On December 1, 2001, two frustrated Palestinian Arabs from Abu Dis, just east of Jerusalem, could not stand seeing so many Jews walking around on a Saturday night in a popular Jerusalem pedestrian mall. Osama Bahar, age 25, and Nabil Abu Habaliya, age 24, took explosives which were supplied by the terrorist group Hamas and blew themselves up amongst the young Israelis strolling on Ben Yehuda Street. A short time later, another terrorist blew up a car nearby.
The eleven dead included: Assaf Avitan, 15, of Jerusalem; Michael Moshe Dahan, 21, of Jerusalem; Israel Ya’akov Danino, 17, of Jerusalem; Yosef El-Ezra, 18, of Jerusalem; Sgt. Nir Haftzadi, 19, of Jerusalem; Yuri (Yoni) Korganov, 20, of Ma’alei Adumim; Golan Turgeman, 15, of Jerusalem; Guy Vaknin, 19, of Jerusalem; Adam Weinstein, 14, of Givon Hahadasha; Moshe Yedid-Levy, 19, of Jerusalem; and Ido Cohen, 17, of Jerusalem. Roughly 180 others were injured, 17 seriously.
Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism at a popular pedestrian mall on Saturday night December 1, 2001
The Martyr Izz ad-Deen al-Qassam Brigades – Information office described how angry the Arabs were with the Jews, stating:
“As part of our retaliation to [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon’s madness and with the success granted by Allah and His protection, the two fighting martyr brothers, Osama Bahar and Nabil Abu Habaliya, have carried out on Saturday evening, 12/1/2001, the night of Ramadan 17, their bold and painful attack in one of the enemy’s dens in occupied west Jerusalem as a revenge for the blood of our martyrs and a punishment to all the reckless leaders in the enemy’s army and ministry.
“We do not only do this in self-protection or in retaliation of a future killing, but we also do this as part of our absolute right to react towards the continual aggression and usurpation of our country for more than 50 years. We also wish to emphasize our right of resistance and our right to die as martyrs [istishhad], which is the pinnacle of resistance – that is to say, to sacrifice one’s self, spirit and blood is an absolute right, despite the aggressive attack by the enemy and some liars, meant to rob us of this right.“
Saudi Arabia funded the families of these terrorists in cooperation with the Arab Bank as part of the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Intifada al Quds. As the support for terrorism was too blatant (or to keep the funds flowing after the end of the intifada), the committee changed its name in 2004 to the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People. The Saudis also cannot stand Jews enjoying a Saturday night in Jerusalem.
Two frustrated Palestinian Arabs had to contend with Jews walking the streets of Jerusalem for their whole lives. The Saudis well understood their frustration and supported their “right of resistance to die as martyrs.” All had internalized that the Muslim world can have no dignity as long as Jews walk the streets of Jerusalem with impunity.
The New York Times remarkably parroted Palestinian propaganda on its pages as it wrote about Palestinian militants taking an Israeli teenager off of life support in a hospital, to hold his dead body as a bargaining chip.
In ten different sections of the article “Palestinians Join Forces with Israelis, Bringing Peace to a Teen’s Family,” the Times wrote that Israel holds the dead bodies of Palestinian terrorists in the hopes of dissuading future attacks. That narrative echoed throughout, seemingly giving an excuse for Palestinian Arabs deciding to do the same to Israelis.
Palestinians “hoped to exchange it for the corpses of dozens of Palestinians that have been held by Israel for years without burial.“
“… shifted rare attention on the Israeli practice of holding onto the bodies of slain Palestinians accused of terrorism.“
“the militants hoped to exchange Tiran for the bodies of dozens of Palestinians kept in Israeli mortuaries since 2016. Israel houses the unburied bodies of 111 Palestinians, 16 of them from Jenin, according to detailed records shared with the Times by the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, an independent Palestinian rights watchdog.”
“Israeli officials believe that Palestinians were all killed while committing violence, and that holding on to their bodies may help deter future attacks.”
“The militants actions also felt unethical to many Palestinians. While there is widespread Palestinian anger at Israel’s own practice of withholding Palestinian corpses, many felt the gunmen had picked the wrong target, particularly after it became clear that Tiran was a schoolboy, not a soldier.”
