In a belated call by President Obama to Newly re-elected Israeli Prime minister, Obama threatened to reassess US Mideast policies. While Obama was quick to congratulate Rouhani of Iran when he was elected, or Putin of Russia, he took his time to congratulate Netanyahu. Is Obama sending a message?
The White House expressed its displeasure with several of Netanyahu's pre-election comments, such as his reservations about allowing a Palestinian State to be created in Judea and Samaria, ‘not on my watch', and for his ‘divisive language' when he expressed his concern that Arab voters were voting in droves.
With regard to the first comment, Netanyahu implied that the timing was not propitious and that it would be unwise and even suicidal to hand over territory within a kilometer of the heartland of Israel, at a time when Islamic State, Hizbollah and Hamas, were all threatening the borders of Jordan and even Israel.
Experience in Southern Lebanon, and in Gaza has proved that the vacuum left by any Israeli withdrawal would quickly be filled by these Islamic fanatics hell-bent on Israel's destruction.
Both statements have been taken completely out of context and the adverse reactions to them by the US and by the EU, have emboldened the Palestinians and the Arab states. Nabil Elarabi, head of the Arab League, has already indicated that in view of these statements, they should consider a new resolution to the Security Council to recognize the Palestinian State, based on the pre-1967 borders.
It seems that whatever Netanyahu says, even taken out of context, is used to lambast Israel, while the Palestinians and even the Iranians can utter the most vile innuendo, with barely a consequence or murmur from the international community. On the threshold of a deal to curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has just issued a call for ‘death to America', with America's appeasingly responding that it is satisfied that progress is being made.
Contrast this with the demonization of Jews and of Zionists that has become the standard rhetoric of the Palestinian Authority for several years now. The PA under Mahmoud Abbas, has persisted in allegations that there is no Jewish people or that the Jews are modern day colonialists with little or no history in Israel.
They write the Jews out of their history and deny that the Wailing Wall or the Temple Compound was ever part of the Holy Temple that King Solomon built. During the recent elections various Palestinian leaders, including some who stood for election to the Israeli ‘Knesset', declared unashamedly that they would never recognize Israel as a ‘Jewish State'. Unsurprisingly, these hateful views have elicited a deafening silence from the West.
Just last week, the Palestinian Authority celebrated the anniversary of the "Coastal Road Massacre" in which Palestinian terrorists, whom they have called ‘heroes' murdered 37 Israeli civilians.
Fatah dedicated a monument, with the contours of Palestine, which include Israel, in Mughrabi square, named after the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi in Ramallah, who led the bus hijacking in 1978. Fatah, called on Israelis to ‘collect your body parts and leave'.
Fatah have contributed 6% of their budget to salaries and benefits for terrorists and the families of what they define as ‘martyrs'.
On its website and on its Facebook page the Palestinian Authority has continuously included various unquestioned Israeli cities, such as Haifa, Jaffa, Tzfat and Upper Galilee as parts of Palestine. The two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fathah, both continue to aspire to free all of Palestine of Jews, and they have unequivocally maintained that no Zionists or Israelis will live in a future Palestine.
Palestine Media Watch, an NGO that monitors statements made by Fatah and Hamas, reports that Fatah's main Facebook page openly declares Palestinian terrorists of the 60's to be Palestinian heroes of today.
The P.A has regularly supported the use of violence and of death through martyrdom as national ideals and the destiny of Palestinians.
Fatah on February 22nd wrote: "Good morning, Martyrs of Palestine, who are watering our roots with their blood, so that they will grow into a fruitful tree." They went on to praise the Palestinian "resolute mothers," who sacrifice their children for their people when they "give away what they hold most dear":
Fatah consistently justifies and honours all forms of Palestinian violence as resistance to the ‘Zionist gangs' who stole Palestinian territory to establish the State of Israel. They view all Zionists as legitimate targets with no differentiation between civilian and military. Whereas Israel is consistently condemned for ‘civilian' deaths, there is no commensurate consistent condemnation when Palestinians kill Jews.
As part of their continuing program of demonizing Jews, by labeling them as ‘Nazis', ‘colonizers' and ‘racists' and for being responsible for perpetrating the worst crimes against humanity, like ‘Apartheid' and ‘genocide', this message has recently morphed into Israel is ‘worse than Islamic State', ISIL, and that Israel, with the backing of the US, even controls ISIL.
Jews have learn't that when threats are made against Jews, it would be foolhardy not to take them seriously. While it would be too much to expect Muslim countries to curtail this anti-Semitic rhetoric, the Western world, by not condemning outright these egregious falsehoods, merely contribute to giving them credence and thereby inadvertently stoke the fires of extremism, racism and anti-Semitism.
Ben Levitas is Chairman of the SA Zionist Federation Cape Council.
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