Why terrorism is not only an Israeli problem
By Neville Berman
In 1929, Hassan al Banna, founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He stated the following:
“Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader, the Quran is our law. Jihad is our way.”
He also stated:
“The nature of Islam is to dominate, and not to be dominated, to impose its laws on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.”
The aims expressed above encompass exactly what Iran, Hamas, and every other Islamic terrorist group are aiming for. The millions of human rights activists in the West, should study the above quotations. It just might shock them out of their thoughts of appeasing the Islamists in order to achieve a utopian la- la- land that they think is just around the corner. The Islamic concept of Jihad is not just against Jews, it is against anyone who does not believe in Islam as the true religion. The West has graciously welcomed millions of Muslims as new immigrants. There is no reverse immigration going the other way. Some of the hundreds of thousands of the Muslims that live in the West, are abusing the freedom and rights that exist in the countries that have accepted them. They are using the western liberal culture of free speech, freedom of religion and the right to protest, to bring about chaos. Their aim is to destroy the very fabric of Western liberal culture, and replace it with an Islamic culture of subjugation. Social media has allowed uneducated and uninformed individuals to spread hatred to millions. The irony of the situation is that the LGBTQ community and women who believe passionately in women’s rights, have come out strongly in favor of Hamas. Unless they have a collective suicide wish, they have absolutely no idea about what they are supporting. It is time for people in the West to wake up to reality.
A few years ago, I was watching the France 24 TV channel late at night. An interview with a retired senior member of the French Secret Service took place. In answer to a question about terrorism, he openly stated that France had entered into an understanding with Arafat prior to his passing in 2004, that terrorism in France needed to stop, and in return France would support the Palestinian cause. A few months following the France 24 interview, there were terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels that killed several civilians. The High Representative of the Foreign affairs of the European Union, Frederica Mogherini appeared on TV to answer questions. She was distressed and soon burst into tears while being filmed. In a moment of exceptional candidness, she let the cat out of the bag by stating that “this is not supposed to happen here.” Typically indifferent when Israelis are killed by terrorists, Europe was shocked to discover that they too were not immune to jihadist terrorism.
Speaking in Jordan’s capital Amman, she cut short a news conference, fighting back tears.
The Palestinians have never accepted that Jews have a valid claim to any part of the land of Israel. They deny the Holocaust and deny over three thousand years of Jewish existence and history in any part of Israel. They claim every inch of Israel as Palestinian land. Despite these absurd claims, the Palestinians have huge support from the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab League. The Palestinians are without doubt the world’s most special people.
The Palestinians have perfected the art of portraying themselves as victims. They have refused offer after offer of a Palestinian State living alongside Israel in peace. They have always blamed Israel for all the problems that their own leadership has created. The Palestinians have no intellectual property and no oil. They don’t even have a currency of their own. They exist on charity. The world has poured billions of dollars into the bottomless pit of Palestinian aspirations to destroy Israel. While the Palestinians suffer poverty and despair, their leaders have become extremely rich from ripping off their own society, and stealing a chunk of the humanitarian aid that continues to pour in. No matter how large the deficit of most European countries is, they always seem to find money for the Palestinians. Not even the atrocities committed on October 7, 2023 can get the world to stop supporting the Palestinians. One can rightly ask why are the Palestinians so special?
The answer can be found in plain old-fashioned antisemitism. The world just cannot accept that Jews now control the biblical land of Israel. It goes against two thousand years of Christian blood libels and lies, and against the Islamic aim of subjugating and imposing Sharia law across the world.
October 7, 2023 changed Israel. What followed was a real wake-up call to every Jew in the world. The double standards and antisemitism in the world were totally exposed. The initial pain and shock of the barbarity of the attackers and their celebration and filming of their own atrocities was quickly forgotten by the world. The poisonous venom of pent-up antisemitism suddenly burst forth once again, and flowed freely through university campuses, and through towns and cities across the world. In an instant, Israelis realized that the time had come to put aside their differences and defend Israel. When Russia attacked Ukraine, the Ukrainian government passed laws that prevented young male adults from leaving Ukraine. In Israel, the opposite happened. Israelis reserve soldiers living overseas or on holiday quickly returned to rejoin their army units and defend Israel. EL AL organized special free flights for soldiers lining up to return to Israel. The number of Israelis joining the army exceeded the call-up requirements of the IDF. Hundreds of voluntary organizations were formed to help wherever help was needed. Israelis were stunned by what had happened, but quickly rose up in a unified response. Everyone wanted to do their share of what needed to be done.