“‘It wasn’t a moral thing to do,’ said Muhammad Sabbagh, the head of a leadership council in the Jenin Camp. ‘From the beginning, the entire camp wanted to return the body.’“
“‘I immediately realized that a big mistake had been made,’ General Rajoub said in a phone interview. ‘We immediately planned how we would get the body back to the family.’“
“… a leading opponent of the Israeli occupation and a longtime critic of the Israeli policy of holding Palestinian corpses.“
“… the rare collaboration should not obscure wider Palestinian anger at Israel’s policy of withholding the bodies of dead Palestinians.”
“Dozens of ‘Palestinians families are waiting for their beloved sons,’ Dr. Tibi said. ‘For their corpses seized and captured by the Israeli occupation.'”
That’s a lot of time saying the same line over and again while NEVER mentioning that Israel only started holding the bodies of Arab terrorists after Palestinians refused to hand over the bodies of two Israelis killed in Gaza in 2014, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin. Instead, the Times said that Israel carried out the practice as a form of punishment, seemingly introducing the horrific action in the conflict.
The biased article made the militants seem remorseful for their action because the dead person “was a schoolboy, not a soldier.” That’s outrageous. Palestinians routinely celebrate the murder of Jewish children as confirmed in their own polls, such as the one which showed 80% of Gazans and 50% of West Bank Arabs supporting the killing of a 17-year old girl on a nature hike. Just days before, the region’s Islamic terrorists celebrated the murder of a 16 year old Jewish boy on his way to school.
The obvious reason for returning the body of this boy was because he was Druze and not an Israeli Jew. The obvious Arab anti-Semitism was omitted and redirected by The Times. #AbsolutionViaRedirection
What’s more, the Times quoted the “Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, an independent Palestinian rights watchdog,” which is NOT independent. It is an anti-Israel European-funded organization that has been vilifying Israel for years, as reported by NGO Monitor.
This week, Palestinian terrorists killed a young Israeli boy and kidnapped his body from a hospital, an action they have been using for many years, however, they decided to return the body after they realized the Israeli wasn’t a Jew. Readers of The New York Times were spun a different story. The anti-Israel propaganda piece penned over-and-again that Israel has been unilaterally keeping dozens of Palestinians corpses for many years, angering Palestinians waiting to bury their sons, which caused some militants to take a similar action, which they immediately regretted as immoral.
That’s Absolution via Inversion, a favorite of the anti-Israel media which falsifies that Israeli racism and brutality are the root cause of the conflict, not the refusal of Arabs to accept Jews living in their homeland.
Early Tuesday morning, two bombs were detonated while Israeli civilians boarded buses to school and work in Israel’s capital of Jerusalem. The terrorist attacks killed a 16-year old Canadian-Israeli boy, Aryeh Shechopek on his way to yeshiva.
Aryeh Shechopek, 16, who was killed in a bombing attack in Jerusalem on November 23, 2022 (photo credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY)
As a continued part of their desire to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible, various radical Islamic groups hailed the attacks.
Islamic Jihad posted a statement “The operation in the occupied city of Jerusalem is a natural response to the occupation, its terrorism, and its criminal practices against the defenseless Palestinian people and its holy sites.” Tarek Ez Din, spokesperson for Islamic Jihad added “The operation says to the leaders of the Occupation [Israel] and the leaders of the settlers that none of the policies of your criminal government will protect you from the strikes of our people’s resistance.“
A spokesman for Hamas, the political-terrorist group that rules Gaza and has a majority in the Palestinian parliament said “The Zionist occupation is paying the price today for its crimes and aggression against our people and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and we have warned about this repeatedly. Our people will not remain silent in the face of this, and the outrage Al-Aqsa will explode and spread in all regions.“
Hezbollah, the terrorist group that runs Lebanon issued a statement that praised the “heroic operations carried out by the Palestinian resistance fighters against the Israeli occupation forces in Al-Quds.” The statement concluded that the race among the Palestinian youths into the jihad fronts proves the Palestinians’ awareness and determination to liberate their land and sends a message of despair to the Zionist usurpers that there is no place for the Israelis on the pure soil of Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news site reported on the bombings as “two explosions that rocked the occupied city of Jerusalem.“
Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and other terrorist groups recently signed the Algiers Declaration in which they agreed to have elections within one year in which they would all participate. The United Nations celebrated the alarming declaration and inclusion of terrorist groups in the election process.
