The Jewish People Will Prevail
by Michael Freund
The Jerusalem Post, March 6, 2002

This past weekend, Palestinian terrorists succeeded in murdering 22
Israelis over a 24-hour period. The devastating toll in human lives, 
which included several young children killed in Jerusalem by a suicide 
bomber, as well as 10 soldiers and civilians who were shot to death by 
a Palestinian sniper near Ofra, has left the nation shaken and in despair.
To lose so many people, so quickly and so brutally, is a grave blow, one
which only adds to our sense of vulnerability and gloom. 

            As if to further deepen our anguish, Palestinian terrorists
struck again on Tuesday, killing three people in the heart of Tel Aviv,
blowing up a bus in Afula and murdering an Israeli motorist on the road
near Efrat. And according to the security services, there is still more to
come.

            Holed up in Ramallah, Yasser Arafat no doubt follows the news
with a sense of delight. His minions of death have sowed destruction and
terror, wreaking havoc on the lives of innocent Jews and their families
and making a mockery of Ariel Sharon's campaign promises of peace and
security. 

            And while Arafat is busy plotting the next round of
atrocities, Israel's leadership continues to argue among itself, unable to
present a united front even as the bullets whiz overhead and the bombs
detonate all around.

Typically, at times such as these, a nation looks to its leaders, grasping
to understand not only why this is happening, but perhaps more
importantly, how to stop it. We do not expect them to have all the
answers, but we certainly expect them to offer us some kind of
encouragement, a few words of wisdom that will reassure us regarding the
future. 

            Sadly, it seems that Israel's politicians are incapable of
fulfilling even this most rudimentary of tasks.

            Take Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, the mastermind of Oslo. At
the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Peres stood his ground, insisting
that Israel continue talking with the leadership of the Palestinian
Authority (PA) despite the mounting death-toll from terror. "We must give
hope to the 3.5 million Palestinians", Peres reportedly said.

            To which I can not help but respond: And what about giving
some hope to the 5 million Israeli Jews, Mr. Peres? Isn't it time we start
worrying a little more about ourselves and a little less about our
neighbors' hopes and aspirations?

            Even more troubling is the response of prominent politicians
such as Meretz MK Yossi Sarid, who almost instinctively invoke the "blame
it on the Jews" theory whenever a Palestinian terror attack occurs. 

Here is what Mr. Sarid told Yediot Aharonot (March 4) after the weekend
attacks in Jerusalem and Ofra: "So long as the occupation continues, the
terror will continue. There is no nation in the world that, through
capitulation, will accept upon itself foreign rule. The Palestinians are
no different in this regard". Not a word of condemnation for the murder of
Jewish children, nor even an expression of criticism. Indeed, it almost
sounds as if Sarid were trying to justify the Palestinian resort to
terror.

            Needless to say, remarks such as these only serve to
strengthen the resolve of Arafat and his gang, who see how easy it is to
provoke discord among Israel's leadership. Since once of Arafat's aims is
to break Israel's will and bring the country to its knees, he no doubt
views such declarations as signs that he is nearing his goal.  

But what Arafat and his henchmen fail to realize is that while they may
succeed in killing a lot of people and confusing some of our politicians,
they will never succeed in shattering our national determination or
resolve. The Jewish people are indestructible. We have survived history's
greatest tyrants and fiends, and we will survive Arafat too. 

We did not return home from the graveyards of the Exile to go down in
defeat in our own land. In the current struggle with the Palestinians, the
Jewish people have the home-field advantage, and let no one think that we
will go down in defeat.

Events may depress us, and our leadership may fail to inspire us, but make
no mistake - our spirit can never be broken. The Jewish people have not
lost faith in the justness of our cause, and no human force can prevent us
from fulfilling our national destiny. 

Time and again, throughout history, the Jews have had their backs against
the wall, their very existence imperiled by a merciless foe. Now we again
find ourselves in just such a situation. It may take months, or even
years, for the current crisis to end, but of one thing we can all be
certain: ultimately, the Jewish people will prevail.

-----------------

The writer served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy Planning
in the Prime Minister's Office from 1996 to 1999.