During an Israeli reprisal attack in Ramallah, the wife and three children of a Hamas terrorist were accidentally killed by a misdirected tank shell. Amid the myriad news reports focusing upon the carnage perpetrated by Arab terrorists against Israeli civilians and soldiers, one headline fairly leaped from the page: "IDF apologizes for deaths of terrorist's wife and three children." The article that followed detailed the incredible statement issued by Minister of Defense Binyamin Ben Eliezer, in the name of the Israel Defense Forces, in which he wishes to apologize and 'ask forgiveness,' as it were, for the unintentional deaths that occurred.
Apologize? To whom?
Is Israel's apology directed to the Hamas terrorists and their murderous cohorts who claim responsibility for intentionally sending suicide bombers, snipers and stone throwers to kill innocent Jewish men, women and children? Is it directed to those who celebrate these horrendous atrocities by dancing in the streets and giving out sweets to their cheering followers?
Is Israel's apology directed at Yasser Arafat, 'patron saint' of the 'intifada', who continuously calls upon the Arab world to join in a jihad against the Jewish state? Is Israel apologizing to the man who, but for Divine intervention and expert action by our brave soldiers in intercepting the Karine A, would have used the boatload of deadly weapons he commissioned to annihilate as many Jews as possible?
Perhaps Israel's apology was meant to impress the European Union and other ?peace-makers? of the world. To impress those whose silence during the Holocaust and whose present day support of the Arab cause clearly prove that they would not shed a tear if Israel were wiped off the face of the earth?
Eight years have passed since the signing of the ill-fated Oslo 'peace' agreement. Eight years during which 8l5 Israelis have been slaughtered, among them l0 month old babies, such as Shalhevet Pass of Hebron, mothers and fathers together with their children, such as the Schuyveschuurder family who perished in the dastardly Sbarro?s pizzeria bombing and such as the Nechmad family, who lost seven members in the most recent attack in Jerusalem. Never has there been an apology for these nefarious, brutal attacks by our Arab 'peace partners.'
If, indeed, the leaders of Israel feel impelled to offer an apology for the death of innocent victims, it would behoove them to issue it to the countless bereaved Jewish families whose loved ones were murdered and injured in a 'peace process' that the leaders of Israel are seemingly unwilling to terminate. In its wake, the 'peace process' continues to bring bloodshed and tragedy to the Jewish people.
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Shifra Hoffman, founder of Victims of Arab Terror International, is a journalist and Executive Director of Shuva (Return) - The Israel Emergency Aliyah Movement. She can be reached at HoffmanShifra@hotmail.com.
Apologize? To whom?
Is Israel's apology directed to the Hamas terrorists and their murderous cohorts who claim responsibility for intentionally sending suicide bombers, snipers and stone throwers to kill innocent Jewish men, women and children? Is it directed to those who celebrate these horrendous atrocities by dancing in the streets and giving out sweets to their cheering followers?
Is Israel's apology directed at Yasser Arafat, 'patron saint' of the 'intifada', who continuously calls upon the Arab world to join in a jihad against the Jewish state? Is Israel apologizing to the man who, but for Divine intervention and expert action by our brave soldiers in intercepting the Karine A, would have used the boatload of deadly weapons he commissioned to annihilate as many Jews as possible?
Perhaps Israel's apology was meant to impress the European Union and other ?peace-makers? of the world. To impress those whose silence during the Holocaust and whose present day support of the Arab cause clearly prove that they would not shed a tear if Israel were wiped off the face of the earth?
Eight years have passed since the signing of the ill-fated Oslo 'peace' agreement. Eight years during which 8l5 Israelis have been slaughtered, among them l0 month old babies, such as Shalhevet Pass of Hebron, mothers and fathers together with their children, such as the Schuyveschuurder family who perished in the dastardly Sbarro?s pizzeria bombing and such as the Nechmad family, who lost seven members in the most recent attack in Jerusalem. Never has there been an apology for these nefarious, brutal attacks by our Arab 'peace partners.'
If, indeed, the leaders of Israel feel impelled to offer an apology for the death of innocent victims, it would behoove them to issue it to the countless bereaved Jewish families whose loved ones were murdered and injured in a 'peace process' that the leaders of Israel are seemingly unwilling to terminate. In its wake, the 'peace process' continues to bring bloodshed and tragedy to the Jewish people.
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Shifra Hoffman, founder of Victims of Arab Terror International, is a journalist and Executive Director of Shuva (Return) - The Israel Emergency Aliyah Movement. She can be reached at HoffmanShifra@hotmail.com.