Today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has taken a high-minded, utterly rational, and insanely expensive full-page ad in the New York Times and in the International Herald Tribune in which it denounces “Suicide Terror.” It calls upon the “world to act” against the “plague” of such attacks which have “murdered thousands of innocents,” and it displays the photo of the late Benazir Bhutto, whose claim to innocence has been widely disputed but whose assassination, in my opinion, was utterly tragic.
The ad is bravely naive. For example, it calls upon the United Nations General Assembly to hold a “special session to deal exclusively with the scourge of suicide terror.”
Why do I think this will not happen, that the United Tyrannies will convene 100 sessions to condemn Israel and the so-called Israeli Lobby before they dare focus upon suicide terror which is viewed as an only-fair Third World option? Given that the West has superior weaponry, the willingness to die in order to kill and terrorize is presumably the only affordable choice for a country whose poverty is allegedly due to Western colonialism, etc. The fact that most of the victims of suicide terror are other Third World people is an inconvenient fact that even the West dares not mention.
C’mon: Terrorist fiends routinely blow civilians up–then send another crew to blow up the mourners at the funeral afterwards. Although suicide terrorists have perfected this Dark Art mainly against Israel (and in Sri Lanka), the truth is that suicide killers mainly terrorize Third World civilian populations. Why would anyone think that most Third World UN diplomats who comprise the General Assembly really give a good goddamn about their own civilians? Most are loyal only to the tyrants who have appointed them and who hold their families hostage–and to their own families and clans.
The Wiesenthal ad also suggests that “suicide bombings should be designated Crimes Against Humanity.” I could not agree more–but the UN may sooner choose to stop the repeated public gang-rapes of women and children in Sudan, Kenya, and Congo before it will actually designate Suicide Terror as a universal crime. After all, the United Nuts (and their Western supporters) do not believe in universal human rights; over there, everything is culturally relative, although all things are equal. Barbarism=Civilization and anyone who challenges this is obviously a “racist” and a “Zionist.”
The ad further calls upon “Religious leaders to act. They can no longer ignore the fact that most suicide terrorists are believers.” Ah–what religion remains unnamed here and why? It must be Buddhism yes? Did the New York Times refuse to name Islam? Did the Weisenthal Center believe it would betray its own ethic of religious tolerance were it to name Islam?
Finally, we are all asked to sign a petition “urging the UN to take action against suicide terror.” You may sign the petition at www.wiesenthal.com.
Folks: Despite all my reservations (see above), I strongly recommend that you sign this petition. Let us be the wind beneath the sails of this noble sentiment. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I am not surprised that a Jewish group has launched this campaign. For some time now, it has been clear to me that what happens to Jews happens to all humanity; however, Jews have a long tradition, not only of pleading their own case but of pleading humanity’s case. The Wiesenthal Center knows what a Holocaust is and can do and, given the horrors of terrorism and the possibility of nuclear terrorism, is now pleading humanity’s case.
That’s what Jews do, some say it’s why we’re still here after so many thousands of years.
UPDATE ON THE PETITION: The Center has informed me that as of early this morning, they had already received “a couple of thousand signatures from over 60 countries, including Afghanistan, Thailand, Bahrain, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Australia.” They are expecting many more signatures. Stay tuned right here for updates.
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9 Comments
1. J. K. Gayle:Thanks for this. I appreciate your reservations, but even more your encouragement and call to action.
(By the way, the link & URL should be http://www.wiesenthal.com.)
Jan 4, 2008 - 12:25 pm 2. greenconsciousness:I am signing the petition and posting it on my blog. The Simon Weisenthal Center is the antidote to the Shame Center in Jerusalem. This educational support of human dignity and civil behavior is the ethical way to spend donated money.
Jan 4, 2008 - 12:49 pm 3. Ritchie Emmons:I disagree in that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The UN perpetuates atrocities against humanity (either directly or indirectly). The more support the UN gets, the longer it will exist and the more people will suffer horribly. I cannot in good conscience do anything that supports the UN in any way. You’re heart is definitely in the right place. In my opinion though, the UN is not a good avenue to pursue such a noble endeavor.
Jan 4, 2008 - 1:02 pm 4. George Jochnowitz:Sri Lanka, like Israel, has been the victim of suicide bombings. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
If there were a powerful Israel Lobby, President Bush would have encouraged Israel to destroy Hezbollah in 2006. Instead, he teamed up with Chirac, then president of France, to pass a Security Council Resolution calling upon Israel to abandon its attempt to overthrow Nasrallah and defeat Hezbollah.
