We must not forget that all this wickedness came to the world due to the weakness and lack of firm resolve in the face of terrorism. The one who gave his “hand in peace” to the Moslem world was the President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Barack Hussein Obama.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
1.
How is Eretz Yisroel “the safest place in the world” when Jews are being murdered here and the ‘intifada of knives’ continues to run wild in the streets? This was the question discussed at a Chassidic farbrengen I participated in on a Shabbos afternoon a few weeks ago. There was a wide variety of answers, all trying to explain how “despite everything” and “nevertheless.” However, it turns out that the real answer is quite simple: If we look around us, we see that the number of casualties in other countries, regrettable as they are, is far greater than those suffered in Eretz Yisroel. One terror attack in France resulted in nearly one hundred and thirty dead! One Islamic radical bursts into a theatre and manages to murder ninety people in cold blood.
Terrorism continues to rampage through the cities of Eretz Yisroel while politicians clash with one another over the state budget. Yet, we can feel G-d’s Divine Kindnesses here, the great miracles He does for us on a daily basis. After two months of brutal terrorism, starting with the murderous attack that claimed the lives of Eitam and Na’ama Henkin, may G-d avenge their blood, His Divine Hand has protected us. With every hour of each passing day, we see the fulfillment of “If G-d will not guard a city, [its] watcher keeps his vigil in vain.” There are revealed miracles in the Land of Israel that we haven’t seemed to notice, e.g., terrorist attacks averted when a bus stop is suddenly empty just as the Arab with his explosives arrives at the scene.
True, the murder of every Jew pains us deeply and there can be no justification for the show of weakness by Mr. Netanyahu and his governing coalition against the growing wave of Islamic terror. However, in light of the fact that every Jew is an entire world, and the heart seethes and trembles with every act of murder, it is also forbidden for us to forget the miracles that G-d has already done for us. Yes, Eretz Yisroel is the safest place in the world, not just on a level of faith, but also based on the facts.
2.
A potential third world war has begun. This is the real headline that no one dares publish, even when millions of people find themselves in a state of hostilities. In practical terms, nearly half of the world’s population has been caught up by the current conflict. The residents of almost all the Arab nations are in the heart of the armed conflict, among them countries such as Iraq, Syria, and others that have been in a state of continuous war for years. Now, the people on the European continent are also suffering their own wounds.
This war might be part of the messianic prophecy as foretold in T’hillim, “Why have nations gathered?” as we see the nations of the world getting excited in the days leading up to the Redemption. However, it is impossible to remain apathetic in the face of the brutal carnage taking place for years just a few dozen miles from Eretz Yisroel’s northern border. There’s something of a delay in the signs of Redemption there, as women, children, and the elderly are being slaughtered.
But how exactly did this war begin? We must not forget that all this wickedness came to the world due to the weakness and lack of firm resolve in the face of terrorism. The one who gave his “hand in peace” to the Moslem world was the President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Barack Hussein Obama. He is the one who stood by during the revolution in Egypt, which signaled the end of the existing order in the Moslem world. The tens of thousands who gathered in Tahir Square in Cairo had received full backing for the resulting chaos and bedlam from Uncle Sam in Washington. Thus, instead of firm autocratic regimes, we got revolutionary democracy in the form of ISIS.
The conclusions of this war will undoubtedly be learned by future schoolchildren in their history classes. However, it is forbidden even now to obscure the message, that submitting to the terrorist threat is exactly what brought this frightful global conflict to our doorstep.
3.
There is also another conclusion to be drawn on why Islamic terror chooses again and again to strike at France: Which country over the years has given backing and refuge to the “Tunis gang”? The PLO terrorists received a warm and embracing sanctuary among their French comrades. Just recently, in light of the new wave of terror, France offered its assistance in supervising what is “being done between the two sides.” From France’s point of view, this has always been a legitimate dispute between two equal powers: those who initiate attacks and those who respond. They see the PLO terrorism as a justifiable uprising of “an oppressed people.” French tolerance and “open-mindedness” has been shown toward those who murder children and blow up buses, and not toward their victims. The terrorists are the ones who have received greater understanding among their French patrons. Merci beaucoup.
While there should be sympathy for the innocent victims of the Paris attacks, there’s no need to update our profile picture with Le Tricolore. We cry for the pain of the people of France, especially its Jewish citizens, but let the truth be said: A country that displayed such warmth for Islam, enabling terror cells to sprout within its midst, cannot come with complaints now for the resulting bloodshed, for those who show weakness to terrorism, the terrorism will pursue them unrelentingly.
Last week, the following announcement made the rounds in various media circles: As a result of recent events in Paris, the government of Israel calls upon the two sides to show restraint as a means of preventing an escalation of violence. The government of Israel also recommends that the French government unilaterally agree to divide the city of Paris into two districts, thereby enabling the respective sides to live in peace as good neighbors. The government of Israel has declared that while it absolutely does not justify any acts of violence, it does suggest that France look into the matter of discrimination against its Moslem minority, something that leads young and disenfranchised people to take drastic steps out of a sense of despair.
This would be funny if it weren’t so sad…