Tag: civilian deaths

Anti-Zionism Is Deadlier Than Antisemitism
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Anti-Zionism Is Deadlier Than Antisemitism

Some say that anti-Zionism isn’t tantamount to antisemitism. If so, it’s worse. Antisemitism always stings, but in the West today, it usually doesn’t wound. The same can’t be said of anti-Zionism.Antisemitism in America has consisted mostly of small things: exclusion from country clubs, restrictive covenants on housing, quotas in college admissions, casual slights and insults. Since World War II, the same has been true, if a little worse, in the rest of the West. America and Europe have seen horrible moments of violence, such as at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 or the Toulouse shootings in France in 2012, as well as instances of intimidation, vandalism and assault. But these have mostly been isolated incidents.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cb...
There’s Life Yet in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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There’s Life Yet in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The United Nations General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1948, without a single dissenting vote (although Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the Soviet bloc countries abstained). Today that remarkable consensus, achieved in the wake of two world wars and unspeakable atrocities, is falling apart. Hope for global consensus on anything seems remote. But is it really the case that consensus on the relatively small set of fundamental principles in the Universal Declaration can’t be reinvigorated? The history of the declaration suggests three reasons why the effort is worthwhile. And a promising development, as yet little noticed in the West, indicates there may be a fourth. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5...
From Which River to Which Sea?
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From Which River to Which Sea?

When college students who sympathize with Palestinians chant “From the river to the sea,” do they know what they’re talking about? I hired a survey firm to poll 250 students from a variety of backgrounds across the U.S. Most said they supported the chant, some enthusiastically so (32.8%) and others to a lesser extent (53.2%). But only 47% of the students who embrace the slogan were able to name the river and the sea. Some of the alternative answers were the Nile and the Euphrates, the Caribbean, the Dead Sea (which is a lake) and the Atlantic. Less than a quarter of these students knew who Yasser Arafat was (12 of them, or more than 10%, thought he was the first prime minister of Israel). Asked in what decade Israelis and Palestinians had signed the Oslo Accords, more than a quarter of th...
Israel Faces Pressure to Yield to the ‘Terrorist Veto’
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Israel Faces Pressure to Yield to the ‘Terrorist Veto’

There is a tension between Israel’s two objectives of eliminating Hamas as a political and military force and recovering the innocent civilians kidnapped on Oct. 7. Weighing these competing priorities, Israel decided to pause its anti-Hamas military campaign in exchange for the return of some hostages. This policy’s wisdom is debatable.A greater hazard, however, imperils Israel’s legitimate right to self-defense. I call it the “terrorist veto,” and with every passing day, Israel’s chances of escaping it diminish, notwithstanding Friday’s resumption of hostilities. For many people, the not-so-hidden goal of the hostage negotiations is to focus international attention—and emotions—on pausing hostilities indefinitely and tying Israel’s hands militarily. Whether labeled a pause, truce or ceas...
The Real Reason Iran Hates Israel
World

The Real Reason Iran Hates Israel

The Gaza War has led to another debate about what motivates Iran’s ruling elite. Washington has proffered primarily one realist theme: The mullahs wanted to disrupt the diplomacy aimed at Israeli-Saudi normalization, so they helped Hamas unleash a war to awaken the Arab street. Confronted with popular anger, the Arab potentates, they thought, would retreat.But this ignores a fundamental motivation of Iran’s theocracy: anti-Semitism. At least three generations of radical Iranian clerics have viewed Israel as illegitimate, usurping sacred Islamic lands in the name of a pernicious ideology advanced by history’s most devilish and stubborn people. Using the language of French Marxism, they call Israel a Western “colonial-settler state,” and they believe Jews guide American imperialism in the M...
Hamas Holds Everyone Hostage – WSJ
World

Hamas Holds Everyone Hostage – WSJ

The civilized world is rejoicing at the release of hostages by Hamas, especially the sight of young children reunited with parents after seven weeks of hell. But that relief shouldn’t blind us to the way the jihadists are manipulating human sentiment to achieve their terrorist aims. The killers are releasing a dozen or so hostages each day in return for three times the number of Palestinians released by Israel. Hamas snatched innocent Israelis and others in a deliberate act of terror. The released Palestinians were arrested or convicted of crimes under the law. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The United Nations’ Treatment of Israel Is Shameful
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The United Nations’ Treatment of Israel Is Shameful

The United Nations is suffering from acute moral failure and can’t fulfill its core mission. Israel joined the U.N. in 1949. Universal humanitarian values, civil liberties, the rule of law and political accountability have always been the foundations of Israeli society. We adhere fully to the U.N. charter, which mandates that members maintain international peace and security, uphold international law, achieve higher standards of living for their citizens, and promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, gender, language or religion.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The Hostage Deal Means Israel Is Fighting the Clock
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The Hostage Deal Means Israel Is Fighting the Clock

With a four-day cease-fire reportedly going into effect Friday, time isn’t on Israel’s side in its war with Hamas in Gaza. Israel already faces challenges unprecedented in the history of war. A terrorist enemy dedicated to its destruction holds hundreds of hostages in a complex tunnel network and uses civilians as human shields. Israeli society, already riven by political infighting, is traumatized by Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault and divided over how to handle the hostage crisis. Further cease-fires mean the recovery of more hostages, but this will slow and eventually halt Israel’s effort to break Hamas’s control over Gaza. That would be a strategic defeat for both Israel and the U.S.Israel needs time to root out Hamas. But the longer the war goes on, the likelier it is to spiral into a regiona...
Uncivil Servants: Foreign Policy Bureaucrats Target Israel
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Uncivil Servants: Foreign Policy Bureaucrats Target Israel

The Biden administration faces a wave of internal dissent against its support of Israel. On Nov. 14, more than 500 staff members and political appointees from about 40 government agencies sent a joint letter to President Biden criticizing his administration’s policy on the Gaza war, according to the New York Times.It was the latest of several protest letters. The Times reported that the administration has received similar messages, including three internal memos addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a letter “signed” by more than 1,000 employees of the Agency for International Development. The State Department requires that employees sign their names to dissent cables, but the other two letters have no signatures. The Times reported that these government employees wrote anony...