They're Killing Jewish Children

That someone could raise an axe in the air and swing it at children says something very disturbing about the kind of enemy that we face, the hatred that guides their actions, and the immorality they are prepared to embrace
Yesterday, one of Israel's ostensible "peace partners" picked up an axe, stormed into a Jewish community outside Jerusalem, and attacked two innocent Jewish children, murdering a 16-year old teen and wounding a 7-year old child.

It was another horrific, and horrifying, act of terror in the Palestinians' century-long war against the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. And while we may have become 'accustomed' and perhaps even a little numb to reading about such atrocities, that in no way should diminish the severity of this incident in our eyes.

That someone could raise an axe in the air and swing it at children says something very disturbing about the kind of enemy that we face, the hatred that guides their actions, and the immorality they are prepared to embrace. Like it or not, you can not negotiate with an axe, appease it or reason with it.

So don't expect the New York Times or the rest of the mainstream press to make much of an issue of this latest attack, which inconveniently points out the fallacy of their "put the blame on Israel" line of thinking. Instead, they seem intent, together with the Obama administration, to twist Israel's arm and pressure its new government to go down a road of weakness, withdrawal and retreat.

The sad fact is that this only emboldens our enemies still further. Israel has followed this course for the past 16 years, since the signing of the Oslo accords, and all it has brought us is still more violence, horror and grief.

For G-d's sake! They're killing Jewish children - doesn't anybody give a damn?

Apparently, the answer is as chilling as it is simple: a loud and bloody "no". 

A Not-So-Happy Anniversary

Egypt has long tried to keep Israel at arms length, treating the Jewish state coldly and never truly embracing the idea of a warm and friendly peace
Israel this week celebrated 30 years since the signing of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, holding a series of diplomatic receptions, public exhibitions and museum events to mark the occasion.

And just how did Egypt choose to commemorate the forging of peace with the Jewish state?

Well, they didn't.

As the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday, "In Egypt, on the other hand, not much fireworks or fanfare is planned. There is "nothing official that I know of" going on in Cairo to commemorate the March 26 anniversary, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. He said he did not know why."

Well, I'll be glad to tell you why: Egypt has long tried to keep Israel at arms length, treating the Jewish state coldly and never truly embracing the idea of a warm and friendly peace.

Whether it is undermining Israel at various international bodies, or allowing Hamas to smuggle weapons freely from Sinai into Gaza, the Egyptian regime of autocratic President Hosni Mubarak has never missed a chance for diplomatic or security mischief-making.

Nonetheless, that didn't seem to stop US President Barack Obama this week from citing the Israel-Egypt peace treaty as a source of inspiration in his efforts to advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What an unfortunate remark to make!! Instead of pressing the Egyptians (who receive $2 billion in foreign aid annually from the American taxpayer) to forge a true and lasting peace, and to play a positive and constructive role in the region, Obama has essentially let them off the hook.

But let Obama say what he wishes. Cairo's failure to mark the anniversary of the peace treaty this week speaks far more loudly and compellingly about the real nature of Egypt's intentions.

Iran Disses Obama

US President Barack Obama may have made an unprecedented video appeal to Iran on Friday in an effort to improve relations, but the Ayatollahs wasted little time in rejecting it out of hand.

Speaking less than 24 hours after Obama's extraordinary plea for "constructive ties", Tehran's so-called Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dismissed the move as little more than just "a slogan".

Here is how the Times of London reported it: "A familiar chant of “Death to America” echoed around a religious shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad as Khamenei complained that Obama had “insulted the Islamic republic of Iran from the first day”. He added: “If you are right that change has come, where is that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.”

Khamenei continued with the usual harangue about US sanctions against Iran and its support for "the Zionist regime", in effect dissing the President and his attempt to lay the groundwork for dialogue between the two countries.

But by all accounts, Obama and his aides remain undeterred. As the Times noted, "President Barack Obama intends to press ahead with efforts to open a dialogue with Iran", despite the "apparent setback" of Khamenei's remarks.

Translation: Washington intends to waste still more time and effort trying to talk to the Ayatollahs, even as the latter move ever more closer to obtaining nuclear weapons capability. And so, while the countdown proceeds towards a nuclear Iran, Obama insists on continuing to play the fiddle. Let's just hope that the West doesn't end up burning as a result.