Meanwhile, as Arabs celebrated the murder of innocent Jewish civilians, the United States issued a clear call of support for Israel:
“We condemn unequivocally the acts of terror overnight in Jerusalem. The United States has offered all appropriate assistance to the Government of Israel as it investigates the attack and works to being the perpetrators to justice. We mourn the reported loss of life and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. The United States stands with the Government and people of Israel. As President Biden emphasized during his visit to Israel in July, our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad and unbreakable.“
America’s “commitment to Israel’s security” and support for bringing “the perpetrators to justice” should include full measures against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, as well as defunding the Palestinian Authority as long as it continues to incite and compensate terrorists. It must call for terrorist groups to be excluded from future Palestinian elections or risk forever to be black-listed by freedom loving countries.
Six Turkish civilians were killed by a terrorist on Sunday. The labeling of the killer and her murderous mission was made clear in news reports, as were the names of the innocent victims.
The same cannot be said of Israeli Jews slaughtered by a Palestinian Arab terrorist the next day.
New York Times calls out Kurdish terrorism and Turkish victims of attack, as well as relays US sympathies
Terrorist Designation
The New York Times wrote about “the Kurdish Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a Kurdish group that has been fighting a war with the Turkish state for decades. Turkey, the United States and the European Union all consider the P.K.K. a terrorist group.” The paper would only write six paragraphs later that “the P.K.K. denied any involvement in the bombing,” but the reader already knew the score – the P.K.K. are terrorists fighting Turkey and they seemingly committed the terrorist attack.
The next day, when a Palestinian Arab associated with the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad killed three Israeli civilians, there was no such accounting by the Times. Instead, the paper wrote that a “Palestinian assailant stabbed several civilians…. Three Israelis were killed and several more were severely injured.” The lone attacker was not associated with any terrorist group. The Times only offered at the very end of the article that “No Palestinian organization immediately took responsibility for the attack, but a spokesman for Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, Tarek Izz al-Din, told an Islamic Jihad-linked television channel that his organization welcomed what he called the ‘heroic attack.’ He said that it came as a response to the Israeli election results and to Israeli politicians’ calls to take firmer action against the Palestinians, Kan radio reported.” Palestinian Islamic Jihad is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union, much like the reference to the P.K.K., but the Times did not mention the terrorist designation for Palestinians.
The Times also did not quote the spokesman for Hamas, another designated terrorist group that “the operation demonstrates the ability of the Palestinian people to continue their revolution and defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque from daily incursions,” supporting the murder of Jews because Jews visit their holiest site, the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
American Sympathies
After the Times labeled the P.K.K. a terrorist group, it mentioned American sympathies for the Turkish victims. “The U.S. embassy in Turkey wrote on Twitter on Sunday that it was ‘deeply saddened’ by the bombing. ‘We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery for the injured’ it said.“
The Times said nothing about the U.S.’s sympathies for the Israeli victims of terror. Not surprisingly, as it took the Biden administration some time to post a response… that equated the Jewish victims of terror with the murderer. The press release on the U.S. Embassy in Israel’s site stated “The United States is deeply concerned by the increased violence in the West Bank. We convey profound condolences to the families and loved ones of the Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including children, who have been killed in the past 48 hours. We strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack, which killed three Israelis and wounded three others. The recent period has seen a sharp and alarming increase in Palestinian and Israeli deaths and injuries, including numerous children. It is vital that the parties take urgent action to prevent further loss of life.” The U.S. would not take sides.
Humanizing the Victims
The Times devoted the final five paragraphs of the article to the Turkish victims. Names and ages were given. Pains of anguish were echoed in quotes from the grieving parents “‘She is my baby,’ she said. ‘I want a piece of her hair.’“
Nothing was said by The Times about the Israeli victims. They were: 50-year-old Tamir Avihai, a father of six from the settlement of Kiryat Netafim; 36-year-old Michael Ledigin, a father of two who moved to Israel with his family five years ago and lived in Bat Yam; and 59-year-old Mordechai Ashkenazi, also from Bat Yam.
Rationalizing Terror
The Times sought to give context to the Palestinian violence. It wrote that “Israel is to swear in a new Parliament later on Tuesday, after the Nov. 1 election, and the prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been working to put together a right-wing and religious coalition government with the help of far-right parties that have pledged to act more aggressively to protect Israelis. The attack also occurred on the anniversary of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s symbolic proclamation from exile in 1988 of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. That state has never materialized.” The Times essentially defended the terrorism and saying that it was a protest against a new “far-right” Israeli government, and in marking the anniversary of the P.L.O. declaring an independent state.