Israel is a small, unimportant country. Nevertheless, it is the most hated country on earth.
Jan 4, 2008 - 1:16 pm 5. Bruce:A great post, drawing attention to an important initiative. I agree that the UN is essentially a failed institution, but I can’t see how prodding it can hurt. Defunding it would probably be better, though.
Jan 4, 2008 - 4:34 pm 6. David Thomson:The well meaning Simon Wiesenthal Center is wasting everybody’s time. It may even be causing more harm than good. There is simply no sense fooling with the United Nations. This feckless organization should normally be ignored. The Simon Wiesenthal Center should instead enunciate certain principles to guide voters throughout the Western world. But it is probably terrified of doing so. This is because much of the time the voter will be compelled to support right of center political candidates. Many Jews regretfully embrace the bizarre notion that “the enemy is always to the right.” It is existentially discombobulating to recognize the danger of leftist politicians.
Jan 4, 2008 - 7:21 pm 7. Norman Simms:We live in a crazy Alice-in-Wonderland-World where all values are inside out, upside down and backwards, and only a few, more often Jews than not–but alas, also not completely all the Jews–can still see and hear the truth and recognize the lies and distortions.
What can we do, other than sign petitions, attend rallies, write letters, or cry into each other’s arms? I think we need to keep in touch, support young people who seem open to learning history and its lessons, and be prepared to act if and when the time ever comes.
Norman
Jan 5, 2008 - 9:23 pm 8. Fern Sidman:It is clear that the credo of the UN is predicated upon rabid Jew hatred, and I fear that even hundreds of thousands of signatures on this petition will have nothing more than a benign effect, especially considering the source that it is emanating from.
Having said that, Dr. Chesler makes a cogent and historically accurate point when she says, “For some time now, it has been clear to me that what happens to Jews happens to all humanity; however, Jews have a long tradition, not only of pleading their own case but of pleading humanity’s case.”
History has proven that what happens to Jews eventually effects of all of humanity (a trickle down effect) and Jews have traditionally upheld the scared concept of ‘Tikkun Olam’, (healing or repairing the world). Quite literally, Jews can be found living on the four corners of the globe, in such countries and places that no one would ever believe a Jew would inhabit. This is no small coincidence. Jews are situated in such obscure places for the express purpose of aiding all humanity, irrespective of national, cultural and religious differences.
It is because of this that the Wiesenthal Center has embarked on this campaign and I applaud their tireless work on behalf of all humanity; for their foresight and wisdom when it comes to sounding an alarm to the very imminent threat of Islamo-Fascism reaching out its tentacles and making its way to our shores.
Moreover, while I recoil in horror when I think about what the UN has come to represent, I think a petition of this kind should be supported and signed, not only by Jews but by all members of the human race who care about the survival of western civilization as we know it. For in the end, we will be judged for our “hishtadlus”, our efforts to preserve the sanctity of human life in the face of global adversity.
One other comment. Prof. Jochnowitz says, “Israel is a small, unimportant country. Nevertheless, it is the most hated country on earth.” Quite true, however Israel is the most hated country on earth precisely because it is a Jewish state, inhabited by Jews, whose national anthem speaks of the hope of Jews to return from exile after 2000 years. Jews are hated precisely because they were the first witnesses to G-d, and because the world knows that the redemption of all humanity comes from this small, unimportant country.
Jan 6, 2008 - 1:25 am 9. Sonia:To Fern Sidman
Your comment is awesome – truly.
The world is indeed very upside down and keeping ourselves upright in its midst – keeping our heads when so many do not appear minimally to be using theirs is a challenge.
I believe the underpinning of the world is spiritual and that political machinations too often serve to obfuscate this. This is seen in the absurdity of those lost to politics in the very place on earth in which Jewish spiritual identity together with Torah as our inheritance are placed on a trading bloc! By whom and for what purpose? Such actors on stages with no light are not Israel. How indeed have they come in their worship of gods with feet of clay to dare negotiate the land of Israel as if its their personal dominion?
As a light unto the nations darkness seeks to overwhelm. Answers to an upside down world are surely within our reach!
May those who work to generate our light through good deeds, observance of Torah and learning, the good souls who exist to share of this well-spring be ever blessed.
Leadership such as Phyllis Chesler’ and yours – shine light where it needs to be and in its way more powerful than any head of state as they come and go. It is the commitment to truth which nurtures and connects us to who we are and what we have to do to repair the world in order to bring it upright and into rightful place.
Jan 9, 2008 - 5:50 am