Palestinian terrorist in training (Mishpacha) |
"Three people were mildly wounded on Sunday as a result of a Houthi missile that crashed in the area of Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 3, Israel's emergency service Magen David Adom said.
MDA medics and paramedics provided medical treatment to a 50-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman who were lightly wounded due to the blast, and a 32-year-old woman who was wounded on the way to the shelter…
The access road to Terminal 3 suffered damage as a result of the crash…
Army Radio noted that the missile was not intercepted, though several attempts were made to do so."
This attack was dangerously close and a sobering reminder of
the threats we continue to face. The Houthi rebels, like many other radical
groups, share the same genocidal ideology that animates much of Palestinian
extremism. Their goal regarding the Jewish people aligns disturbingly with that
of Nazi Germany: they want us dead. They view Jews as evil and believe
exterminating us would serve the world.
Thankfully, Israel currently enjoys U.S. support from a
president willing to employ military force against groups like the Houthis if
they attempt to intimidate the world into abandoning Israel. I expect Prime
Minister Netanyahu to respond decisively, ideally in a way that will degrade
their capability to strike again - at least in the short term. But true
resolution will only come when Iran, the main supplier of arms and support to
these groups, is stopped.
As I have said numerous times, I no longer harbor any
illusions about the possibility of making peace with the Palestinian
leadership. Any faction of it. I say this again now, in light of Jonathan
Rosenblum’s recent Mishpacha column. He outlines, with precision, why I
believe peace is not attainable under the current conditions. The core issue is
this: Palestinians (all of them - not just the ones in Gaza), the majority of whom are devout Muslims, are
indoctrinated from a young age to see killing Jews as a religious obligation.
Groups like Hamas are not fringe extremists in their eyes; they are widely
regarded as legitimate agents of Divine will.
Anyone who follows Palestinian education and media - even at
a basic level - can no longer dismiss this as right-wing paranoia. The
indoctrination is real, and it starts early. It is rooted in both the religious
and political culture. This has been the case since the first Zionist Jew set
foot in the Holy Land.
Don’t just take my word for it. I want to quote extensively
from Rosenblum’s column, which draws on hard facts and testimonies:
“Grim Lessons from Phase One of the Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal,” the Hoover Institute’s Peter Berkowitz discusses a new book by Eyal Tsir-Cohen, a former member of Israel’s negotiating team with Hamas: The Untold Story: How We Lost in the Negotiations Despite the Military Victory in Gaza. Among the key mistakes made by Israeli planners, according to Tsir-Cohen, was the assumption that as the fighting intensified, a rift would develop between Hamas and the general Gazan population.
That never happened to any great degree, and for one simple reason: Israeli planners and negotiators failed “to appreciate how thoroughly Hamas’s jihadi spirit is woven into the fabric of Palestinian society and how tightly bound it is to Gazans’ identity.” Referring to Hamas’s ability to recruit new young Gazans to replace fighters killed by Israel, Tsir-Cohen concluded, “There is truly no bottom to the barrel of terrorism.”
This realization should shock no one. Consider this chilling exchange, recorded by Palestinian Media Watch, between a terrorist and his family during the October 7 attacks:
Terrorist son: "Hi, Dad. I’m talking to you from [Kibbutz] Mefalsim. Open my WhatsApp and see all the people I killed. Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!"
Father: "Allahu Akbar! May Allah protect you."
Terrorist: "Dad, I killed her and her husband. With my own hands—I killed ten!"
Mother: "I wish I was with you."
Terrorist: "Mom, your son is a hero. Kill, kill, kill! Kill them!"
Brother: "You killed ten?"
Terrorist: "Yes. I killed ten. By Allah."
Anyone who believes this is an isolated case should read the
rest of Rosenblum’s column. He presents irrefutable evidence that this type of
conversation is not an outlier. It’s representative of a widespread culture of
martyrdom, jihad, and Jew-hatred.
It is indeed impossible to destroy Hamas if the
broader Palestinian culture continues to view them as heroes and religious
warriors. The ideology of Hamas is not separate from the Palestinian
populace. It is embedded within it. The difference between Hamas fighters and ‘innocent’
civilians is not one of belief, but merely of role. Many who are not currently
fighting still support the ideology and even glorify the deaths of their own
children when it serves the cause of jihad.
To be absolutely clear, I am not calling for the
extermination of Palestinian civilians. But I also do not mourn for those who
die while pursuing what they believe is a religious mandate to kill Jews. This
is their declared purpose. Why should I feel sorry for someone who raises their
children to see murdering Jews as the highest form of religious service?
Would anyone feel pity for a Nazi sympathizer who died in a
bombing raid during World War II? Sympathy must have limits, especially when it
is extended to those who, whether actively or passively, support genocidal
ideologies.
Jonathan Rosenblum ends his column with a stark truth:
“The constant reiteration of these messages in every class from first grade through high school hardly sounds like a ‘peace curriculum,’ nor does it augur well for the prospects of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, in this generation or the coming one.”
Need I say more?