5 minute read
Opinion
They really do want to kill us
OPINION PIECE BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN Over tisha b’av and in the following days we were witness to rocket fire from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, (which is backed by Iran) sending over 600 rockets into Israel with the express intention of killing Jews. Since the rockets were sent indiscriminately, we can only assume that if any of the victims turned out not to be Jewish, well that wouldn’t really matter.
It turns out that many of the victims of the rockets did in fact turn out not to be Jewish; many Palestinians including children were killed as a consequence of some rockets falling short and exploding in Gaza civilian areas.
Of course, there was no international outrage about these avoidable deaths. There has also been precious little coming from the communal organisations other than the usual requests for world peace. What is of note is that those people who have recently been writing to the press about youth groups staying over the Green Line have been absolutely silent on this issue. The Jewish News reported that:
The United Jewish Israel Appeal, (UJIA), has confirmed it is investigating how participants on a Birthright tour and Federation of Zionist Youth (FZY) trip were booked into overnight accommodation in a West Bank settlement.
A letter circulated last week expressing anger at the arrangements was signed by dozens of youth movement leaders, who said the decision to put groups in settlements “not only upends our nuanced education about Israel and the conflict, but ultimately forces us to be complicit in a system we fundamentally disagree with.”
I haven’t seen a letter from ‘dozens of youth movement leaders’ condemning any attacks from Gaza, nothing about Israeli civilians being targeted by indiscriminate rocket fire and certainly nothing about Palestinian terrorists being responsible for the deaths of Palestinian children. So much for a ‘nuanced education about Israel and the conflict.’ I have no idea what youth movement leaders want, but it is clear that words like ‘objective’ and ‘balance’ have no place in their vocabulary. Meanwhile the leaders of our community stand by and say nothing about the letter, the imbalance and what amounts to the indoctrination of our youth.
This is exacerbated by the fact that these youth movement leaders are wilfully missing the violent reality. This is that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority hate Jews and want to see them driven from the land of Israel or murdered. Such is their desire to kill us that a few dead Palestinian children are simply justifiable collateral damage.
Only they are not justifiable collateral damage. There can be no justification for these deaths. Gold Meir famously said: “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” It is absolutely clear that this day has not yet come. What has come and what is needed is for all of us to recognise this. Letters whingeing about accommodation over the Green Line are a dangerous distraction because they fail to address the key issue which is our enemies really do want to kill us. No amount of naïve posturing is going to change that.
The challenge for the communal leadership now is whether or not they are prepared to push back against the nonsense of the issue of accommodation over the Green Line and face the murderous reality. The writing on the wall though suggests that their blinkered faint-hearted approach is here to stay. Those of us who see the truth of the situation are just going to have work harder.
Robert Festenstein is a practising solicitor and has been the principal of his Salford based firm for over 20 years. He has fought BDS motions to the Court of Appeal and is President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester which serves to protect and defend the democratic State of Israel.
WHAT IS AN ISRAEL BOND?
Advertisement
An Israel bond is a loan you can make to the State of Israel.
Israel uses the loaned money to help strengthen almost every part of its modern, innovative and diverse economy.
Israel
By buying an Israel Bond, you are making a direct investment in the State of Israel. Your investment benefits the State of Israel. In return for the loan, the State of Israel agrees to pay interest to you, the bondholder, and repay the loan at the end of its term.
You can redeem
You can reinvest Israel Bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the State of Israel, which has always made capital and interest payments since the first Israel Bond was sold in 1951. Past performance is not an indicator of future results. Israel bonds are not tradeable and must be held to maturity.
ISRAEL BONDS ARE FIXED AT: 4.20%
2-year GBP Jubilee bond £1,000 min.
3.90%
3-year USD Jubilee bond US $25,000 min.
4.18%
5-year GBP eMazel Tov bond £36 min.
Buy Online:
https://online.israelbondsintl.com
Rates as posted valid to 14 Sept. 2022. eMazel Tov rate valid to 30 Sept. 2022. Subject to conditions.
infoEN@israelbondsintl.com 020 3936 2712
Development Company for Israel (International) Ltd. Your capital may be at risk.
This advertisement has been issued by the Development Company for Israel (International) Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and registered in England No. 01415853. This is not an offering, which could only be made by prospectus. Your capital is at risk, the rules under FSMA for the protection of retail clients do not apply. An investment in any of these bonds will not be covered by the provisions of the Financial Services Compensation scheme, nor by any similar scheme. Israel bonds are intended as a long-term investment as they are not listed or admitted to dealing on any recognised investment or stock exchange nor is there any established secondary market, as a consequence Israel bonds are not readily realisable before their maturity date. DCI (International) Ltd is not the issuer of these bonds, they are issued by the State of Israel. 08-22
