerry met with Palestinian
out anti-Israel terrorists, it could.
Authority (P.A.) President
And, obviously, the P.A. could
Mahmoud Abbas in Amman,
stop the incitement at any time, if it
Stephen M.
Jordan, on Feb. 21, against a
Flatow/JNS.org wanted.
backdrop of daily Palestinian
Consider a few of the examples of
stabbings of Israeli women and children, and the vicious incitement in the P.A. media —
nonstop anti-Jewish incitement in the official or by the Fatah faction, which Abbas chairs
P.A. press, radio and television.
— in the days preceding the Kerry-Abbas
Yet the secretary of state did not threaten
meeting, according to Palestinian Media
to withhold the Obama administration’s
Watch:
annual $500 million aid package to the P.A.
• Fatah’s official Facebook page featured a
over the incitement. He didn’t even threaten
photo of a bleeding terrorist on top of a huge
to reduce the aid.
map of Israel, with the caption: “This is the
Incredibly, Kerry didn’t even demand that blood that drew the borders of the State of
the P.A. stop the incitement or the violence.
Palestine.” (Feb. 14)
Here’s how State Department spokesman
• A cartoon distributed by the P.A. depict-
John Kirby described what Kerry said to
ed Israel as a giant snake attacking Muslim
Abbas: “The secretary continued to urge for
and Christian religious sites. (Feb. 5)
calm and a decrease in violence, incitement
• Fatah’s Facebook page hailed the three
and inflammatory rhetoric.”
Palestinian terrorists who recently murdered
“A decrease.” Not an end to violence —
Israeli policewoman Hadar Cohen as “role
just a decrease.
models across the length and breadth of the
Note that the P.A. has one of the larg-
homeland.” (Feb. 4)
est per-capita security forces in the world.
• A senior adviser to Abbas, Sultan Abu
Moreover, the State Department’s own annu- Al-Einein, said this about the Palestinian
al human rights reports acknowledge that
knife-terrorists in Jerusalem: “Blessings to
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas before a meeting in Amman, Jordan, on June 28, 2014. Kerry and Abbas had their
latest meeting, also in Amman, on Feb. 21, 2016.
our Martyrs, the residents of Jerusalem who
had the honor of igniting the first spark of
this activity … We bow before every drop
of blood that has dripped from our children
and women, and bow the head before every
Martyr and Martyr’s mother …” (Jan. 16)
Kerry should have walked into his meet-
ing with Abbas holding a copy of Al-Einein’s
speech in his hand. He should have
demanded that Al-Einein be fired and that
Abbas make a nationally broadcast speech
denouncing what Al-Einein said — and
condemning the Palestinian knifers. And
Kerry should have said that U.S. aid would
be halted if Abbas did not take those steps
within 48 hours.
Abbas would have seen that the United
States means business. He could not have
ignored such a threat.
Instead, Kerry spoke weakly of the need
to “decrease” the incitement and violence.
He couldn’t even bring himself to say that
the incitement and violence must be halted.
Kerry’s timid stance guarantees not only that
there will be no decrease; in fact, there will
be an increase. Because the P.A. sees that
it can do anything it wants, with no conse-
quences.
The P.A. can call terrorists “martyrs”
and “role models.” The P.A. president’s own
adviser can publicly salute “every drop of
blood” that the terrorists shed. And all the
Obama administration will do in response is
slap Abbas’ wrist. Shameful.
*
Stephen M. Flatow, a New Jersey attorney, is
the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered by
Palestinian terrorists in 1995.
guest column
Mandating Holocaust Education
J
ust over a year ago, we recog-
nized the 70th anniversary of the
Holocaust. Over the past 70 years,
our generation has had the chance to hear
about the events of this tragedy from sur-
vivors.
I, personally, have had the tremen-
dous opportunity to visit the Holocaust
museums in both Jerusalem and in
Farmington Hills. While I was there, I was
overwhelmed by the stories and experi-
ences the Jewish community at that time
encountered. Because these survivors have
so importantly educated us on the occur-
rences of the Holocaust, their stories are
very real to us.
But as the years pass, these very real
stories become memories despite the simi-
lar problems that are still relevant today.
Christianity has essentially been out-
lawed in Iraq, Iran and Syria. Christians
in these countries are being forced out of
their homes, away from their families and
8 March 3 • 2016
are being killed because they are
sons behind the inhumane acts
seen as a national security threat
of the Armenian Genocide or the
to the almost completely Islamic
Holocaust. If they are uneducated
nations. Afraid of persecution,
on these issues, they cannot recog-
they are forced to keep their
nize the magnitude or importance
religious beliefs a secret and live
of these events. If the youth is
in fear of their government every
uninformed on genocide, they will
day, or flee.
have no way of distinguishing it
We look back at the Holocaust State Rep.
or contributing to its prevention
and look at the events in the
today or in the future.
Klint Kesto
Middle East and think, “What if
When our generation learned
we could have prevented it?”
about this historical tragedy, we told
We have the chance to now. I have pro-
ourselves “never again.” Never again will
posed a bill that would mandate schools
we allow such persecution of a group of
to teach their students about genocide,
people. Never again will we allow them to
including but not limited to, the Holocaust be forced from their homes, their fami-
and Armenian Genocide. It passed the
lies, their friends and their communities.
Michigan House by 105-1.
Never again will we tear them from their
Present-day children and young adults
culture and their religion.
are unable to answer simple questions
Just as we were informed about these
about World War II, concentration camps, issues, it is now our turn to educate the
Hitler and why the Jewish people were
next generation. As the survivors of the
targeted. They cannot identify the rea-
Holocaust leave us and take their stories
with them, they trust us to keep alive
an important message. They ask that we
never forget what happened during World
War II and never again allow such a geno-
cide to occur.
So I am asking for your support because
it is our responsibility to show that we
have not only progressed as a nation these
past 70 years but that we have progressed
as human beings. By educating our chil-
dren about what occurred 70 years ago, we
ensure that no one else has to encounter
similar events and travesties.
Our responsibility is not only to the sur-
vivors of the Holocaust, but also to those
we have lost, to educate future generations
on genocide, and to prevent genocide from
ever happening. We need to make sure
#NeverAgain means never again.
*
Klint Kesto is a member of the Michigan House of
Representatives representing a district primarily con-
sisting of Wixom and Commerce Township.