The Times incorrectly stated that the PLO’s declaration of independence only sought a state “in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.” The declaration was for the entirety of “Palestine”, including all of Jerusalem and all of Israel. It essentially rationalized the terrorism as an act of fighting for independence.
In contrast, the P.K.K., which is also seeking an independent Kurdish state, was only described as a terrorist group by the Times, without mentioning its desire for independence and sovereignty. It was thereby cast as a violent aggressor, while the Palestinian Arabs were painted as freedom fighters.
Celebrating Terror
While some media outlets like the Jerusalem Post noted that “In some parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians were documented celebrating the attack by handing out sweets to passersby and drivers,” which is a common occurrence in both Gaza and the West Bank after the murder of Jews, the Times decided to not report on it.
Maybe that fact was too much for its readers to handle.
The media repeatedly rationalizes and defends Palestinian Arab terrorism against Jewish civilians. Perhaps one should be content that the anti-Zionist media is not also celebrating the murder of Jews. At least, not yet.
For many years, the United Nations berated the Jewish State that it was using ‘disproportionate’ force against Palestinian Arabs. As the global body now attacks Israelis for proportionate responses to Arab terror, it is clear that the UN’s problem is really about Israel defending itself at all.
Consider the events of May 2021 when Gazans fired thousands of missiles into Israeli towns. The United Nations said “Owing to the vast asymmetry of power, the victims of this conflict are disproportionately Palestinians in Gaza, of whom over 74,000 have been forcibly displaced and made homeless, mostly women and children.“
After Israel responded to missile attacks in 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that “deplores the use of any excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and particularly in the Gaza Strip, including the use of live ammunition against civilian protesters, including children, as well as medical personnel and journalists, and expresses its grave concern at the loss of innocent lives.“
Similarly in July 2014, the UN Human Rights Council published an opinion that Israel’s “disproportionate use of force amounts to war crimes and must be brought to justice as it seriously violates international humanitarian law.“
The examples are numerous, that despite Israel acting in a defensive manner against terrorists, the UN seemingly wanted Israel to fire thousands of crude missiles into Gaza (a proportionate response to the Gazan actions), rather than using its limited sophisticated weaponry which was designed to target the evil actors. Of course, the damage Israel would have caused using thousands such crude missiles would have been much worse as the Arabs do not possess Israel’s Iron Dome defensive shield.
The issue in those past conflicts was not really about disproportionate force but disproportionate defenses. However, since there was no legal way of investigating and censoring Israel for disproportionate defenses, the United Nations attacked Israel for “asymmetry of power.”
The farce of UN anti-Israel prejudice continues today with the notion of “settler violence” in the West Bank.
According to the UN’s own biased accounting, West Bank Arabs commit more attacks than Israeli Jews living in Israeli territory of Area C every month. The “settlers” mostly use stones, just like the Palestinian Arabs. However, the UN only comes down harshly on the Israelis.
In March 2022, Tor Wennesland, on behalf of the UN Secretary General, addressed the UN Security Council about activities over the three months December 2021 to early February 2022. He noted that “Israeli settlers or other civilians perpetrated 144 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 47 injuries and/or damage to Palestinian property,” while adding that “One Israeli civilian was killed by Palestinians, and 100 Israelis, including five women and one child, were injured by Palestinians in clashes, the throwing of Molotov cocktails, attacks and other incidents. In total, Palestinians perpetrated 277 attacks against Israeli civilians, resulting in injuries and/or damage to Israeli property.” By his own math, Palestinians committed twice a many attacks and injured twice as many civilians, including killing someone.
No matter. His report would disproportionately target Israelis.
“we deplore continuing attacks by Israeli settlers on ordinary Palestinians“
“Settler-related violence remains significant across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem“
“repeated raids by Israeli settlers on Burqa led to clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces“
“Israeli settlers drove a convoy to Huwwara, near Nablus, throwing stones at Palestinians and their property“
“I remain deeply concerned about the level of settler-related violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem“
There was no such detailed concern about Palestinian Arabs attacking Israeli civilians, despite engaging in violence more frequently.
When the Israeli military protects Israeli civilians against Palestinian terrorists, the world rebukes the Jewish State for “disproportionate force” so it can defend punishing the Jews in court. When Israeli civilians defend themselves with proportionate means, the anti-Semites drop the pretense of proportionality being the concern, and accuse the Jews of living in their homes illegally. The Arabs are cast as victims of Jewish aggression in all cases, despite instigating the violence and committing more attacks.
