As a Jew living in Canada with family in Israel, the news related to Israel is always important to me. This week it was like a punch in the gut. Our Canadian prime minister announced that his response to the ongoing Iran-Israel war on the Gaza front will be to recognize a state for the terrorists. Indeed, I’m totally shocked that he would reward terror and intransigence with recognition, but that doesn’t even begin to describe the problem.
In Canada the FLQ was founded in 1963 to promote independence for the French from Canada, coincidently right about the same time the PLO was founded. The FLQ had no designs on destroying Canada, just to separate. In October 1970 the FLQ kidnapped 2 people, British Trade Commissioner James Cross and Quebec Vice-Premier Pierre Laporte.
The response of the Liberal Canadian government was draconian. They imposed the War Measures Act, curtailing freedom in Canada and deploying the army. The FLQ killed Pierre Laporte and the government was in an uproar, yet they negotiated the deportation of the killer kidnappers to Cuba and Algeria and subsequently arrested other FLQ members.
The current Canadian government, the same Liberal party that understood the need to crush terrorism here in Canada has the temerity to support the terrorists who have murdered 1,000’s of Israelis, and vow to murder as many Israelis as they can and destroy Israel. This government has the gall to oppose the deportation of Hamas terrorists? This government that has denied separation to the French in Canada supports granting the right to separate to terrorists? How dare he? What a hypocrite. But that’s just the beginning.
The International Hypocrites' Club
The Spanish have refused independence to the Basques for more than 5 centuries. The violence and number of people killed in this conflict is astounding and the Spanish refuse to allow the Basque their independence. But they are comfortable recognizing the murderous terrorists in Israel and granting them their own country at Israel’s expense. More hypocrites.
We’re not done. France is so overrun with violent Islam that there are swaths of France that are no-go zones for police, fire department and French citizens, who get attacked if they enter these zones. The riots in France are so commonplace they aren’t even newsworthy any more. Nor is the number of churches torched every week. See Raymond Ibrahim’s web site for details.
The French response to this situation is typically French, surrender. President Macron is so enamoured of this situation he feels strongly that Israel too should have similar no-go zones for its terrorists. At least we can be respectful of Macron for being consistent when it comes to his lack of morals and principles, not like the other hypocrites.
Should we discuss England’s response to Irish independence? How many terrorists were dispatched by the loyal British army to prevent Ireland’s independence? Starmer support for a terror state in Israel includes him as a full-fledged member of the club of hypocrites.
The list of countries that have supported a terror state for the fake Palestinian Arab people (their own words, not mine) includes a majority of tyrannies and dictatorships too long to list, though you have to wonder about the Holy See. No one in the Vatican has felt the urge to comment on the hundreds of thousands of Christians killed by Islamist terrorists in Africa and throughout the Muslim world or the expulsion of the Christian population from Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christianity, by the “Palestinians” (did I hear the word apartheid?).
Nor have we heard about the persecution of the Copts in Egypt or the Christians in Lebanon and Syria, from the church that is very sure it must take a hypocritical position in support of the terror against the Jews. Like Macron, it is, at least, historically consistent.
But why? Why are all these countries and feckless leaders choosing to take a clearly immoral position and standing with the murderers?
Because Israel has never given them the space to stand with Israel. For more than 40 years Israel has told the international community it can and will make peace with the PLO, the PA and the likes of Hamas. The Oslo Accords include a 5 year timeline, so even for those who didn’t initially see the serious problems in the accords, at the end of the 5 year term, when the first intifada began, or at least after the second intifada, everyone had to recognize there is no peace with terrorists who vow to kill Jews and break every agreement they make.
Did anyone really need October 7th to convince us? But Israel has never been willing to stand up and say, no, there is no peace process with terrorists.
Why would that have been important? We can see it in another example. PM Netanyahu fully understood that Iran could not be allowed nuclear weapons long before others did. As bad as it is that North Korea was allowed to acquire nuclear weapons under the noses of every nuclear control agency, it seems everyone just considered Iran another rogue nation that would “get away with it” without considering the difference between a rogue, deathly poor nation and a driven jihadist oil-rich nation.
