Double Standards and Doublespeak Pits the US Against Israel

About midnight, on October 21st, a man wielding a knife lunged at a border patrol officer. The assailant was shot four times.

Did you hear about this incident? 

Probably not. 

That’s because the incident took place took place not somewhere in Israel, where all incidents of this type are recorded and broadcast around the world, but at the border crossing in Calexico, California, just across the border from Mexicali, Mexico.

The reason the man was shot by a Border & Patrol Protection officer and, subsequently, died from his wounds, should be obvious. People wielding knives and lunging at police—or anyone else, intend to injure or kill and it is essential to stop those attacker immediately—before they do their harm and people are killed.

This incident did not make international headlines. There was no outcry and no rage for the poor guy even after details emerged and we learned that he was on a bicycle and jumped off it to perpetrate his attack and that he was denied entry into the United States and that was why he went on his rampage.

There is a double standard here.

If this incident would have happened in Israel, the country’s many critics would be screaming about the murder of innocent people riding their bikes. The Palestinian propaganda machine would have turned the truth upside down to convince the world that the killer was the victim.

These are some of the lies that were told to the United Nation Security Council by PA UN Representative Riyad al Malik on Thursday, October 22nd. In describing the tension between the Palestinians and Israel, he said:

“Our Palestinian people, particularly our children, are being killed, targeted by the Israeli occupation forces.”

“They are denied fundamental right to life because of their national and religious identities. Their legitimate rejection of illegal occupation is being faced with killing and destruction.”

“Incitements and provocations continue in al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary, as the Temple Mount is known by Muslims) and the al-Aqsa Mosque – attacks, incitement by the Israeli extremists and the officials against Palestinian civilians. Day after day we watch this.”

They believed every word. They gobbled up every untruth.

When Israel’s new Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, had his turn to speak, the damage was done. This is a war where lies and false rumors are the ammunition of the propagandists. And Israel is losing.

And it doesn’t stop. If the Palestinians speak untruths  it’s one thing. But when the United States delivers falsehoods, it’s something else entirely. On Monday, October 19th, three days before the UN Security Council heard from al Maliki and Danon, Secretary of State John Kerry had this to say about Israel and the Palestinians:

“Security and diplomacy go hand in hand. There is not a time for one and then the other, really there is an importance to both. We want to see calm restored and we want to see the violence stop. And I think everybody in Israel and in the region would like to see both of those things happen.”

He starts out fine. Then Kerry made a terrible mistake:

“We continue to urge everybody to exercise restraint and restrain from any kind of self-help in terms of the violence, and Israel has every right in the world to protect its citizens, as it has been, from random acts of violence.”

I don’t get it—and that’s probably because the secretary of state doesn’t really get it. Can the Israelis defend themselves or not? And why can’t Israeli be vigilant and help fight the terror spreading throughout their country. That is what Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, advised when he asked that citizens who are trained marksmen and have licenses and permits and weapons carry their weapons with them wherever they go.

And what about this idea of restraint on both sides? Israel is showing great restraint—especially because they are the people being attacked. The vast amount of Palestinians who have been injured during this terror spree were the terrorists themselves. And they were injured or killed in the midst of the act of terror. Israel is killing terrorists—not innocent teenagers.

This is not, as Kerry erroneously stated, a question of “protection” but rather one of self defense. It baffles the mind that even now the United States is still attempting to put forth an agenda of impartiality. How could the US see things in such a warped manner as to confuse those who are the terrorists with those who are the victims? Why does the United States administration continue to persist in their desire to put both sides on an equal playing field?

Sometimes, a man’s got to do what a man—or woman—has got to do. And shooting someone who wants to take your life is as correct and appropriate a response at the border between California and Mexico as it is in the clash between terrorist Palestinians and Israeli citizens.

The Miracle of The State of Israel & FDR

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

This week we commemorate the 67th anniversary of the birth of the modern day state of Israel. This momentous event almost didn’t take place without very special divine intervention.

At the time almost no one knew the story. It was not until much later that the secret correspondence between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Saudi King surfaced. But now we know what transpired behind the scene that would surely have derailed recognition of Israel as a member state of the United Nations – and we can once again stand in awe of the mysterious ways in which G-d plays a role in directing the turning points of history.

I have just now become privileged to see copies of the original letters between Abdul Aziz bin Abdur Rahman al Faisal al Saud and the then president of the United States. It was in March 1945 that the Saudi King, aware of the imminent end of the Second World War, wrote to FDR of his fear that the Jewish remnant of the Holocaust might push for a return to their ancient homeland of Palestine. Saud was particularly concerned that there might be some American support for this on humanitarian grounds, especially in light of the revelations about the extent of Jewish suffering.

The Saudi King was undiplomatically direct in his opposition to this possibility:

“This right [of the Arabs] men now seek to destroy by injustice unparalleled and unequaled in history. Such is the right of the Arabs in Palestine which the spokesmen of Jewish Zionism wish to scorn and abolish by the use of various forms of lying propaganda, invented, concealed and employed by them throughout the world.… They are preparing to create a form of Nazi fascism within sight and hearing of the democracies and in the midst of the Arab countries as well as in their very heart and in the heart of the East which has proved itself loyal to the Allied cause in these critical times….. We state frankly and plainly that to help Zionism in Palestine not only means to endanger Palestine but all neighboring countries.”

Leaving aside the incredible reference to the Arab world having proven itself “loyal to the Allied cause” in spite of its powerful links to Hitler and the Nazis, the Saudi King seemed quite confident he would secure a positive response from FDR which would make the creation of a Jewish state impossible.

In fact he was not disappointed.

On April 5, FDR responded with an extremely warm note. In it he offered the king a firm commitment.

“Your Majesty will doubtless recall that on previous occasions I communicated to you that I would take no action in my capacity as chief of the executive branch of this government which might prove hostile to the Arab people.”

As long as he continued to serve as President, he made clear that the dream of the Jewish people of return to their homeland would not be fulfilled. Those were his words.

It was on April 12, a mere seven days after the date of FDR’s commitment to the Saudi King, that FDR passed away.

America mourned mightily at the death of their leader who had guided them through the previous years of horror. Jews, as grateful citizens of a land that had offered them so many blessings, were in the forefront of those overwhelmed by grief. We can now see divine fingerprints in the replacement of FDR with Harry S Truman, a man who previously enjoyed a friendly business relationship with a Jew and found himself in the unique position of being able to make possible the creation of the state of Israel which his predecessor pledged never to allow.

It seems miracles have always played a major role in the unparalleled story of a people returning to their homeland after a hiatus of close to 2000 years. But it was not only the miracles which allowed Israel to survive the attacks of its many enemies, far superior in number, in armaments, in wealth and in friends amongst the nations of the world. No rational historian, no realistic military analyst, no cogent political commentator could possibly have predicted that after 67 years of attempts at its annihilation, Israel still stands proud and tall, secure in its achievements and confident of its continued survival.

Israel’s development through its teenage years, its growth to maturity and its present day place in the world as a technological wonder all bear the signs of divine and miraculous assistance. However this year, now that we know the full story, let us add our recognition of the miracle which made possible Israel’s birth as well.