This week’s Update focuses on events in Jerusalem. It often seems like the violence in the region ebbs and flows. Sadly, this isn’t because there is a day in which Palestinian leaders have randomly chosen to abandon their use of terrorism or tried to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Rather, the Palestinian leadership, in both Gaza and Ramallah, chooses to inflame tensions and create conflict whenever they feel it will benefit their popularity amongst the Palestinian population locally and Palestinian sympathizers internationally.
Celebrating Jerusalem Day
On Monday, Israelis celebrated Jerusalem Day, the annual event during which the liberation of Holy City is commemorated. It is a joyous occasion marked by parades and prayers for the peace of the Jerusalem.
Especially at this moment, it is worth recalling that very shortly after Israel reunified Jerusalem, one of the key decisions taken by the government, and upheld by every government since then, was to allow Islamic authorities to oversee the Temple Mount – despite its significance and ancient connection to the Jewish faith. This decision was made in order to maximize the likelihood of peace and coexistence. Unfortunately, as with every Israeli effort to advance peace, Israel’s outstretched hand has been met with the Palestinians’ clenched fist.
Confronting Palestinian Terrorism
For several weeks now there have been clashes between Palestinian rioters and terrorists and the Israeli police in and around Jerusalem. This largely centered around Ramadan and came to a head recently when Israeli police were compelled to enter the Temple Mount which as a result of its special status and elevation above the Western Wall plaza below, had been used to stockpile stones and firebombs intended to be hurled at the Israelis below.
We’ve little doubt the international media will flip the sequence of events on its head and blame Israel for the violence, declaring inflammatory Israel’s decision to enter the Temple Mount, ignoring the fact that it is effectively being used as a base of terror operations. And they’ll also ignore Palestinian calls for murder such as one senior Hamas official’s directive to Arabs in Jerusalem that they buy cheap knives to decapitate Jews.
The core of the issue is this: Israel’s detractors in the international community (including some in the US Congress) and elements of the media, as well as Israel’s enemies amongst the Palestinian population refuse to accept to the fact that Jerusalem will never be divided again. Likewise, they refuse to acknowledge that like every other democratic country on earth, Israelis have a right to defend themselves.
Rewarding Palestinian Terrorism
Since his days in Congress, President Biden has long espoused his support for Israel’s right to exist and defend itself. But there is an emerging disconnect between this idea in theory and the practical application of the policy. While running for President, Mr. Biden promised to reopen the Palestine Liberation Organization’s US mission (kind of like an embassy, but since there is no state of Palestine, it has a different official name).
Our question is, why? It’s not as if the Palestinian Authority (PA) doesn’t have a phone, so there’s no issue reaching Ramallah if the White House needs to do so. Moreover, it’s not as if the PA has moderated its attitude towards terrorism. They continue their pay-to-slay program and PA perennial President Mahmoud Abbas’s political party, Fatah, recently joined Hamas in calling on Palestinians to “raise the level of confrontation” with Israel. In other words, the Biden administration is considering rewarding an entity that supports terrorism with a diplomatic mission in Washington.
As this week’s Update is being written, Hamas has begun firing rockets into Israel – trying to target Jerusalem specifically – and making threats about escalation. Hamas is doing what terrorists do: trying to kill innocent people and threatening Israel should the Jewish state deign to defend itself.
As Israel begins to do what is necessary to protect its people from the most recent escalation, we’ve no doubt that Israel’s detractors in the international community (including some in the US Congress) and elements of the media, will find a way to blame Israel for doing what any country would do when confronted with terrorism.
This isn’t a cycle of violence and there is no moral equivalence between Israeli and Palestinian actions. We are witnessing a group of bloodthirsty bullies seeking to kill innocent people and a US ally and the only democracy in the Middle East doing what it can to keep its citizens safe. And at the CUFI Action Fund we will communicate exactly that message to our leaders in Washington in the hopes the Biden administration and others will cease efforts to reward the terrorists controlling Gaza and Ramallah.
