Veteran’s Day 2014—in Israel

Last updated: November 12, 2014
Today is November 11, 2014. In America, all post offices and federal offices are closed. The Bond Market is closed. Banks are closed.

Today in America is Veterans Day. It’s the day America honours those who have served in the U.S. military.

It’s a day for parades. It’s a day for speeches.

Israel is different. In Israel, November 11 isn’t Veterans Day. It isn’t a day to honour those who served.

This year in Israel, November 11 is the day Arabs honour the memory of Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004. Yasser Arafat had one goal in his life: to destroy Israel.

Arabs want to celebrate that.

Israeli Jews are interested in this celebration. They want to know if it will provoke more attacks on Jews.

In Israel, attacking Jews has become an Arab sport. During the last three weeks, Arabs have created a new version of this sport. It’s called, ‘car Intifada’.

Yesterday, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) posted a new bulletin entitled, “Palestinian song encourages more terror” (November 10, 2014). The song celebrates the ‘car Intifada’.

As Arabs celebrate their Yasser Arafat Day, some may be tapping their toes to this new song. Its lyrics are catchy. Here’s a sample:

                              “Run [them] over, destroy,

                               annihilate, blow them up;‎

                         Don’t let the Zionist live long                         

                              O Al-Aqsa, we’re your defenders

                              O son of Jerusalem, cry 'Allah is great!'"

‎                       “Wait for them at the intersection

                             Let the settler drown in red blood

                             Terrorize them”

We know that Arabs will be tapping their toes to this ditty because PMW reports that one version of the song has already gotten 385,000 hits on social media. The song is less than ten days old. A youtube version has received another 71,000 hits (ibid).

The song appears in the wake of multiple terror attacks carried out by Arabs using a car as a weapon--to run over Israelis.  Since this ‘car Intifada’ started on October 22, 2014, Arabs have killed four people and injured dozens.

The song celebrates the terrorists who committed these crimes. It also celebrates the terrorist who attempted to murder Rabbi Yehuda Glick (on October 29, 2014).

These terrorists attacked Jews because of anger over so-called ‘crimes’ committed by Jews on the Temple Mount (hence the reference in the lyrics above to ‘al-aqsa’, the Arabic name for the Temple Mount).

Yes, Arabs say Jews commit crimes on the Temple Mount. What crimes? They visit the Mount. They advocate to worship on the Mount.

The Temple Mount is the holiest place on earth for Jews. But to the Arab, any Jew who dares set foot on the Mount commits a desecration, a defilement.

To Arabs, those visits are crimes. The Jews who visit there are criminals.

Rabbi Glick has worked to secure the freedom for Jews to worship on the Mount. On October 29, 2014, he was shot because of that advocacy.

This new Arab song dedicates one stanza to each of the four terrorists who have recently killed Jews—or tried to. Three of these terrorists died using their car to kill and maim Jews. One of them didn’t use his car. He used a gun.

The song blesses them all. It honours them. It celebrates them.

For example, about two of the four killers, the song sings,

            “The whole Arab nation is telling you:‎

           Al-Akari [one of the killers], bless your [soul] ‎

              Run over the settler!‎

              Run over the settler!‎

              Abd Al-Rahman Al-Shaloudi [one of the killers]

              ran over a Jewish settler

              He did it for his country ‎

              with his limited means

             Today, the entire people deem [him] a hero

 

This song gives you a glimpse into how popular Arab culture focuses on Jew-hate. It’s a culture that's really very simple. It doesn’t promote peace. It doesn’t promote a ‘two-state solution’.

It promotes Jew-hate.

This might be Veteran’s Day in America. But in our neighbourhood, it’s more like ‘kill a Jew Day’.

Mahmoud Abbas is the cheerleader. At a speech for Yasser Arafat Day, he accused Israel of igniting a ‘religious war’ by allowing Jewish worshippers to visit the holy site in Jerusalem (“Abbas says Israel igniting 'religious war'”, Al Jazeera, November 11, 2014). He was also quoted as saying that Israel seeks to ignite a “dangerous Holy war throughout the region” (“Palestine News Network, November 11, 2014).

As a result, Israel Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned that Israel is about to see more violence, not less (“Ya’alon: Israel Must Prepare for an Escalation”, Arutz Sheva, November 11, 2014).

Today, Americans remember those who served in its military. Today, Mahmoud Abbas talks of Holy war.

Arabs riot. They attack Jews.

Guess where Abbas is leading his people.