On May 10th, amid hundreds of rocket attacks against Jerusalem, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the following statement. “We call on the international community to condemn the rocket fire and Palestinian terrorism targeting Israeli citizens in the strongest manner, as well as to support Israel’s right of self-defense.”
Why should they even have to make a statement? If any other country received a massive, unprovoked rocket attack aimed at its civilian population, the world would be outraged. Leaders would be stepping all over one another in their rush to condemn such barbarity.
But in this case, the world mostly condemns Israel. Some nations and international organizations have given tepid acknowledgement of Israel’s right to defend its civilian population. But they always call on Israel to “show restraint.” None of them — not one other nation — would show restraint in its response to such a hideous attack on the civilians of its national capital. They would attack with ferocity. Israel, on the other, does show restraint, often compromising their military response in order to avoid civilian casualties. Remember that Hamas loves to put its military operations in the middle of civilian population centers.
Israel’s critics would have us believe that this started with Israeli “interference” on the Temple Mount. US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, tweeted, “Al Aqsa… [is] a sacred site for Muslims. This is equivalent to attacking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, or the Temple Mount for Jews.”
But, for several reasons, that makes no sense. Muslims frequently attack Jews on the Temple Mount. It’s a regular thing. Muslim authorities and Palestinian police forbid Jews to pray on their most sacred ground, and that’s been going on for decades. Even after taking back East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel put their holiest site, the Temple Mount, in the control of Muslims. They did it in the interest of peace.
In anticipation of “Jerusalem Day,” Palestinians gathered at the site, collecting rocks, bottles, Molotov cocktails, and other makeshift weapons. When they started to riot, Israeli police entered the area. Today, Muslims use this “sacred site” as a place from which to plan and launch violent attacks on Israeli civilians and police.
The recent rocket barrage from Gaza has been different from earlier attacks. This time, Hamas is targeting the old city of Jerusalem itself — Islam’s so-called “third holiest city.” Why are they bombing their holy city? Why not bomb other Israeli cities? Maybe it’s not so holy to them after all.
The immediate beneficiary of all this has been Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. In a May 10th opinion piece for the New York Post, Jonathan S. Tobin wrote, “Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas wants to divert attention from his decision to postpone elections again as he serves the 17th year of a four-year term to which he was elected in 2005.”
Imagine the world outcry if any other leader carried on a four-year term for 17 years. Imagine the anger if any other leader kept setting dates for elections, then postponing them year after year. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority regime is corrupt through and through.
Meanwhile, UN and various leaders around the world continue to attack Israel… for defending itself!