The United Nations has fostered the Arab-Israeli Conflict for decades, with disproportionate focus on perceived Israeli crimes and absolution of Arab terrorism. It is well past time for the global body to examine itself with the scrutiny it reserves for the Jewish State.
Brazil and Israel held elections this week to decide on the future leaders of the countries.
In Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a left-wing politician and former president of Brazil, defeated the incumbent by two million votes on October 30. US President Joe Biden called the president-elect of Brazil the following day. As featured on the US embassy in Brazil’s website, “President Biden commended the strength of Brazilian democratic institutions following free, fair, and credible elections. The two leaders discussed the strong relationship between the United States and Brazil, and committed to continue working as partners to address common challenges, including combatting climate change, safeguarding food security, promoting inclusion and democracy, and managing regional migration.“
On November 2, Israel held elections, its fifth in four years. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party won the most votes and his right-wing block easily had a majority to lead the next Knesset. As in Brazil, a former leader came to defeat an incumbent, but the reaction of Biden was markedly different.
On the day following the vote, the US embassy in Israel did not say that Biden called Netanyahu. It did not say that the two countries would work together “to address common challenges.”
Instead, the press release posted a release from Ned Price, a spokesperson from the State Department. It read: “Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Prime Minister Yair Lapid to commend Israel for its free and fair elections, and to thank the Prime Minister for his partnership. The Secretary reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship. He also emphasized his deep concern over the situation in the West Bank, including heightened tensions, violence, and loss of both Israeli and Palestinian lives, and underscored the need for all parties to urgently de-escalate the situation.“
Rather than follow protocol with the president of the United States calling the incoming Prime Minister of Israel, the Secretary of State called the outgoing Prime Minister. Instead of discussing ways of working together, the US voiced “deep concern” and urged Israel to take action to “de-escalate the situation.”
This is highly inappropriate and a deeply insulting slap in the face of every Israeli.
When Britain elected Liz Truss, a member of the Conservative Party to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on September 5, Biden called her the next day. He offered the incoming leader congratulations and “reaffirmed the special relationship between our countries and expressed their readiness to further deepen those ties…. and discussed the importance of continued close cooperation on global challenges.”
But Biden uniquely snubbed the new leader of the Jewish State. He treated the country as a vassal to take orders, not as a partner to work with in “close cooperation on global challenges.”
Meanwhile, leaders from the around the world had no issue congratulating Netanyahu and discussing collaborating with the Jewish State.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted “Mazel Tov my friend Netanyahu for your electoral success. I look forward to continuing our joint efforts to deepen the India-Israel strategic partnership.“
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted “Congratulations to @netanyahu on winning the elections. It’s always important to see real democracy in action. Ukraine & Israel share common values & challenges that now require effective cooperation. We hope to open a new page in cooperation with the new Government for Ukraine & Israel benefit!“
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Netanyahu. He tweeted “Just spoke with @netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory. Looking forward to continuing the very strong relations between our two countries.“
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement which led “On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Benjamin Netanyahu on his electoral success and wish him well as he moves ahead with the process of forming a coalition government. Canada’s friendship with Israel is based on a long history of close cooperation, enduring ties between our peoples, and our shared commitment to upholding democratic values.“
President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola said “Congratulations @netanyahu, on your success in #Israel’s elections. The bond between the EU & Israel is one forged in shared history and based on common values of democracy, liberty & rule of law. We will keep working together for peace, security & prosperity in the region.“
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni sent her congratulations to Netanyahu on Twitter as well, saying “Congratulations-Mazel Tov to @netanyahu for the electoral success. Ready to strengthen our friendship and our bilateral relations, to better face our common challenges.“
Just days before mid-term elections in the US, President Biden completely disrespected Israel. How does he think tens of millions of American Zionists will react? How much worse will the increasingly anti-Israel Democratic Party treat the Jewish State when votes are not on the line?
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter has been winning marathons around the world, representing Israel. The Kenyan immigrant to Israel will be running the New York City Marathon on November 6, 2022, so The New York Times thought it an opportune time to write a story about this Black Israeli who has a very good chance of winning the race.
But the anti-Israel paper wanted to make sure its remaining readers did not get confused that Israel is a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society (as opposed to the rest of the Middle East), so it editorialized that the Jewish State is built on racism.
