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The murderous attacks by Hamas of Israeli citizens this weekend constituted a tragic horrific first-time event in Israel’s history. The Jewish State had suffered massive losses of lives in past wars, most notably the Yom Kippur War of 1973, which was also an unanticipated attack. The losses in that war, however, were overwhelmingly combatants. Unarmed Israeli civilians, for the most part, never found themselves in harm’s way. The Yom Kippur War, from an historical perspective, can best be compared to the destruction of the American Pacific fleet and the loss of 3,000 lives at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, where the losses of lives were primarily not civilians.
In truth, an apposite comparison may be made between the Hamas uncivilized murders, kidnappings, and misogynistic brutality towards women this past weekend and the destruction of the World Trade Center and the slaughter of those present on September 11, 2001. I had a unique perspective on these events.
I was in Israel on September 11, 2001, the day of New Jersey’s 9-11, and in New Jersey this past weekend for Israel’s 9-11. The juxtaposition has been on my mind all weekend.
On September 11, 2001, I was participating in a mission to Israel sponsored by the Metro-West Jewish Federation, the purpose of which was to comfort Israeli victims of terrorism. By the end of the day, the Israelis were comforting us. And we received the news after lunch at the Eruz Crossing in Northern Gaza, the same location where Hamas launched its invasion this past weekend.
The truth must be told about Hamas and the Israeli “occupation.” Hamas is not an heroic revolutionary organization fighting for freedom. It is instead a Nazi-like collection of inhumane brutal lowlifes whose charter, as noted by the famed columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, is an incitement to genocide of the people of Israel. And the spiritual ancestral godfather of Hamas is the late Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the leader of the Palestinian Arabs prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948. He was an ally of Nazi Germany who was feted by Adolf Hitler in Berlin in 1941.
I am well aware of the claims of Palestinian Arab nationalism. My honor’s undergraduate thesis in political science at Northwestern was on the development of Palestinian Arab nationalism. Assisting me on the study was Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, then the leading Palestinian Arab academic in America.
Accordingly, I understand Palestinian Arab nationalism, but I do not sympathize with it. Prior to the June, 1967 war, the Palestinian Arabs were the majority in Jordan and Gaza, living under the rule of their fellow Arabs, the Hashemite King Hussein and Egypt’s Nasser, respectively. They never in those years sought a separate Palestinian Arab state. Instead, the then Palestinian Arab terrorists, the fedayeen launched murderous raids against Israeli civilians.
This eventually resulted in the June, 1967 Egyptian act of war, the blockade of Israel in the Gulf of Akaba, and the Jordanian attack on Israel that same month. The Israelis defended themselves, counter-attacked and won, gaining control of the West Bank and Gaza in a war which the Palestinian Arabs instigated and the Egyptians and Jordan started.
The loss of a war by aggressors is a misfortune, but not a moral argument. The conflict persists because of the refusal of the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza to recognize the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state.
From the time of the Hamas invasion this past weekend, I had no doubt that this was done under the assistance and management of Iran. Last night, the Wall Street Journal confirmed this.
President Biden is a friend of Israel and will fulfill his pledge of assistance. The refusal of Secretary of State Tony Blinken to recognize the role of Iran in this slaughter of Israeli civilians is most disturbing.
Tony Blinken is a devotee of the failed Barack Obama/John Kerry School of Appeasement of Iran. The Clintons, Bill and Hillary do recognize the Iranian danger. They should advise Biden to remove and replace Blinken post-haste.
None of the $6 billion being held in escrow in Qatar should be released to Iran. Money is fungible, and although the six billion ostensibly is to be utilized only for humanitarian purposes, the release of these monies to Iran will enable the totalitarian Iranian regime to utilize other funds in their treasury for terrorism assistance.
I have problems with both American political parties on Israel. More on this in a future column.
Alan J. Steinberg of Highland Park served as regional administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush and as executive director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
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