JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

01/08/09 10:17 AM

Where was the Vatican moral outrage three years ago,when Hamas began firing missiles from Gaza into southern Israel?

Where is the Vatican criticism of Egypt’s tight closure of its border with Gaza? (Nevernind that Egypt has not been the target of Hamas missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.)

Nobody can dispute that providence continues to deal the Palestinians one bad hand after another.  But until Palestinian leaders stop pretending that none of it is their fault, they will continue to deprive future generations of the same sort of life every Israeli wishes for his or her own children.

The Vatican’s tacit approval of violence directed at Israel is one more brick in the wall that separates truth from reality.

01/08/09 06:59 PM

Cardinal Martino’s one-sided remarks about Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip show that the Catholic Church, like most of the world, has no understand of the psychology of fear under which the Isrealis live, every moment of every day.  Bombs are constantly launched into Israel’s south, but have the capacity to go much farther.  Buses are bomed and many Israelis are killed or wounded.  Palestinian workers in Israel commandeer construction tractors and use them to destroy Israeli property.  How long should Israel have waited to take steps to stop the bombs coming out of Gaza?  Having showed restraint in past similar incidents, the result was that the Palestinians regrouped and continued their efforts with renewed strength. 

Is the loss of life disproportionate to the number of Israelis injured or killed by the recent bombs?  Yes, because the Palestinians locate their rocket launchers in areas populated by civilians, and use those civilians as pawns, throwing the disproportionate casualties in Israel’s face.

Israel was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust, and Israel’s population was increased over the years by Jews from Europe and North Africa, who fled persecution in their homelands.  Jews are still suffering persecution in some countries.  Israel has lived under a state of war since before the War of Independence in 1948, and it is still the fervent goal of nearly the entire Islamic world, to kill every Jew they can and drive the rest into the sea. 

Rather than criticize Israel for the force of the incursion into Gaza, Israel should be praised for its efforts to insure that its people can live reasonably safe from harm.  Not until the Arab world accepts Israel’s right to exist, and not until the Arab Governments step up and rein in the terrorist groups, Israel must continue its current policy and defend itself, regardless what the rest of the world feels or thinks.