Oversight: A traumatic week

Perhaps the archbishop has forgotten the words of the Psalmist that call our attention to God’s concern for the suffering of defenseless widows, orphans and strangers.

By ZEV CHAMUDOT
Funeral of Daniel Tragerman (photo credit: ALONI MOR)
Funeral of Daniel Tragerman
(photo credit: ALONI MOR)
Sunday: Death of Daniel Tragerman All of Israel was engulfed by mourning and grief over the death of four-year-old Daniel Tragerman, killed by a Hamas mortar attack on a kibbutz.
The US ambassador was quick to assure Israel that it has the right to defend itself. Does this mean that like Hamas, Israel, too, may attack without the need to be concerned about the loss of innocent civilians’ lives? Does not Hamas’s indiscriminate warfare deserve to be recognized as war crimes and the wanton killing of our precious four-year-old son as a crime against humanity? Monday: Beheading of James Foley The gruesome beheading of James Foley by Islamic State was clearly not designed to convince him of the merits of establishing the caliphate.
What indeed is the message of Islamic State? It is precisely calculated to induce unadulterated fear by establishing the movement’s members readiness to resort to unrestrained maniacal brutality. They present no platform that is founded on reason, morality, virtue, honor, merit or truth, but one that is based solely on the sword that offers the choice between death and conversion to Islam. Since the alternative to conversion has little appeal to the masses, this fanatical movement has now become one of the greatest threats to Western civilization.
Tuesday: American Jewish Leader We have been asked by Michael Felson to remember American activist and writer Leibel Fein, who died on August 14, as a visionary thinker, leader in the American Jewish world, and a lover of Israel. However, after reading Felson’s descriptions of Fein’s ardent BDS activism, his call on tourists to refrain from visiting Ariel, his being a co-founder of Americans for Peace Now, an active member of J Street and an avid supporter of the New Israel Fund, I am not at all convinced that he deserves being remembered as a lover of Israel.
Wednesday: Abbas and Hamas Liberal Zionism, we are told by Prof. Gil Troy, has left a progressive heritage that enables it to distinguish between Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas. I, however, find sins of omission and commission that strongly argue against the validity of that distinction and the attempt to elevate Abbas to the role of legitimate partner.
Abbas adamantly refuses to recognize Israel as the Jewish state and his PA continues with the “heroization” of terrorists in both the classroom and the mosque. His creation of a unity government with Hamas clearly demonstrates his identification with its ultimate intents and goals. Abbas indeed rhymes and syncs with Hamas.
Thursday: Bigoted archbishop To “strike a powerful, nonviolent blow for peace in the Middle East,” Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, urges a Dutch pension fund to divest from Israel. He once again turns his jaundiced eye to focus on Israel and fails as both a man of God and a Nobel Peace laureate to reveal any concern for the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims, Christians and Yazidis in our region. Perhaps the archbishop has forgotten the words of the Psalmist that call our attention to God’s concern for the suffering of defenseless widows, orphans and strangers.
The writer is a passionate advocate for Israel and the Jewish people, a retired university administrator and lecturer on Jewish thought and an unrepentant letter writer.