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essay
Truth Tellers For Israel
E
this tactic that’s being used against
met means “truth” in Hebrew.
us — this tactic of lies. They believe
EMET is also the acronym for
the lies about Israeli war crimes and
the Endowment for Middle East
oppressions. They believe the
Truth, a Washington, D.C.-based
lies about so-called occupation
think tank whose top priority
and so-called illegal settle-
is challenging the pervasive
ments. They even believe the
lies told about Israel. It seeks
most preposterous lies that
to influence policymakers, U.S.
deny the Jewish connection to
senators, House members and
Jerusalem.
their staffers.
“This is why I believe the
In keeping with its mission,
Israel-Palestine conflict has
EMET honors courageous truth
Sheryl Silver
worn on for so long and threat-
tellers for Israel at its annual
ens to wear on and on, without
“Rays of Light in the Darkness”
resolution. We do not under-
dinner. At the suggestion of my
stand that we have repeatedly
friend Eytan Laor, an EMET
shown weakness. Instead of
board member, I attended this
telling the truth with strength and cour-
year’s dinner on June 14 and found it
age, we have met lies with weakness and
incredibly inspiring.
fear.”
The cocktail hour offered opportuni-
Yet, he said, “We know the truth. We
ties to meet and talk with members of
know the Palestinian leadership will not
Congress and staffers involved with key
accept any peace with Israel short of
pieces of pro-Israel legislation. During
outright capitulation.
dinner, after singing “Hatikvah” and the
“Whatever the true intentions of the
“Star-Spangled Banner,” we were treated
Palestinians, a brief look around the
to several passionate speakers begin-
Middle East will confirm in the mind
ning with EMET founder Sarah Stern.
of any military man … that withdrawal
The first Speaker of
would equal suicide.”
Truth Award recipient
Kemp said, “For decades, we’ve tried
to speak was jour-
reasoning with the Palestinians, making
nalist, media com-
concessions, patronizing them. It hasn’t
mentator and retired
worked. And it won’t work. They see it
British army officer
as weakness. And weakness provokes
Col. Richard Kemp, a
them and emboldens them to demand
renowned defender
more and give less. We have to try a dif-
of
the
Israel
Defense
Col. Richard Kemp
ferent approach. Above all, we must find
Forces (IDF).
a way to make the Palestinian leaders
A case in point: After
pay the price. No more concessions. No
the U.N. released the
more providing hope for their warlike
Goldstone Report, which claimed the
ways. If we continue to appease and
IDF engaged in “war crimes” during
excuse them, we simply encourage them
Operation Cast Lead, Kemp told the
to carry on killing, maiming and provok-
U.N. Human Rights Council, “During
ing war.”
Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defense
Kemp concluded with this assertion:
Forces did more to safeguard the rights
“A hardline approach putting pressure
of civilians in a combat zone than any
on both Palestinians and Arab states
other army in the history of warfare.”
alike will ally truth — the truth of emet
Kemp told the EMET audience, “In
— with strength and courage … and
the Middle East, lies have become the
has a far greater chance of allowing the
central pillar of our enemies’ strategy
people of Israel and Palestine to live in
against us.
some form of long-term peace rather
“The problem is that so many of our
than the failed appeasement of the past
political leaders, human rights organi-
decade.”
zations and media cannot recognize
commentary
ISRAEL’S
AMBASSADOR
Speaker of Truth Award
recipient Ron Dermer,
Israel’s Ambassador
to the U.S., character-
ized the lies told about
Israel as not merely
Ron Dermer
alternative facts but
“an alternative uni-
verse about Israel, an
alternative universe of real lies with real
consequences.
“In this alternative universe,” he said,
“the Jews are the occupiers of Judea, the
Western Wall is occupied Palestinian
territory and the Jewish people have no
rights in a land that we have lived in for
nearly 4,000 years and to a capital that
we have faced in prayer for over 2,000
years.
“In this alternative universe, Israel
is routinely accused of being a racist,
apartheid state, despite being the only
country in the Middle East where Arabs
are free, despite being the only country
in history that took blacks out of Africa
to freedom, and despite being the only
country that has treated enemies bent
on its destruction more compassionate-
ly than any country in history, period.”
