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| R' Moshe Twersky - 1 of 5 people killed by terrorists in Jerusalem this morning |
The above narrative might as well have been written by the anti-Semites
at the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC).
Here is what they wrote on their Twitter feed:
Jerusalem police fatally shoot 2 after apparent synagogue attack
Oh… they are reporting the story more accurately on TV and on their website. But it doesn’t matter. Their anti-Semitic bias
has been exposed for the entire world to see.
This is no simple error. This is a deliberate attempt to paint
Israel in the most negative light. As a brutal occupier that kills innocent Palestinians for practically no reason at all. Just
to teach them who’s boss! A tweet like that sends this message exactly. And they
know it. It casts the Israeli police as virtual Nazis. Which according to them is what this Jewish nation
of occupiers has turned into.
Even Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas condemned it.
Not to mention Secretary of State John
Kerry who called it an act of pure terrorism. Hamas – as expected – has praised it. I guess
the CBC sympathizes more with Hamas than they do with even the PA!
They may eventually apologize for this tweet. Even profusely.
But again it doesn’t matter. Their bias has been exposed for the entire world
to see. They will never have - nor should they have - any credibility again on
any story coming out of Israel. In fact
I wouldn’t give them credibility on any story they report. It is one thing for personal
bias to enter ones reportage of a story. That is usually unintentional and can
be forgiven. But this was intentional and was done with the agenda of de-legitimizing
Israel.
You would think that rational and professional journalists
wouldn’t do things like that – despite their bias. There is little doubt in my
mind that the CBC didn’t know that a synagogue was attacked and blood was
spilled before the police showed up. But – again - it didn’t matter. They had
to skew the facts with a deliberate negative twist against the Jewish people on
the story.
Furthermore, I do not buy the distinction that is often made
between being anti Israel and anti-Semitic. It is true that the 2 can be
separated and one can criticize Israel without being an anti-Semite. But I
believe in most cases the motivation is anti-Semitic. The burden of proof that
someone who made critical comments against Israel is not anti-Semitic rests on
the person who made them.
Case in point. The Obama administration has been very
critical of Israel’s settlements policy. But they are clearly not anti-Semitic.
Their actions speak louder than their critical words. The enormous military and
intelligence cooperation between the 2 countries is unprecedented. Not to
mention the US funding of Iron Dome.
But when there is statement by a news organization like the
CBC made which is negative in its entirety without any reservation… such as their
tweet this morning on Twitter, that tells you what they really think.
I am thoroughly disgusted by these people. There is little
they could say or do now to dissuade me of the anti-Semitism that permeates their
thinking. Even if they got on their hands and knees and said ‘I’m sorry!’
I should add that the CBC is not the only major news organization
that expresses this kind of anti Israel bias. They are only the latest!
Now that I got that off my chest… I am still in state of
shock over what happened there. This butchery took place in a Shul in Har Nof,
an Orthodox section of Jerusalem. 4 religious Jews were attacked by 2
Palestinian terrorists and were killed while they were in the middle of prayer.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has already claimed
credit for it.
One of them, Rabbi Moshe Twersky was a Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi
Moshe Meiselman’s Yeshiva - Toras Moshe. He is a grandson of Rav
Soloveitchik!
A fifth victim died as a result of wounds received after arriving at the
scene. He was an Israeli police officer who responded to the attack. The 2
terrorists were killed in a shootout.
I have
relatives that live right in that area. Rav Moshe Sternbuch lives there. It could have been any one of them.
I don’t know how the
families of these four Jews can deal with what - so suddenly and so unexpectedly
- just happened to them. One moment their son/husband/father/grandfather is
alive in Shul where he Davens every day at that time. And the next thing you
know he is covered in blood lying dead on the floor.
I can’t begin to imagine the pain these families must be going
through. These people are not the extremist 'price tagger' types that live in remote areas of the West Bank. They are normal everyday people like you and me. Jews going about
their daily affairs. The thought of terrorism is the furthest thing from their
minds. They rarely if ever think about the conflict between Israel and the
Palestinians. For them it is a remote story happening somewhere on the West
Bank – a place where they never go. Har Nof is a peaceful place nowhere near
the West Bank. It is not the most likely target of a terrorist attack. I don’t
think Har Nof has ever experienced anything like this before.
It has been quite awhile since there has been anything like
this in Israel. Terrorism has been curbed by the extraordinary measures taken by
the Israeli government. Like building a protective wall of separation between
the West Bank and Israel proper. But nothing is foolproof. Aas we learned today.
The hard way, Rachmana Litzlan – may the Merciful One protect us.
I have no clue how Israel can protect itself from these
kinds of terrorists. Perhaps police or security guards should be placed at the
entrances of every single Shul in Israel when people are there. I don’t know.
What I do know is that there has to be something that can be done to stop it. Because
the people of Israel have the same right to live in peace and security as we in
America do.
