Should we really be surprised the International Olympic
Committee didn’t see fit to hold a moment of silence for the 11
Israeli athletes and coaches murdered by Palestinian terrorists
during the 1972 Munich Olympics at the now completed London
games?
I will remember the 2012 Olympics for two things. I will
remember them for Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated
athlete in Olympic history. I will also remember them because the
Lebanese judo team
refused to train in the same room with their Israeli
counterparts. Olympic officials, who would not be moved to hold a
moment’s silence for athletes, moved heaven and earth to aid and
abet anti-Semitism by placing a screen in the room so the Lebanese
team would not be blinded by gazing at the Jews. As Mark Steyn
noted it was a case of “taking the Jew out of judo.” All good
humor aside, the truth of the matter is that most of the
Arab/Muslim bloc is delighted that Jews were slaughtered forty
years ago and would have been delighted had it happened again in
London.
This delight extends to Muslim countries that have been at peace
with Israel. Although it is feared that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood
will sooner or later tear up the Camp David Accords, the fact is
that the peace has long been a cold one and most Egyptians despise
the Jewish state and those that comprise its majority. Last month,
an Egyptian TV program played a practical
joke on several of that country’s prominent actors. Each of the
actors was in a TV studio doing an interview. When the actors were
told the TV station was Israeli they reacted violently by throwing
things about the studio and assaulting the actors they now thought
were Jewish until they were told otherwise. The international
community demands Israel make peace with the Arab/Muslim world. Yet
after 35 years of peace, Egyptians still can’t be in the same room
with a Jew without being moved to violence. The Camp David Accords
aren’t worth the paper on which they are written. The same could be
said for the Oslo Accords.
What do Jews have to do to change the hearts and minds of the
Arab/Muslim world? Save their lives? Well, when I heard about the
massive earthquake in Iran last week, the first thing that came to
mind was when the Iranian regime
refused Israeli aid following an earthquake in Bam in December
2003 which claimed more than 25,000 lives. Apparently, Iran’s
regime would rather its own people die than have their lives be
saved by Jews. Of course, this occurred before the current
Ahmadinejad regime came to power. So one needn’t imagine what
Iran’s response would be if Israel were to offer help now.
Of course, not every one rejects help from Israel. It was
recently
revealed that the brother-in-law of Gaza Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh received life saving heart surgery at an Israeli hospital a
few months ago. Has Haniyeh has shown any gratitude? Not on your
life. Haniyeh and Hamas continue to call for Israel’s destruction
and blame it for the murder of 16 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai
earlier this month even though all evidence suggests it is Hamas
that is responsible.
Yet one need not be the brother-in-law of the Palestinian Prime
Minister in Gaza to be treated in an Israeli hospital. In a
spectator.org article last week, P. David Hornik noted that
over 100,000 Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank were
treated in Israeli hospitals in 2010. One woman from Gaza who was
treated for burn injuries at an Israeli hospital planned to show
her appreciation by setting off a suicide bomb in the hospital in
the hope of killing as many Jews as possible. Hornik commented,
“Though admittedly an extreme case, it would be nice to think this
large number of Palestinians’ benefiting from Israeli medicine
would have a conciliatory effect.” Alas, even the high quality of
Israeli medicine isn’t strong enough to heal Arab/Muslim hatred of
Jews.
The fact of the matter is that there is nothing Jews, be they in
Israel or anywhere else, can do about Arab/Muslim hatred and all
the peace agreements in the world can’t change that fact. The only
people who can stop Arab/Muslim hatred of Jews are the Arab/Muslim
world. It is up to the Arab/Muslim world to be willing to be in the
same room with Jews without erecting a screen. It is up to the
Arab/Muslim world to be willing to be in the same room with Jews
without resorting to violence. It is up to the Arab/Muslim world to
be willing to accept help from Jews when they offer it. It is up to
the Arab/Muslim world to show gratitude when they receive such
help. In order for this to happen there would need to be quite a
few brave Arabs/Muslims willing to speak up. When I say brave I
truly mean it. Because if a Sunni Muslim in Egypt, a Shiite Muslim
in Iran, or a Christian in Lebanon says that the time has come to
stop Jew hatred, then those people have signed their death warrant.
Yet if there is to be a true peace between Jews and Arabs/Muslims
this is exactly what must happen. But I have no illusions this will
come to pass in my lifetime. So while the Arab/Muslim world
continues to call for Israel’s destruction, the world will continue
to say it is up to the Jews.