Netanyahu held strong, he created the space to oppose a nuclear Iran and held it alone for a long time. He maintained that space and made the arguments long enough and strongly enough for others to eventually join him in that space and ultimately agree to the limitation on the Iranian regime. Netanyahu may have understood the need to create that space explicitly or implicitly, but he understood. Why hasn’t he done the same for Israel?
Why has the Israeli government not created that space for others to join them, not in opposition to a program, not to change a program, but simply in support of retaining the status quo that is more just than any other arguments being made?
Israel has to say clearly: “This is ours”. As a child I remember understanding in June 1967 that a wrong had been righted, but Israel has not formally said it, let alone act on it. Israel has never said “Judea and Samaria are the heartland of Israel that was illegally held by Jordan for 19 years. 19 years of ethnic cleaning of Jews, after 3,500 years of Jewish habitation on their land, and in Jerusalem, with and without sovereignty, does not grant the ethnic cleansers or anyone else sovereignty in part of our country. 19 years of ethnic cleansing that Mahmoud Abbas promises to return, is not something to aspire to after more than 58 years of religious rights, human rights, women’s rights and freedom under the legal sovereign.”
Just say: It is ours, we are not going back.
Israel has to say repeatedly that Israel captured, or liberated, this part of Israel from Jordan’s illegal occupation and is re-uniting Judea and Samaria with the rest of Israel, as per the vote of the majority of the nations of the UN. Israel did outline in the Oslo Accords that it was willing to negotiate a permanent peace and security in exchange for part of what IS Israel by that vote.
We have seen there is no partner to negotiate with, no one to come to the table, despite generous offers that included giving away part of our sovereignty and even our holiest places.
Israel has to say:
-Since those who portrayed themselves to be potential partner have broken every aspect of the agreement they negotiated and the agreement to negotiate, it is over.
-As none of the parties has been willing to come to the table even beyond the 5 year term of the Oslo Agreement in face to face negotiations, it is over.
-As the PA and Hamas have broken almost every clause of the Oslo agreement, including their commitment to recognize Israel’s right to exist, that they have not done, including removing the destruction of Israel from their charters, that they have not done, including their agreement to relinquish terrorism, that they have not done, and including no unilateral changes outside of those face to face negotiations for a final agreement, Israel is forced to accept the PA and Hamas’s position and agree that the Oslo Accords are dead.
-Israel is forced to agree to the termination of the Oslo Accords.
Israel has not said that, as the Oslo Accords have been broken repeatedly and the PA Security Force PASF) have repeatedly turned their guns on Israel in terrorism instead of using them to prevent terrorism, the PASF is declared disbanded and all guns must be handed in to the IDF. Anyone found in possession of a gun will be arrested for further breaking the intent of the distribution of the guns under the Oslo Accords, to bring peace to the region.
Israel has to say that it paid dearly for this part of Israel with the lives of too many of Israel’s brave soldiers and terror victims. These precious lives were lost for what the UN had already declared legally part of Israel. No one has any prior right to it, no one will take it away, including the terrorists who have tried and Israel is not giving it away. Israel has paid the price, over and over, so Israel is keeping Judea and Samaria within sovereign Israel.
Israel’s enemies have no problem saying what they want and as long as Israel does not unequivocally stand up for Israel, it is a signal to the rest of the world that Israel does not believe it is in the right. This only allows space in support of the terrorists who are willing to say they are in the right, and the resulting threats of recognition in September, rewards for the terrorists.
The question is not when will Israel say no to the terrorists? The real question is when will Israel say yes, yes to Israel, yes to Israel’s future, yes to every Israeli who believes in Israel and thank you to all those who have given their lives to allow us to get here. In not saying yes to Israel, Israel has not created the space for others to join in support of Israel. That is what is leaving the nations of the world with no clear space to stand, tangentially in opposition to the terrorist, but really in the space in support of Israel and Israel’s future.
It should have been done in June 1967, and every day since it has gotten harder to begin creating that space. It is time, as it will only start getting better after Israel stands up and says “yes” to Israel.