Israel-Palestinians: Some Contrasts

 This article first appeared in Times of Israel Blogs.

On Saturday night, a 15-year-old male of Tunisian origin attacked a 50-year-old Orthodox Jew on the streets of Zurich leaving him in critical condition. During and immediately after the act, the young suspect reportedly yelled, “Allahu Akhbar,” claimed to be affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Brigades, stated he was a Muslim, and that it was his duty to take action. He also reportedly stated, “Death to all Jews.”

This incident is, of course, anecdotal, but incidents like this are happening on a persistent basis, especially after October 7, but for many years and decades prior to the Hamas attack as well. It is just one of countless Muslim attacks on Jews related to the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

Meanwhile, violent anti-Israel demonstrations have broken out all over America. New York City cops constantly have their hands full battling pro-Palestinian protesters on the streets. On our college campuses, pro-Hamas demonstrations have become even more disruptive than usual. The fear level for our Jewish students has risen to even new heights.

These are well-known facts, as are the facts surrounding the October 7 attacks, the atrocities, and the inhuman treatment of innocent hostages still languishing in Gaza. There is no need for me to go over them again. However, there are a number of contrasts I would like to point out to those observers who can’t make up their minds (for some bizarre reason or another) about which side is righteous and which side is evil.

First of all, with few if any exceptions, while pro-Israel demonstrations are uniformly peaceful and non-disruptive, pro-Palestinian demonstrations tend to be the opposite and frequently erupt into violence as in New York City most recently.

Secondly, pro-Israel demonstrations always feature both Israeli and American flags. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations hardly ever feature any American flags, just Palestinian flags and occasionally flags from some other Muslim nation.

Thirdly, on our college campuses, anti-Israel events are rarely if ever disrupted, while pro-Israel events are routinely disrupted. I know this from personal experience having attended or witnessed countless events on both sides.

In addition, ask yourselves how many incidents are we witnessing in Europe and North America where Jews are attacking innocent Muslims on our streets? As illustrated in the latest attack in Zurich, we can spend all day listing Muslim attacks upon Jews in the West.

Finally, how many rabbis are calling for death to Muslims and/or Palestinians in the synagogues? Contrast that with the number of imams calling for death to Jews in their Friday sermons. I don’t say that this is true of all imams, but far too many.

If you ask yourselves these questions and answer them honestly, it is quite hard to come up with any conclusion other than Israel is on the right side of this conflict.

This is not to suggest that the Palestinian people do not have any valid arguments in the conflict. I don’t pretend to be an expert when it comes to Israel and its history. I have never been to Israel. However, whatever support or sympathy I may have ever felt for Palestinians was lost as a young man when I witnessed the skyjackings of the 1960s, the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of the Israeli team, the 1985 Achille Lauro incident, and so on. In short, this has been going on ever since.

I take no pleasure in seeing the images coming out of Gaza and the deaths of innocent women and children. I pray for the safe return of the hostages and the safety of the Israeli soldiers. But Hamas must be destroyed even assuming it will return in some form or another in the coming years. Those animals who carried out October 7 must be brought to justice one way or another.