Dermer added, “In this alternative
universe, President Abbas can step
to the podium and accuse Israel of
genocide to wild applause. Genocide is
what’s happening to Christians in the
Middle East. A century ago, Christians
accounted for 20 percent of the Middle
East; today that number is under 4 per-
cent and dropping with only one excep-
tion. The only country with a growing
and thriving Christian community is in
the State of Israel, where it is five times
bigger today than it was in 1948.”
As to Abbas’ claim of genocide against
his people, Dermer said, “Genocide
against the Palestinians? A population
that under Israel’s control has tripled in
size. Some genocide.”
Dermer said: “In this alternative uni-
verse, the Palestinian leadership can be
cast as peacemakers despite rejecting
every peace offer for decades and despite
naming public squares after killers, edu-
cating their children to hate Jews and
paying terrorists to murder Jews.”
He next addressed the threat of a
nuclear Iran. “The truth is that as dan-
gerous as the daily lies in this alterna-
tive universe are, they pale in compari-
son to the dangers of the alternative
universe that was created a couple of
years ago to sell the nuclear deal with
Iran to the American people.
“In this alternative universe, Iran’s
path to the bomb has been blocked. In
the real world, Iran’s path to the bomb
has been paved.”
What’s more, money supposedly
being used to help Iran “is being used to
gobble up countries in the region and
arm and finance its terror proxies in the
Middle East and beyond,” he added.
“Israel and the Trump administra-
tion must deal with the fallout … and
we will,” he said. “We will deal with
it because we must. Deal or no deal,
America and Israel must stop Iran’s
clear path to the bomb.”
Dermer ended his remarks with this:
“We need organizations like EMET that
are fearless in exposing the lies and
standing up for the truth.” •
Sheryl Silver is a former national secretary of ZOA,
founder of the Enough is Enough Initiative and a
lifelong Temple Israel member.
continued from page 6
the Jordan River would not become a
democratic peaceful regime or resolve the
problem of millions of “Palestinians” who
live in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and other
countries, including Israel. The danger
that it would be a failed state run by gangs
and militias, like Somalia, is real.
Finally, Arab Palestinians are not cap-
tives.
8
Following Col. Kemp, speeches
by four additional EMET Speaker of
Truth Award recipients ensued. These
included Oklahoma Republican Sen.
James Inhofe (by video), U.S. Rep. Mark
Meadows (R-N.C.) and Juan Vargas
(D-Calif.), and Muslim Zionist Nadiya
Al-Noor.
Also, former Druze IDF soldier Ashraf
Halabi received the Hakarat Hatov
Award. Halabi, whose father was the
first Druze to enlist in the IDF and
whose six siblings also served, said,
“Picture us on Israel’s Independence
Day, with the flag of the State of Israel
hanging from our cars and waving from
our homes and rooftops … This is the
education we grow up on and receive.
The love of the homeland, the love of
the flag and the love of the land that is
our country.”
July 13 • 2017
jn
Most have Jordanian passports.
They can move, and if they own land
and property, they can sell it. Many have
done so and are successful.
As long as terrorism exists there will be
“occupation,” checkpoints, police interven-
tions and long lines at airports. “Ending
the occupation” begins with ending incite-
ment and hatred, ending terrorism.
“Ending the occupation” does not apply
only to Israel. It includes ending the dic-
tatorship in Iran that threatens the entire
world. “Ending the occupation” applies
to Hamas rule in Gaza, Hezbollah in
Lebanon, Assad and ISIS in Syria, and the
Taliban in Afghanistan.
“End the occupation” is not a call
to protect Palestinian rights, but to
end Israel’s existence. It’s not a plea for
humanity, but a paean to mayhem and
genocide.
“End the occupation” should be under-
stood for what it is: a death threat. •
Moshe Dann, a Ph.D. historian, writer and journalist
living in Jerusalem, is originally from West Bloomfield .
This essay first appeared in the Jerusalem Post.