Israel and the fight against terror 
4 November 2021

Over the last decades, the world has been increasingly confronted with the reality of well-organized global networks of groups and movements having a long-term, strategic goal of using violence to defeat the West. 
 
Israel is at the forefront of the fight against terror. Within Israel and in the surrounding territories and countries, well-organized (and financed) groups exist with the sole purpose of killing Jews and/or Israeli citizens. One of these is Iran-sponsored Hezbollah, that has hijacked the State of Lebanon on Israel’s northern border.
 
Every nation has the right (and duty) to protect its citizens against those who seek to carry out terror on their territory or against their citizens. Israel has that right, and duty. 
 
This week, Israel decided to designate six NGO’s as terror organisations, because of their connections with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), a well-known terror group that is responsible for the murder of tens of Israeli citizens. It was amazing (but not unexpected) to see that the move was immediately condemned (by the US, the UN and several EU member states) as a violation of human rights. It seems that many people live in a state of optimistic naivité, refusing to accept and internalize the reality of evil and hatred in the world. 

As Mark Goldfeder writes, the ones violating human rights are those that support terror. Lawyer Alan Baker argues that the designations are fully compliant with Israel’s rights and obligations under international law. 
 
As Bernard-Henri Lévy writes in his latest book, The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope (Yale University Press), the Middle East and many parts of Africa are dangerous and troubled. 
 
Instead of being condemned, the Jewish State of Israel should be praised for its relentless efforts to confront the realities of evil and protect its citizens (Jews and non-Jews), while seeking to bring blessing and prosperity to its own people and the world. 

If you care about human rights, stop supporting terror

Mark Goldfeder writes at JNS: “Israel outlawed the six Palestinian NGOs not because it is attempting to uphold, not repress, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Alan Baker and Lea Bilke write at JCPA: “The clear linkage between the six NGOs and the PFLP renders them eligible for criminalization in accordance with provisions of the relevant U.N. Conventions and Resolutions.”

Saudi rift with Lebanon growing amid discontent over Hezbollah’s dominance

David Isaac writes at JNS: “’For a long time, the Saudis haven’t liked the current Lebanese government. They are refusing to help Lebanon because they feel Hezbollah controls the political system and influences everything,’ said Orna Mizrahi at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.”

Seeing through the eyes of a traveling truth-teller

Jonathan Kirsch writes at JNS: “In his new book, “The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope,” Bernard-Henri Lévy recounts the dangers he encountered in the places he writes about, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine.”