LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, And Tlaib Are Enemies Of Humanity

I went to the synagogue last Friday night to dance with the Torah and celebrate Shmini Atzeret, the last day of the fall Jewish holidays. My wife and I were overjoyed from experiencing the Chagim in Israel. We had prayed, sang and danced in the synagogue on Rosh HaShanah, davened fervently for a healthy and peaceful year on Yom Kippur, gone on family tiyulim (day trips), and spent long hours with children and grandchildren in our children’s Succah. On Shabbat morning, reality and the vicissitudes of life struck home. We were awakened at 6:30 a.m. by sirens signaling a rocket attack on Rehovot. Little did we know that by nightfall on that day, life in Israel would be changed for the foreseeable future.

Today, three days later, we are still in shock as the news of the massacre of children, women, the elderly, and civilians of many nationalities continues to filter down. More than 1200 Israeli dead and more than 2600 wounded. The great majority of the casualties are civilians. Two hundred and sixty bodies of teenagers celebrating a rave party were found in the hills and forests near the Gaza border. They were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists who rode among the fleeing partygoers in tenders and on motorcycles gleefully mowing them down. Pictures of civilian hostages abducted at gunpoint are proudly released by these butchers. There is no shame as they reveal children under 10 and teenage captives forced to don Islamic prayer dress. It is painful to view these scenes. Anger, outrage and demoralization are emoted by all who witness the cruelty of these Hamas barbarians. Nevertheless, a more appropriate response is to bring each and every one of these killers to justice and to dismantle Hamas.

Western democratic societies generally are liberal in their approach to oppressed minorities. The academic world, in which I spent more than 50 years, strongly advocates for equality and what is termed “affirmative action.” Theoretically, it is difficult to argue against equality. Reality, however, shows that equality must be weighed against the forces of good and evil. On August 15, 2005, 8000 Jews living in 21 communities were forcibly evacuated from the Gaza strip. This unilateral disengagement from the Gaza strip was predicated on three postulates: 1) That the security situation for the Jews of Gaza would improve if they were inside Israel proper. 2) That the Arabs might be able to demonstrate that they could live next to a Jewish State in peace. 3) That the free world would see that Israel made great sacrifices for peace. In a debate in my synagogue, I was asked to argue for disengagement. I read position papers of the pro-disengagement camp and bought their argument. This was not a popular position to take in a modern orthodox congregation. Time has proven me to be wrong. There is evil in the world and its name is Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, and Tlaib.

The security of the Jews of southern Israel and indeed of the central plains (The Shfela) did not improve. In a lighting civil war after a “free election,” Hamas took over the rule of the Strip. Quickly enforcing martial law and Islamic values, their goal was to drive the Jews out of Israel from the “River to the Sea.” Almost immediately, the Hamas terrorist hordes and their Islamic Jihad buddies began shooting rockets at Israel. Since 2006, tens of thousands of rockets of increasing sophistication, accuracy, and range have been fired toward Israel from Gaza. Property damage and human casualties grew yearly until the current atrocities resulted in the massacre of an obscene number of non-combatants. That these subhuman savages are supported by Jihadists is not surprising, but that they are legitimized by Rashid Tlaib is indefensible and points to the corruption of Tlaib and the need to replace her in Congress.

Although Israel did gain some credibility as a peace-seeker, the media, many European countries, and the great majority of the Third World continue to equivocate in judging responsibility for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel is still regarded as an occupier of the Gaza strip despite the nearly 20-year rule of Hamas. Members of the EU and the UN support the Palestinian concept of the Right of Return, which de facto would destroy the Jewish character of Israel. UNRWA has perpetuated this myth and promotes the teaching of hatred towards Israelis in its schools. Moreover, the Palestinian leadership both of Hamas and of the Palestinian Authority have argued vehemently that there will not be one Jew in any future Palestinian State - it will be judenrein. Thus, Palestinian leadership such as Arafat, Abbas, Haniyeh, Sinwar, and yes, even Rashid Tlaib, have never and still do not accept the legitimacy of a Jewish State in the land of Israel.

Will the current massacre of the children of the rave change the EU’s and the world’s views? Time will tell. But I doubt it. It is clear that Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib sees the action of Hamas as a rightful response of the “oppressed” Palestinians. This sick position poignantly exposes the inability of even an American-born and educated Palestinian to think objectively about this issue. It is the final nail in the coffin of equivocation. Good must prevail over evil and with G-d’s help it will.

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Bio – Dr. Fred Naider is a recent Oleh to Israel and was a Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the City University of New York. He lives in Rehovot and has two grandsons in the IDF.