As I look down at the pictures of the sweet innocent faces of 3-year-old Tehilla Nathenson, 11-month-old Shmuel Zargari, 9-year-old Yissaschar Dov Reinitz, 3-month-old Shmuel Taubenfeld, and the faces of the other twenty beautiful people whose souls were forcefully taken from the Jewish people last Tuesday evening, I am shocked at the rage and hatred I feel inside.
The perpetrator of this horrible crime was not some dumb impressionable teenager who can be easily manipulated by Hamas. He was a 29-year old father and a man who was an Imam, a Muslim cleric.
The attack came as no surprise. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that he was waiting for the hudna to collapse. He said that when the Palestinian terrorists abandon their temporary cease-fire, we could expect an onslaught of terror. Despite his warning, the carnage that followed shocked the world. The United States, the United Nations, and the European Union all have condemned the attack, yet at the same time have all urged Israel to exercise restraint in the aftermath. The Quartet still believes that they can wish for peace in the Middle East and it will happen.
The world also still believes this time is different; the Palestinians have a new ?moderate? prime minister and there is the Road Map. The Road Map is supposed to lead Israel and the Palestinians to peace by each side honoring specific commitments at a series of phases, until a Palestinian state is formed. However, nothing has changed since the collapse of the Oslo process. Israel can call Yasser Arafat irrelevant, but he still controls the Palestinian Authority, he has the support of his people and he still is deeply involved in terrorism.
Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen says he will now crack down on terror, but we have been through this routine countless times before. Arafat was supposed to crack down on terror. Once in a while, he would arrest terrorists, who would be back on the streets in a short time. The PA invented the prison with the revolving doors.
Abu Mazen has committed himself to cracking down on terror. It would be interesting to see the list of terrorists he has arrested; however, no such list exists.
The Road Map obligations have been initiated by Israel and ignored by the Palestinian Authority, and the PA has managed to convince the world to demand more unilateral measures from Israel, such as releasing Palestinian prisoners. The prisoner releases are not a part of the Road Map, but the world has pressured the Sharon government to release more prisoners as part of the countless goodwill gestures that would keep the terrorists? hudna going.
The international community fails to notice that there is still wide support among the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world for terrorism against Israel. After the No. 2 bus bombing, there were reports of celebrations in Lebanon. In Hebron, the murderer responsible for last week?s blood bath is being hailed as a shahid (martyr). The Palestinian Authority?s official position on the attack was that Israel provoked it by violating the hudna when the IDF killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist in Hebron (who had opened fire on troops when they tried to arrest him).
There is finally intense pressure on Abu Mazen to crack down on terror, but the world has waited too long. The pressure should have been placed on him from the day he took office. Prime Minister Sharon should have said, ?You make the first move, because your people have a long history of deceit.? Israel should not have wavered an inch from the Road Map and should have demanded a full effort from Abu Mazen before implementing any of its obligations.
Now, Abu Mazen is faced with a choice: Either he cracks down on terror and risks a civil war, or he allows the terrorists to go free and risks being destroyed by Israel. This is a choice he will have to make. Israel must worry about protecting Israeli citizens. This is the choice Israel has to make.
Israel cannot allow a country to be born that is run by anarchists who are determined to kill innocent men, women and children. There is a time to stand up against international pressure and tell those who demand Israel choose a path leading to innocent children being murdered that enough is enough.
When I think about the children, parents, brides and grandparents that have been murdered at the hands of these barbarians, all I feel is the anger, tears and hatred that have replaced a lifetime of compassion.
We?ve become too accustomed to the suicide bombings. When a TV reporter at the scene of the June 12 bus bombing in Jerusalem shook his head and said to me, ?This is a tough job,? I could no longer hold back my sarcasm. I answered, ?Yeah, my work is done here. I can go home and enjoy a little quiet family time.? I then pointed to the dead bodies lined up on the curb and said, ?They never will.?
The perpetrator of this horrible crime was not some dumb impressionable teenager who can be easily manipulated by Hamas. He was a 29-year old father and a man who was an Imam, a Muslim cleric.
The attack came as no surprise. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that he was waiting for the hudna to collapse. He said that when the Palestinian terrorists abandon their temporary cease-fire, we could expect an onslaught of terror. Despite his warning, the carnage that followed shocked the world. The United States, the United Nations, and the European Union all have condemned the attack, yet at the same time have all urged Israel to exercise restraint in the aftermath. The Quartet still believes that they can wish for peace in the Middle East and it will happen.
The world also still believes this time is different; the Palestinians have a new ?moderate? prime minister and there is the Road Map. The Road Map is supposed to lead Israel and the Palestinians to peace by each side honoring specific commitments at a series of phases, until a Palestinian state is formed. However, nothing has changed since the collapse of the Oslo process. Israel can call Yasser Arafat irrelevant, but he still controls the Palestinian Authority, he has the support of his people and he still is deeply involved in terrorism.
Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen says he will now crack down on terror, but we have been through this routine countless times before. Arafat was supposed to crack down on terror. Once in a while, he would arrest terrorists, who would be back on the streets in a short time. The PA invented the prison with the revolving doors.
Abu Mazen has committed himself to cracking down on terror. It would be interesting to see the list of terrorists he has arrested; however, no such list exists.
The Road Map obligations have been initiated by Israel and ignored by the Palestinian Authority, and the PA has managed to convince the world to demand more unilateral measures from Israel, such as releasing Palestinian prisoners. The prisoner releases are not a part of the Road Map, but the world has pressured the Sharon government to release more prisoners as part of the countless goodwill gestures that would keep the terrorists? hudna going.
The international community fails to notice that there is still wide support among the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world for terrorism against Israel. After the No. 2 bus bombing, there were reports of celebrations in Lebanon. In Hebron, the murderer responsible for last week?s blood bath is being hailed as a shahid (martyr). The Palestinian Authority?s official position on the attack was that Israel provoked it by violating the hudna when the IDF killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist in Hebron (who had opened fire on troops when they tried to arrest him).
There is finally intense pressure on Abu Mazen to crack down on terror, but the world has waited too long. The pressure should have been placed on him from the day he took office. Prime Minister Sharon should have said, ?You make the first move, because your people have a long history of deceit.? Israel should not have wavered an inch from the Road Map and should have demanded a full effort from Abu Mazen before implementing any of its obligations.
Now, Abu Mazen is faced with a choice: Either he cracks down on terror and risks a civil war, or he allows the terrorists to go free and risks being destroyed by Israel. This is a choice he will have to make. Israel must worry about protecting Israeli citizens. This is the choice Israel has to make.
Israel cannot allow a country to be born that is run by anarchists who are determined to kill innocent men, women and children. There is a time to stand up against international pressure and tell those who demand Israel choose a path leading to innocent children being murdered that enough is enough.
When I think about the children, parents, brides and grandparents that have been murdered at the hands of these barbarians, all I feel is the anger, tears and hatred that have replaced a lifetime of compassion.
We?ve become too accustomed to the suicide bombings. When a TV reporter at the scene of the June 12 bus bombing in Jerusalem shook his head and said to me, ?This is a tough job,? I could no longer hold back my sarcasm. I answered, ?Yeah, my work is done here. I can go home and enjoy a little quiet family time.? I then pointed to the dead bodies lined up on the curb and said, ?They never will.?