Instead of the world condemning Hamas, the world demanded an immediate ceasefire, and started condemning Israel for defending itself. TV channels the world over had an agenda aimed at demonizing and delegitimizing Israel. Not matter what Israel did, it was judged to be using disproportionate force, of breaking international rules of warfare, of committing crimes against humanity, and finally the worst crime of all, namely genocide. The actual heinous crimes of Hamas were ignored, and Israel was accused of the very crimes that Hamas had committed. The sickening response in social media, the liberal press and TV stations, is one of the low points in the history of news reporting. The suffering of the Palestinians was highlighted in every newspaper and TV report. The plight of the hostages did not concern any of the human rights organizations of the world. Women’s rights organizations were totally silent to the rapes and utter barbarity that took place on October 7. The Red Cross not only refused to carry out their mandate to visit the hostages, they even refused to transfer medications given to them by Israel that were desperately needed by some of the hostages. What a disgrace.
Over 120 countries have recognized the State of Palestine. Not one of these countries wants to accept anyone from Gaza. What they want is to support Hamas so that Hamas will remain in control of Gaza and will attack Israel again and again. This is not going to happen. Israel will remain resolute in its beliefs, narrative and traditions and will not allow Hamas to remain in control of Gaza or any other territory. Hamas has acted beyond all accepted human behavior and has scored an own goal of historic proportions. It has eliminated the possibility of ever being a peace partner.
Since 1979, the Iranian regime has promoted the slogans, Death to America and Death to Israel. The Mullahs of Iran mean exactly what they say. Iran is behind the funding, training and provision of military equipment to Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq, and the Houthis. The aim of Iran is crystal clear. It is to promote a Muslim Caliphate across the Middle East and to subjugate the world to Sharia law. The destruction of Israel is central to this plan. Instead of condemning this plan to eliminate a member country of the UN, the UN is actively supporting this idea. October 7, 2023 was one of the darkest days for Israel since the holocaust. The war, started by Hamas, quickly grew into a regional war. Initially President Biden supported Israel, but he soon switched his foot from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal. Antony Blinken, the American Secretary of State, will be remembered, if he is remembered at all, as a total disaster in the Middle East. He personified American weakness, and used his position to prevent Israel from ever being able to win the war. Biden’s warning to Hezbollah and Iran of “DON’T” was completely ignored. Biden and Blinken were not up to the task required. So here we are, more than 500 days later with Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas. Hamas and Hezbollah still exist, but their ability to attack Israel has been greatly reduced and their leadership has been decimated.
The big change is that since January 20th, there is a new sheriff in town. All the hostages have a better chance of being released under Trump, than they ever did under Biden. Israel has a green light to do what needs to be done to end this ridiculous war. It seems likely that history will repeat itself. Those that attempt to destroy Israel, will inevitably be the ones to be destroyed. The only way that this war will end is if the Mullahs of Iran are removed from power. A prerequisite to the start of any reconstruction of Gaza is the return of all the hostages and the end of the rule of Hamas.
Israel has shown incredible resilience. The courage of the nation augurs well for the future. The next generation of Israeli leaders will come from the heroes that defended the country in the war that started on October 7. Those that were killed or injured will never be forgotten. What has happened will inspire future generations of Jews. The State of Israel is not utopia, but we will continue to be a light unto the world. With the help of the Almighty, Israel will prosper and survive until the end of days.
About the writer:
Accountant Neville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award. In 1978 he immigrated to the USA to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel. He is married with two children and one granddaughter.
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Excellent article saying it exactly as it is and always has been. The evil of radical Islam and its fanaticism needs to be seen for what it is – and eradicated from this earth.