Ruth King
Israeli government representatives continually address Jewish groups. In an effort to enlist support, especially when the American State Department tightens the screws on Israel, they always present a shopping list of Arab violations of the Oslo and Hebron agreements. The violations are legion. They include outright lies followed by escalating demands, punctuated by stone throwing, riots, murder of settlers, and terrorism on the streets of Israel's cities. Following their account of these horrific events, Israel's ambassadors, consuls, members of Parliament, and party leaders insist that Israel is loyal to the spirit and purpose of the "peace process." It is a sick joke.
By continuing to confer legitimacy on Oslo and its subsequent surrenders, they perform an invaluable bit of propaganda for the PLO and all its terrorist thugs. In the same way that Israel legitimated Arab use of the words "Palestinian" and "occupied territory," it is institutionalizing a corrupt and perverse use of the words "peace and security" which are now codewords for Arab demands and Israeli concessions.
Once and for all, Jewish friends of Israel should aver what Knesset members and Christian friends have already stated. There is no peace process. It never was a peace process. It is a process that continues to weaken Israel and embolden Arab enemies.
If Shimon Peres and his minions could not bring themselves to confront this fact, at least Likud members should be asked to do so.
The Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora are dazzled by a vision of themselves as "a light unto the nations." This concept, which invokes national honor, a commitment to justice, unimpeachable morality, and courage, has been perverted to mean pacifism and self-abnegation. To be an exemplar, Jews have deluded themselves, is to be a pacifist and appeaser, to gratify one's enemies. And, in this, they have set a mean example for England.
When the euphoria over the "peace pact" hammered out by England and Ireland subsides, the devil will be in the details. Among the provisions agreed to by Tony Blair is the release of IRA terrorists from jail--a page copied straight out of Oslo. We have seen the repercussions of this policy in Israel, where dozens of terrorist outrages were committed by PLO thugs recently released from Israel's jails.
Unfortunately, Israel and its self-destructive
policies have become a "green light unto the nations of
barbarians and thugs." No civilized nation can survive by
appeasing murderers.
Indeed, as this issue of Outpost goes to press, Sinn Fein, the more radical element in the I.R.A., has voiced new doubts on ratification and success of the Ulster peace accords. This does not seem to deter Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair from convening talks to re-start the Oslo process. And, not surprisingly, Bibi Netanyahu, on the heels of releasing more terrorists from jail, has agreed to travel to London to jump-start the so called "peace process."
Do all those folks celebrating Israel's 50th see the irony in this? Great Britain, more than any nation tried to impede Israel's rebirth. Duplicity, anti-Semitism, and a murderous collaboration with Israel's Arab enemies were the hallmarks of England's role in Palestine, both before and after World War II. Now Tony Blair, who is by all accounts a "friend" of Israel, shows himself willing to assist in Israel's suicidal efforts. And, Israel's Prime Minister, flush with failure on every front, is abetting him.
Pope John recently released "We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah," which explicitly questions the role of the Vatican during the Holocaust. In language that is understandably guarded, the Vatican acknowledges a failure to rescue more Jews and confront anti-Semitism more strongly. Since Vatican statements influence teaching in all Catholic schools and universities, one might have expected a gracious response from most Jewish leaders, even as they seek to continue a dialogue and an examination of Vatican archives.
Instead, the Vatican statement was criticized as "disappointing" by some leaders for its failure to condemn Pope Pius XII and the church as an institution. Others,, such as Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, denounced it as an "apologia and a rationalization for Pope Pius during the war." Instead of welcoming the Pope's statement as an invitation to furthering interfaith relations, a gaggle of stuffed shirts is going to Rome to demand a meeting on the statement and an opening of Vatican files. Among these pompous, peripatetic "dialoguers" are so-called leaders who want to appear tough with the Vatican, but grow weak in the knees in the presence of Arab thugs. Indeed, many of them stand in line to shake hands with Arafat and his murderous minions, even as they denounce Christian fundamentalists who are Israel's most active supporters. The World Jewish Congress, which calls the Vatican statement "an act of selective memory," asks: "Did Christians give every possible assistance to those being persecuted, and in particular the persecuted Jews? The answer is that many did, but many did not."
(Continued on p.11)
Outpost - 10 - May 1998