Mumbai and the Jewish 'Peace Camp'

Rachel Neuwirth
The Mumbai massacre offers yet another reminder that Jewish "peaceniks," despite all their moralistic and idealistic blather, have hearts of stone. All too many self-described 'progressive' Jews seem to have a fanatical hatred for Jews in the Land of Israel , simply because they happen to reside on the wrong side of an arbitrary political dividing line. Even now they are ignoring the Jewish victims of radical Islamist mass murderers in Mumbai.

Friends of Israel should learn that the so-called 'peace camp' are really wolves in sheep's clothing as they work constantly to undermine the security of Israel, America's only true ally in the Middle East.

www.peacenow.org is a vociferous voice among those advocating the forcible expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Jews [1] from their homes inside the historic Jewish heartland. Their response is emblematic of the Jewish 'peace camp.' They manufacture counterfeit moral credentials and exploit their origins in order to influence U.S. foreign policy against Israel.Peacenow.org was notably slow to even mention the Mumbai massacre. Even its meager acknowledgment [2] of it was placed in the 7th position from the top, well below their primary news items which were mainly focused on attacking Jews whom they denigrate with their hostile term "settlers".

Their web site showed one lit candle with an associated article that began with the following two quotes:

1) "APN (i.e. Americans for Peace Now) sends condolences to the people of India , and to the families of Israeli, American and other nationals who were murdered by terrorists in Mumbai." This single sentence was the entire response of peacenow.org to the atrocity.

2) "Former senior Mossad analyst Yossie Alper offers a commentary on the lessons that Israel can learn from the Mumbai attacks." In this article Alper talks mostly logistics, population comparisons, coast lines, politics, history, security, etc. without naming a single victim.

The single sentence response of peacenow.org appeared well after other outlets had provided in depth coverage of the facts, the implications and the human face of the story peacenow.org offered only the single word "condolences" for all the victims as if their reservoir of compassion had been totally depleted and they were slowto even offer that crumb of sympathy. It seems as if something inside these people gags at any genuine show of compassion for Jewish victims.

Peacenow.org found plenty of words with which to attack and dehumanize Jews. In extensive articles, which preceded their scant mention of Mumbai, they denigrated Jewish men women and children with terms like "illegal settlers", " Hebron squatters" and "Settler violence". This is the same political tactic long used by Nazi, Communist and Islamist propagandists to first deny the humanity of their intended victims in preparation for their persecution or worse. The Israeli "peace camp" also employed this tactic in first dehumanizing the Jewish residents of Gaza leading up to their brutal expulsion.

Peacenow.org decided that the following information, which was carried by both Jewish and non-Jewish media throughout the world, was not worth mentioning on their site. None of the readily available names or photos of the Jewish victims was posted or even mentioned by peacenow.org. This organizations' board of directors includes many with Jewish surnames and even a few rabbis. But authentic Jews always recognize the humanity of the dead by at least remembering their names. It is typical of the 'peaceniks,' however, to erase from memory and from history those whom they target or just don't care about. This amounts to a sort of execution by silence. Peacenow.org chose the anti Judaic path of erasing even the memory of the dead victims.There was no mention that Chabad Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were horribly tortured [3] prior to being executed. It made no mention of the extreme heroism of the Indian Nanny Sandra Samuel who risked her life to save two year old Moshe who, according to reports, also showed signs of being beaten. It did not mention of any others who were slaughtered because they were Jewish. There was no mention of the name Chabad and their humanitarian outreach to all Jews, and to Gentiles as well, lest Chabad receive any recognition for their good deeds.

The "peace camp" also evinces a deep hostility to Jews of strong religious faith as well as to religious Christians, whom they often unfairly accuse of being "racist" and "opposed to peace." It makes no sense at all from a "progressive" point of view to denigrate peaceful Jews and Christians engaged in humanitarian and charitable work, while winking at the cruelty of the radical Islamist militants. No mention that the terrorists were radical Islamists who had specifically targeted Chabad House to kill Jews who were not "settlers" living in the so-called "occupied territories" [4]. They prefer to ignore the reality that radical Islamist terrorists regard all Jews as targets [5] no matter where they live or what they believe.

Other web sites responded with appeals for funds to assist the orphans from at least two families and to rebuild the damaged Chabad House in Mumbai. Peace now is always collecting funds for theirpolitical activities but they offered no charity for Jews in need. The Jewish term for charity is 'tzedaka' but that word is missing from the vocabulary of the 'peace camp.' There was not one word of personal sadness or remorse for the loss of the Jewish kedoshim (saintly people) of Mumbai from a single member of the leadership of peacenow.org. Israel treats captured terrorists far better than peacenow.org has treated the memory of these Jewish victims.

Bertram Cohen Contributed to this articlePlease,

www.MiddleEastSolutions.org

Foot Notes:

1] Judenrein Palestine? http://hnn.us/roundup/comments/2940.html

2] http://peacenow.org/updates.asp?rid=0&cid=5620

3] Doctors: Terrorist Torture of Jewish Victims 'Beyond Words' http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128629

4] The "Occupied Territories" http://www.michnews.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/211/5472

5] The Jihadi as Nazi, from 9/11 to Mumbai http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1042960.html

Also, read recent court rulings: Peace now Pays Up -- http://blog.camera.org/archives/2008/12/peace_now_pays_up_1.html