Cal Thomas: Teaching hate

  • By Cal Thomas
  • Monday, November 24, 2014 4:41pm
  • Opinion

“You’ve got to be taught to hate…” (Oscar Hammerstein, “South Pacific”)

The murder on Tuesday of five people and the serious wounding of several others while they were praying at a synagogue in Jerusalem is only the latest in a continuing pattern of violence and hatred directed against Israel and the Jewish people. It also replays a familiar scenario: terrorist act is followed by condemnation (though not as strong as when Israel is perceived to be responsible for Palestinian deaths), followed by threats of retaliation.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas associated himself with those condemning the synagogue murders, but given his past and recent statements his sincerity is about as credible as those in the Obama administration who claim never to have heard of Jonathan Gruber.

Abbas’ hands are stained with Israeli blood and cannot be washed away by statements of condemnation. He and his advisers and fellow ideologues are on record as advocating not the peace they claim to want when speaking to the West, but the complete eradication of Israel and elimination of every Jew from their prospective Palestinian state. This is an undeniable fact as even a cursory web search reveals.

In a recent speech, Yossi Kuperwasser, the director-general of Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry, charged that hateful beliefs against Israelis and Jews are ingrained in the Palestinian psyche from birth and include indoctrination by textbook, social media and cultural activities. He might have added religious mandate.

These anti-Semitic attacks were summarized by Kuperwasser: Jews are “descended (from) apes and pigs (and) Have no historical connection” to Jerusalem, are “defiling” the capital “with their presence,” and if Palestinians kill them the killers will “become a hero.” These, he said, are the core beliefs of the Palestinian “psychological infrastructure.”

Additional evidence — as if more were needed — of the attitude and intentions of some Palestinians and other radical Islamic groups and individuals toward Israel was underscored when a Palestinian university recently gave an award to the family of a Hamas terrorist who drove a car into a crowd of tourists in Jerusalem, injuring a couple and killing their three-month-old baby. The parents are American citizens, which in the eyes of Hamas probably amounted to a twofer: Jewish and American.

Following the synagogue murders, people in Gaza, an area controlled by Hamas but with ideological and religious ties to the Palestinian Authority, celebrated by parading in the streets and passed out candy.

Given the history, none of this should surprise. What should surprise, even outrage, is the continued U.S. foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority of $400 million annually. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has called for the complete defunding of aid to the PA over its alliance with Hamas.

Aid that amounts to perhaps greater value to the PA and Hamas is the continuing denial, dismissal and spin put on these horrific acts by the U.S. State Department. Following the earlier attack in Jerusalem that killed the baby, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Obama administration believes “every desire and intent” of the PA is to abide by its “commitment” to recognize Israel and renounce violence. She added the administration has no intention of cutting off aid to the PA.

Would someone please provide evidence that the PA is doing anything to end the incitement to violence other than issuing meaningless statements of condemnation? In fact, the PA appears to promote violence and American aid is helping to subsidize it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises a “heavy hand” response to the synagogue murders. And so the cycle continues and won’t stop until the West, particularly the United States, recognizes what our and Israel’s enemies have declared: that this is a religious war which no “infidel” diplomat is going to end. Only victory will end it, or at least contain it. The Islamists are fighting to win. We aren’t.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribune.com.

More in Opinion

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during an April 27 news conference at the Alaska State Capitol in which options for a long-range fiscal plan were discussed. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Alaska’s rudderless fiscal ship

The Alaska Permanent Fund dividend Alaskans are set to receive is again… Continue reading

Heidi Drygas, executive director of the 8,000-member Alaska State Employees Association, addresses a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol on Feb. 10, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
Let’s stop the ‘Neglect. Panic. Repeat.’ cycle of public service delivery

The payroll section is one of several state agencies in crisis

This photo shows Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jim Cockrell. (Courtesy photo / Office of Gov. Mike Dunleavy)
Strengthening Alaska through service: Join the Alaska State Troopers

The law enforcement positions within the Department of Public Safety fill a critical need within our community

A tabletop voting booth is seen next to a ballot box at the Kenai city clerk’s office on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Opinion: Last call to voice your vote!

We will see you at the polls Oct. 3

LaDawn Druce asks Sen. Jesse Bjorkman a question during a town hall event on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Addressing Kenai Peninsula’s education and public safety employee shortage

Many of our best and brightest educators take a hard and close look at the teacher’s retirement system in Alaska early in their careers and are stunned

Deven Mitchell, executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Providing for generations of Alaskans

As a public endowment, the wealth of the Fund is the responsibility of every resident of the state

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney greet each other outside the chamber at the U.S. Capitol on April 5, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP file photo)
Opinion: Alaska’s senators and Mitt Romney

When newly elected Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, began his term five years… Continue reading

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building.
Opinion: UAA offers affordable and convenient pathways that prepare students for the next step

At UAA, we provide numerous academic programs designed to meet specific workforce needs

A line of voters runs out the door of the Diamond Ridge Voting Precinct at the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. Chamber Executive Director Brad Anderson said he had never seen the amount of people coming through the polling place. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
How many ways can you vote?

Multiple ballot options available to voters

scales of justice (File photo)
Opinion: The Dubious Dunleavy Deal to use public dollars for personal legal costs

In 2019, these regulation changes were ultimately abandoned without public notice

A 2022 voter information pamphlet rests on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Where to find voter pamphlets

Be educated about what you are voting on