Avigdor Lieberman
Photo: Irena Etinger
Silence of the hypocrites
Leftists, Arab MKs quick to condemn IDF but say nothing about Hamas killings
As of late, radical Islam has threatened to disrupt the Mideastern order and impose a new reality unseen in this region before. The dangerous Iranian radicalization is already touching against Israel's northern and southern borders. Sheikh Ra'ed Salah and the Islamic Movement's northern branch are threatening us domestically. We have Hizbullah in the north, Hamas in the south, and in Egypt too radical Islam is attempting to threaten and undermine stability through the Muslim Brothers group.
Yet even the latest incidents did not cause us to sober up and did not lead the Left and Arab Knesset members to admit the error of their ways.
The Israeli Left and Arab Knesset members are enlightened and humane people. They are quick to cry out in the face of any injustice. In the course of the ongoing, Sisyphean and bloody war against Islamic terrorists raging in our region, there were cases where Palestinians used as cover by murderers have been hurt by mistake. Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On and Ahmed Tibi were quick to storm the nearest microphones in order to condemn the act, resorted to harsh, impassioned criticism of IDF commanders and fighters, and threatened to submit High Court petitions and turn to local and international human rights groups.
A blatant example of this is the nutty establishment of a commission of inquiry to look into the targeted killing of a top Hamas terrorist, the "saintly" Salah Shahada.
As it turns out now, their conscience is selective, just like their memory. More than 300 people have been recently killed in Gaza and Lebanon. In Gaza we witnessed a massacre, executions, cold-blooded daytime murders on the street, lynching against a backdrop of cheering masses, and horrendous acts of abuse one cannot find in any horror film.
However, it appears that the blood of these victims is not as red, and the reason is that those who are killing them, slitting their throats and abusing them are their Muslim brothers. Heaven forbid we criticize the barbaric butchers. It is easier to criticize those who fail to offer assistance than it is to slam Hamas, which is committing the crimes. As usual, we are being condemned, for not treating gunshot victims.
Tibi seeks new master
At the Nahr al-Barad refugee camp in southern Lebanon we see Fatah al-Islam fighting the Lebanese army and have witnessed firing at the heart of residential areas, including with tanks and artillery.Yet Gal-On is saying nothing. Where has her loud self-righteousness disappeared? Tibi is rolling his eyes, which are wide shut, to heavens. Knesset Member Ibrahim Sarsur is not making a sound. Nobody is saying a word. Once in a while they beat their chest, mutter something, and move on. They, just like their colleagues at the Arab Israeli Supreme Monitoring Committee, have disappeared and fallen silent.
This hypocritical monastery of silence knows how to roll its eyes and cry out under the patronage of the High Court only when it comes to criticizing the IDF and the State. It's convenient, easy, and not threatening. Who needs to get tangled up by criticizing Hamas and Hizbullah? They can just continue to butcher and massacre.
Which one of those enlightened humanists would dare speak out against the cruel dictator Bashar Assad? Certainly not the bold and sharp-tongued Ahmed Tibi.
Ten days ago, an exiled Syrian opposition leader who has issued courageous and scathing criticism against Assad's regime of oppression, Farid al-Ghadry, visited the Knesset. Ghadry called on Israel not to hand over the Golan Heights to the Syrian dictator. Knesset Member Tibi chased him through the Knesset's corridors and yelled at him, with great courage one must say, "Traitor…you should be ashamed of yourself…"
After serving as Arafat's poodle, Tibi is looking for a new master. Bashar Assad is certainly an option.
"Your destroyers and those who laid you waste will originate from you," said the prophet. Even the High court argued in the past that a democracy must not permit its tolerance to be used to eliminate it, and must not to accept that rights it grants will be used for self-destruction.
We must not resign ourselves to the attempts to erode us from the inside, and we can only wonder over the hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness displayed by the Left and Arab Knesset members.
