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.