When the ancient Romans were crucifying the Jews, our people had already observed several millennia's worth of Passovers. And we asked the same question, year in and year out for these thousands of years: "Why is this night different than any other night?" But this year, we should be asking ourselves another question: "Why is this Passover different than any other Passover?"

The answer is because the Jewish people, as well as the world, is on a precipice. The chasm we are staring into is one of annihilation. And that may be the better alternative. There are several outcroppings on the way down this chasm. Their names are tyranny, repression, forced conversion, murder, mutilation and torture. If we fall into this chasm and are unluckier still, we will land on one of these outcroppings.

In the past, Jews in specific areas were targeted for extermination. In Roman times, it was the Jews living in their aboriginal homeland the Romans named Palestine. It was those living in Spain and a few other Catholic European countries during the Inquisition. Later, it was the Jews of Russia; and later still, the Jews of Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia who were targets of the Holocaust. Shortly afterwards, the Arab world decided to commit genocide of the Jews living in their newly restored aboriginal homeland of Palestine (newly renamed Israel).

But now we are facing a threat to our very existence like never before. And this time, we have company. During the past week, radical Islamists have issued edicts calling for the extermination of all Jews the world over, as well as advocating the murder of Christians.

Nor is this the worst of it. Some of Israel's putative friends are actively working to ensure her destruction. Egypt, with whom Israel supposedly has a peace treaty, continues to foment lies and anti-Semitism with such state-sponsored filth as "The Four Horsemen", a television series based upon The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Egypt also does nothing to destroy the weapons tunnels and stop the terrorists emanating from her country. And even more outrageous, the editors of the Egyptian government daily Al-Masaa, in a late January 2004 edition, advocated the murder of Jewish children (a clear call for genocide) in one of their articles:

"Ultimately, we should bless every Palestinian man or woman who goes calmly to carry out a martyrdom operation, in order to receive a reward in the Hereafter, sacrificing her life for her religion and her homeland and knowing that she will never return from this operation... We have no argument regarding the question of the legitimacy of these operations because they are considered a powerful weapon used by the Palestinians against an enemy with no morality or religion.... [e]ven if during [a martyrdom operation] civilians or children are killed...."(1)

Meanwhile America, ostensibly Israel's best friend, is pushing a 'Roadmap' that would leave Israel with indefensible borders while at the same time rewarding terrorism. America also funds Egypt(2), one of the cradles of anti-Semitism, to the tune of $1.3 billion annually (my tax dollars at work here). Meanwhile, the European Union, which at least professes no hostilities towards Jews and Israel, covered up an alarming increase in anti-Semitic acts and continues to fund Palestinian terror while denying the fact that their money is being used to commit genocide.

Okay, things are bad, but this is not news if one is a Jew. What has put us on the edge of global catastrophe are recent events that seem to be a harbinger of things to come. Spain just capitulated to terror in their recent elections. Because of a horrific bombing, the Spaniards ousted their political frontrunner in recent elections. The man they ousted was a staunch supporter of the war on terror. Instead, they capitulated to extortion and put in a man who seeks to assuage terror with concessions, in the futile hope that the Islamic terrorists would leave them alone.

Instead, within days, these same Islamic terrorists attempted to blow up another rail line. So much for the strategies of retreat and cowardice. But what is even worse is the message the people of Spain sent when they elected a weakling. They told the terrorists that terrorism works and can be used to alter elections. In effect, the Spaniards have painted a bull's-eye on the rest of the civilized world.

In November, the United States is having presidential elections. The Islamic world (and terrorism these days is done almost entirely by Muslims) views America as 'the big Satan' and Israel as 'the little Satan.' It is probable that some Islamic group or groups will try to influence US elections through more mega-terror attacks. And to these Muslims, attacking Israel as a secondary target is almost as good as attacking the US.

The Muslim terrorists hate President Bush. He has gone on the offensive against them. On the other hand, Islamists, their supporters and apologists seem to like Kerry very much. For example, one of the supposed best and brightest stars of the Islamic world, Dr. Mahathir, former head of the Organization of Islamic States, supports Kerry.(3) This is the man who said "Jews rule the world by proxy," and, "We need guns and rockets, bombs and warplanes, tanks and warships.?"(4)

At the same time, Kerry's wife, Theresa Heinz (of the Heinz food fortune) has actively supported Islamic terrorism to the tune of many millions of dollars.(5) Kerry is the ideal choice for a Muslim terrorist. And while Kerry seemed to have a good shot at winning, that has been spoiled by the entry of Ralph Nader into the elections.

Based upon their success at overturning the Spanish elections as well as their lack of understanding of the American psyche, it is highly likely that the Muslim terrorists will try to affect the American elections in a mega-terror attack. It is also likely that they will attack Israel at the same time as a form of coup de grace.

And I predict, based upon news stories over the past year, that this time, they will use WMDs. Nor do they care if they, their compatriots or their fellow Muslims die. This is an evil unlike the world has ever seen. They aspire to die. And therefore, we are on the precipice of total annihilation.

Will total annihilation happen? I doubt it. As a Jew, I know that G-d will not let it happen. But I do know this: Come next Passover, it will be a very different world.

Footnotes
1) http://israelnn.com/news.php3?id=57548

2) http://cfrterrorism.org/coalition/egypt.html

3) http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAVRL33ZRD.html

4) http://thestar.com.my/oic/story.asp?file=/2003/10/16/oic/20031016123438

5) http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37244