Sunday, May 04, 2025

High Time for the Doubters to Come Aboard

Palestinian terrorist in training (Mishpacha)
This one was too close for comfort. The Jerusalem Post reported a deeply disturbing incident that occurred this morning:

"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?