I held off on writing an article about Paris until now. The wounds are too deep and people are still trying to comprehend what exactly took place. This is France’s 9/11, or damn close to it.
As a blogger in the Pro-Israel community, its easy to get caught up in the “This happens in Israel 24/7/365.” Its a false narrative to say that the Prime Minister of France laughed at Prime Minister Netanyahu during his UN speech. Its also unfair. The political arena is not real life and although the political decisions do affect the general public, the general public’s feelings don’t always reflect the political reality.
The reality is as follows: Hundreds, if not thousands, of families worldwide have been affected by the hatred of Militant Islam. Yes, I can say the words that President Obama can’t. This is Militant Islam. This is a war against the West. They struck the United States on September 11, 2011 because they don’t like our “involvement” in “their” affairs. They struck Paris because of France’s involvement in destroying ISIS. At the time of writing this piece, an ambulance in Germany was discovered filled with explosives next to a soccer stadium. I’ll give you all one guess who did that.
At the same time, there are now 15 states in the United States that have essentially closed their borders to refugees from Syria and the larger Middle East. The liberal left has started the onslaught of calls of racism and xenophobia. Apparently the well being of citizens of the United States comes second to those of Syria and Afghanistan. I’ve even seen the correlation made between the current situation in the Middle East and World War II, when many countries wouldn’t open their borders to Jews escaping persecution. This ploy is emotional. While there are similarities, Nazis weren’t trying to leave Germany. Jews were. Jews were being killed by the Nazis. On the other hand, there is hard, empirical evidence that ISIS fighters have left the Middle East and are settling in countries like Germany and have passed through countries like Greece and Macedonia, like one of the terrorists that perpetrated one of the attacks in France.
While I sit in New York, which I consider safe, I have family members worldwide. Scariest of all is my own brother in Tel Aviv, who, during Operation Protective Edge, sent our family pictures on WhatsApp of the Iron Dome streaks in the sky. I have family in Norway who have told my mom that Muslims are becoming increasingly violent in their cities. My family in England isn’t fairing much better. My aunt and cousins in Greece look over their shoulders as well. Note that this doesn’t include my wife, who is so concerned about the violence that when she heard about Paris, almost burst into tears, not because of the people there (even though she was certainly empathetic) but because she realizes the reality that not just her, but our daughters, in Jewish schools, are in highly targeted areas.
When the school sent home a letter that the girls are being taught to recognize strangers and dangerous situations and that security has been increased to keep the kids safe, we realized we are not in a safe world.
France did not deserve a terrorist attack. Kenya did not deserve a terrorist attack. Nor does Israel, the United States, Australia, the list goes on and on. Militant Islam/ISIS/ISIL/Boko Haram/Hamas/Hezbollah/al Qaeda are cut from the same cloth. Please don’t mix my words either. I didn’t say Islam. I said Militant Islam. The problem is, nowadays, you don’t hear about Militant Christians, Militant Jews, Militant Buddhists. The Militant Islamists have made it VERY clear, don’t get in their way. They produce videos to encourage the attacking of Jews with knives and cars in Israel. Send rockets from the Gaza Strip. Rape and murder in Europe. Destroy in India. Attack in Australia.
A question remains: Where do we go from here?
We can’t know. We can all be vigilant. As they say in New York is: if you see something, say something. Teach your kids to be careful. On this, the terrorists win. They have taken away the sanctity of security. Maybe we could, however, take a page from the Israeli population: Live Life. While remaining vigilant, we must continue going to school, shop, see movies, go to houses of worship, if you’re so inclined.
Furthermore, start recognizing the capable from the incapable. Start supporting those who are doing the right thing, no matter how unpopular it may be. Support Israel, because they are fighting the same fight as the United States. Vote for those who will keep us safe.