In the middle of the the article “The Fastest Woman in This Year’s New York City Marathon Is Israeli”, the Times relayed several of Salpeter’s races and how she inspires many Israelis. Because of the paper’s ingrained anti-Zionist culture, it inserted a libel as an appropriate transition.
Despite Salpeter never saying anything about being subject to racism in Israel, the Times inserted “While she declined to directly address facing racism in Israel, Salpeter has not always felt universal support as an East African immigrant.” How did this clause end up in here? Perhaps an article about President Joe Biden cancelling student debt should include a sentence “Even though Biden did not admit to being a pedophile, he thinks kids in school need help.“
Mizrahi Jews, mostly from African countries, make up one-third of the country. Mixed Jews and Black Jews account for 5.8% and 2.2%, respectively. Overall, “White” Ashkenazi Jews account for 32.7 percent of the country’s population. So while over two-thirds of Israel’s population is non-White Jewish, the Times wants to falsely paint the Jewish State as an outpost of White (Jewish) Supremacy.
At the same time, the paper has not published an article about the Palestinian Arabs beheading a gay Arab. It has not written about the Algiers Declaration, signed a few weeks ago that will allow terrorist groups including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to participate in elections.
For The NY Times, there is a single narrative: the Jewish State is irredeemable on multiple levels and that Arabs are forever innocent. And it will tell you that repeatedly, even when describing a Black Israeli woman competing in the New York City marathon, lest a reader jump to the wrong conclusion that Israel – alone in the Middle East – is a multi-ethnic liberal democracy.
Police and rescue workers at the scene of a terror attack on Dizengoff street, central Tel Aviv. At least six people were wounded in the shooting, 3 severly. April 07, 2022. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH9015 Jews killed and 130 injured when Palestinian Arab blows up Sbarro pizza store in central Jerusalem, August 9, 2001Arab mob pelts Jewish man’s car with stones outside Jerusalem’s Old City, May 10, 2021. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** בירושלים שוטרים שומר שומרים שער האריות נסיון לינץ נהג פצוע22 civilians killed and 50 injured when Palestinian terrorist blew up bus in central Tel Aviv in 1994Two Palestinians with axes and knives kill six people in Jerusalem synagogue, November 18, 2014Five members of the Fogel family stabbed to death in their sleep by two Arab cousins, March 11, 2011
Jewish children will freely live their lives
to ride a school bus,
play in a playground,
attend school,
take a nature hike,
relax in their bedrooms,
ride in a car with their fathers
Hamas fired an anti-tank missile at a school bus killing a 16-year old boy, April 7, 201114 rockets launched from Gaza pound Sderot, two landing in a children’s playground, February 24, 2020Hamas blew up the cafeteria of Hebrew University, killing nine and injuring 100, July 31, 200217-year old Rina Shnerb, killed while on a nature hike, from a bomb planted by the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, August 23, 201913-year old, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, stabbed to death while siting in her bedroom, June 30, 20161-year old Yonatan Palmer and his father Asher, 25, killed by Palestinian Arabs stoning their car, September 23, 2011
All Jews will be free to live anywhere and everywhere
not barred entry to their homeland,
not ethically cleansed from their land,
not denied citizenship,
not have their holy places destroyed,
allowed to pray openly at their holy sites,
Not to told that their basic physical presence is illegal
Arab riots of 1936-9 and lobbying made the British pass the White Paper which capped Jewish immigration during the Holocaust yearsTransjordan ethnically cleansed all Jews from Judea and Samaria during the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli WarJordan illegally annexed Judea and Samaria and refused to grant any Jew who lived there citizenship in 1954Joseph’s Tomb vandalized by Palestinian Arabs, April 2022The Jewish Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, forbids Jewish prayerUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 declared Jews living east of the 1949 Armistice Lines to be doing so illegally
Throughout 2022, Palestinian Arabs committed more attacks against Israelis than the reverse. A fact obfuscated constantly by the United Nations.
Tor Wennesland, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, gave his monthly update to the UN Security Council on October 28, 2022. Despite Palestinian Arabs attacking Israeli Jews with increasing frequency – by Wennesland’s own accounting – he chose to minimize Arab violence and focus on the attacks by Israeli Jews.
The nature of whitewashing Palestinian attacks takes many forms.
