When terrorism is defeated, peace is possible
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Smoke trails are seen after rockets were launched from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, Nov. 18.
Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash 90/JTA
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November 21, 2012
The rockets are falling in Israel. Hundreds of thousands are in shelters and under siege. Israel has entered into a military operation to defend 4.5 million citizens — over half the population — who are under rocket fire from the Hamas terrorist organization.
The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ staunchly supports Israel’s right to defend her citizens and condemns such unprovoked violence. Since Nov. 10, nearly 600 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israeli civilian centers, in addition to the 1,200 rockets that have struck Israel since the beginning of this year.
And while Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, developed with the assistance of the United States, can intercept many of the rockets, it won’t prevent all from hitting their intended targets. As the days have progressed, hundreds of thousands have been listening for the blare of an alarm, signaling the need to take cover in shelters as far north as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. And sometimes, those warnings will only offer residents 15 seconds to run to safety. Fifteen seconds. In other words, roughly the time it takes you to finish reading this paragraph.
Israelis have been living in a state of terror. Can you imagine rockets being fired on New Jersey citizens from Manhattan?
No government should, or would, tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people — over one million — live under a constant threat of missile fire, including Israel. Just like any other country, Israel has the inalienable right —indeed the obligation — to defend its citizens from attack. Yet, inexplicably, some still question it.
This leads us to pose the following questions:
If Hamas has the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart, why do they engage in terrorism that is only counterproductive to peace?
Why smuggle thousands of rockets and missiles into Gaza, many of them made in Iran, and deliberately place them in civilian homes, schools, and hospitals, putting their own residents at risk?
And why, despite total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza seven years ago, does Hamas leadership remain focused on targeting innocent Israelis, instead of building a peaceful future for their own citizens?
The answer is simple. Hamas is a terrorist organization, dedicated to the goal of eliminating the Jewish state for the Jewish people.
It is for this reason that now, more than ever, we must all stand with Israel in support of the Israeli Defense Forces’ Operation Pillar of Defense, which is targeting the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza while seeking to minimize casualties among non-combatants.
We understand that although Israel employs extraordinary efforts to avoid civilian casualties, they occur despite Israel’s best efforts. Unlike Hamas and its brethren in Lebanon, Israel does not deliberately target civilians even when those civilians are cynically used as human shields. We profoundly regret the loss of life and injuries suffered by innocent civilians.
Ultimately, rocket fire from Gaza not only poses a threat to the safety of both peoples, it also makes it infinitely more difficult to move toward a just and lasting peace, a negotiated solution that will enable both Israelis and Palestinians to live safely side by side.
We hope and pray that Israel’s effort to stop the terror on its citizens will be successful and the world will follow the lead of the United States and recognize Israel’s right of self defense. When terror is defeated, peace becomes possible.
Comments
ROSENBERG
December 02, 2012
Sent: Sun, Dec 2, 2012 11:47 am
Subject: Fwd: RABBI ROSENBERG
>
Sent: Sun, Dec 2, 2012 11:14 am
Subject: Re: RABBI ROSENBERG
Seen this? Liberal Jews along with CNN should be ashamed.
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3476.htm
On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 11:12 AM, <chaimdov@aol.com> wrote:
:
Special Briefing on Incitement in the Palestinian Authority
(Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)
Pursuant to Abu Mazen’s incitement speech at the UN General Assembly, the Cabinet, today (Sunday, 2 December 2012), received a special briefing on incitement in the Palestinian Authority.
The briefing was presented by Strategic Affairs Ministry Director-General Yossi Kuperwasser, the coordinator of the professional team that is monitoring the issue and which is constantly updating the “Culture of Peace and Incitement Index in the Palestinian Authority” (please click here<http://www.pmo.gov.il/English/MediaCenter/Spokesman/Pages/spokehasata021212.aspx> for an English PowerPoint display).
In the period under review there was a negative record in expressions of hatred and incitement against Israel as seen in remarks by senior Palestinian Authority officials, on official websites, in the media and in the Palestinian Authority education system. Examples were shown – inter alia – of the use of Hitler’s ideas, the adoration of suicide terrorists, anti-Semitic caricatures, the complete ignoring of Israel on official maps, calls for a return to Jaffa and Haifa, etc.
Abu Mazen’s two recent UN speeches should be especially noted; they included expressions of severe incitement and have greatly contributed to the education towards hatred.
It was also noted in the briefing that the Palestinian education system has no plan whatsoever for encouraging coexistence and an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:
“This is additional proof that this is not a dispute over land but a denial of the existence of the State of Israel. Their unwillingness to accept a Jewish state in any borders whatsoever is the root of the conflict. When there is a map that shows Palestine over the entire area of Israel, there is a conflict here over the very existence of the State of Israel in all its territory. The Palestinian Authority is unwilling to move towards accepting the existence of the State of Israel. It is poisoning the Palestinian public.
The Palestinians want to use the diplomatic process in order to bring about the end of the State of Israel. Going to the UN is part of this. The Palestinian Authority is waging a struggle over the very existence of the State of Israel. While we are prepared to recognize them, they deny our existence. We would have long since reached a solution if they had wanted it.
As long as the Palestinian Authority educates the younger generation to hate, how is it at all possible to talk about peace?
They are raising the younger generation to hate. They are educating for the destruction of Israel. I do not see here any discourse for peace; there is no discourse that prepares the way for coexistence. The discourse is one of hatred and the destruction of the State of Israel.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu directed that the matter be brought to the attention of the countries who voted in favor of the Palestinian move, which contravenes all the agreements.
Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon said, “As long as the Palestinian Authority educates its people toward hatred, and non-recognition, of Israel, there will not be peace. They are sending deep messages and this education is being absorbed by all sections of the populace, especially the younger generation.” RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG , PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER ISRAEL ADVOCACY TASK FORCE