Portraying the Palestinian Authority as peaceful and Israeli politicians as violent. The PA incites violence with both words and actions, paying rewards to terrorists and calling the entirety of Israel an illegal settlement. Despite the PA being an integral part of the problem, Wennesland called for “Efforts are also urgently needed to empower and strengthen the Palestinian Authority and build towards a return to a political process.” Rather than call out widespread systematic PA incitement, Wennesland pointed to a single Israeli politician, a “right-wing Israeli Member of the Knesset led a group through Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, at one point brandishing a weapon and making violent threats.“
Stating Palestinians are mostly peaceful. The Palestinians launched a new terrorist group called the Lion’s Den in August 2022, causing Jews in the West Bank to seek to protect themselves from ongoing shootings and bomb threats. Settler attacks jumped immediately after the new terrorist group’s arrival and actions.
But the UN led its reporting of the monthly death toll by leading with Arab “demonstrations” instead of Arab violence: “In total, 32 Palestinians, including six children, were killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations, clashes, search-and-arrest operations, attacks and alleged attacks against Israelis, and other incidents.” It was absolution via inversion, led by omitting a key part of the narrative.
Relaying that Palestinian demonstrations are reactive and Israeli protests are provocative. The report’s bias can be seen clearly also in the way protests are described. Wennesland said that Palestinian “Demonstrations and protests spread from Shu’fat to East Jerusalem and led to clashes between Palestinians and ISF,” after Israel’s military imposed movement restrictions as it searched for Arab militants. It continued that Israel’s military “shot and killed five Palestinians” (never using the word terrorists), which then led to “Thousands of Palestinians subsequently demonstrated in Nablus, with protests spreading across the occupied West Bank. Amid the heightened tensions, Palestinians conducted general strikes and five days of civil disobedience campaigns across the West Bank, with further clashes between Palestinians and ISF.” All Arab actions are described as reactionary.
However, for Jews, the report states the opposite. “Settler-related violence and provocations has also increased during the reporting period, contributing to the dynamic of escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. Throughout the reporting period, settlers held numerous demonstrations across the West Bank, with protesters on multiple occasions blocking main roads, throwing stones and impeding movement for Palestinian residents. Tensions were particularly high around Nablus, where settlers impeded main routes for Palestinian residents and, on several occasions, groups of Israeli settlers entered the Palestinian town of Huwwara, south of Nablus, damaging Palestinian property and prompting clashes with residents, in some cases in the presence of Israeli Security Forces.”
Detailing Israeli Jews’ attacks but not those of Palestinian Arabs. Wennesland then relayed two specific incidents about “Israeli settlers”. It included no specific incidents about Arab violence. In his opening summary remarks, Wennesland had details on the number of injuries incurred by Palestinians (63) but had no such figure for Jews. Instead, he belittled the Palestinian attacks by noting that 100 of the 115 incidents “were stone-throwing incidents.” This is not surprising as “OCHA [United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] began systematically tracking Palestinian fatalities in 2005,” but no organization tracks Palestinian attacks nor Jewish fatalities.
In September’s report, while Wennesland gave the figure of “128 attacks against Palestinians,” it gave no total for Palestinian Arab attacks. Presumably it was much higher, as it was in every month.
Normalizing and legitimizing the political-terrorist group Hamas. Capping off the report, Wennesland mentioned that Fatah and Hamas signed the Algiers Declaration, which amounted to reconciliation between the parties and an agreement to hold elections in which all parties could participate. He said “I echo the Secretary-General in welcoming the agreement and underscore the importance of Palestinian reconciliation for a viable, independent Palestinian State.” For the UN, a terrorist Palestinian state alongside Israel is still better than no Palestinian State.
Supporting a single party in the conflict – Palestinian Arabs. Wennesland summed up his report with empathy for the Arabs but not the Jews. He called for the world to join him in his rallying cry for Palestinian Arabs: “I see clearly the mounting frustration and anger of Palestinians in the face of decades of Israeli occupation. The Palestinian Authority urgently needs the economic support and political space to fully exercise its authority, including security, in areas under its control.“
The United Nations is a rabidly anti-Zionist organization which minimizes and excuses Palestinian Arab violence and embraces the political-terrorist group Hamas. Meanwhile, Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria are cast as terrorists for simply seeking to live freely. Doing so consistently and repeatedly, the UN invalidates itself as a potential force for good to resolve the long-running dispute in the holy land.
The attempt of some vocal members of the far left to suggest that being pro-Palestinian is a progressive value is an inversion of reality. The vast majority of Palestinian Arab society and leadership is systematically regressive, racist, homophobic, misogynistic and corrupt.
Gay Rights
Palestinian Arab society is extremely religious and abhors homosexuality. Many gay Palestinian Arabs flee lands under the control of the Palestinian Authority and seek asylum in Israel. One such man, Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, 25 years old, had been living in Israel for two years as he feared that his Palestinian Arab neighbors would kill him. This week, his decapitated body was found in Hebron, near his family home.
Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh (Social media)
Misogyny
Dozens of Palestinian women are killed every year in so-called “honor killings“, when family members kill a woman who brings “dishonor” to the family by not living a chaste lifestyle. Isra’a Ghrayeb was killed by her brother after she posted a video on Instagram of her meeting a man, bringing dozens of women out in protests. According to Palestinian law, Article 340 of the penal code allows a man to kill his wife if she committed adultery. Article 341 permits murder to protect “his honor, or somebody else’s life or honor,” essentially a double-“O” license to kill women.
Racism and Anti-Semitism
When Palestinian and Jordanian Arabs controlled Jewish holy sites, they banned Jews from visiting their sacred locations. In Hebron, they banned Jews from climbing above the seventh step of the Cave of The Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs. In Jerusalem, they banned Jews from living or visiting the Old City of Jerusalem, and destroyed all of the synagogues in the Old City from 1949-1967. Today, Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority declared that in his vision of a future Palestinian State, there would not be a single Jew living anywhere.
The anti-Semitism is so blatant and systemic, that after the Jordanian and Palestinian Arabs ethnically cleansed Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem of all Jews in the 1948-9 war, it passed a citizenship act in 1954 that specifically gave Jordanian citizenship to everyone “not being Jewish.” The Jew hatred continues today, with 93 percent of Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza holding anti-Semitic views according to the ADL, the most of any region in the world.
Climate Change
Palestinian Arabs have deliberately set fire to thousands of acres of Israeli land, burning forests and fields. A 2018 government report noted that “the entire eco-system of the western Negev has been affected. Trees that have stood for generations – preventing soil erosion, improving the carbon footprint and providing a habitat for birds and animals – have been destroyed. Wildlife – birds, turtles, snakes and lizards, jackals, foxes and wolves, wild boars, hedgehogs, bees and other insects – have been killed or lost their homes and their food sources. Experts estimate that it will take decades for the area to recover.” This is in addition to the thousands of tires that Palestinians burn which are extremely harmful to the environment.
The Carmia Nature Reserve burned by Palestinian arson attacks (Photo courtesy of Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
Reproductive Freedom
The Palestinian Authority bans abortion completely in any circumstance. It is one of only two dozen countries in the world with such severe restriction, together with countries including Haiti, Iraq and the Congo.
Religious Freedom
There is nothing so basic as freedom of religion, including changing one’s religion. Yet there are eight countries in the world – all Muslim – where the penalty for converting from Islam is death.
Palestinian Arabs are some of the most devoutly Islamic people in the world, with 89% supporting sharia law, only behind Afghanistan and Iraq. Among those Palestinians supporting sharia, 84% are in favor of stoning as the punishment for adultery and 66% believe Muslims who convert from Islam should be killed. Palestinian Arabs are only second to Pakistan in seeking a more sharia-based society.
Forever Wars
Nothing defines Palestinian society more than the active promotion of forever wars. To this day, the PA leadership refuses to recognize the legitimate historic and human rights of Jews to live in peace and sovereignty in their homeland. For over 100 years, Palestinian Arabs have been waging pogroms and wars slaughtering thousands of Jews with guns, bombs, rockets, knives, cars, stones and whatever implement they could use. The murderers become celebrated heroes in Palestinian society, with the PA paying the killers’ families thousands of dollars.
Supporters of the Palestinian Fatah movement march with a poster of female militant Dalal al-Mughrabi, who took part in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel, during a rally marking the 55th foundation anniversary of the political party in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on January 1, 2020. (Photo by Musa AL SHAER / AFP)
Rep. Rashida Tlaib said she is angry that people are “progressive except for Palestine,” but she has it upside down. It is Zionists and people who care about basic human rights who are shocked that anyone – let alone people who claim to care about human rights – can support the racist, homophobic, misogynistic, repressive Palestinian Arabs waging forever wars against the most persecuted people in the world.
First One Through 