“> Ed Koch Commentary
>
> April 12, 2010
>
> *TITLE:        A Dangerous Silence*
>
>
>
>           I weep as I witness outrageous verbal attacks on Israel.  What
> makes these verbal assaults and distortions all the more painful is that
> they are being orchestrated by President Obama.
>
>
>
>           For me, the situation today recalls what occurred in 70 AD when
> the Roman emperor Vespasian launched a military campaign against the Jewish
> nation and its ancient capital of Jerusalem.  Ultimately, Masada, a rock
> plateau in the Judean desert became the last refuge of the Jewish people
> against the Roman onslaught.  I have been to Jerusalem and Masada.  From the
> top of Masada, you can still see the remains of the Roman fortifications and
> garrisons, and the stones and earth of the Roman siege ramp that was used to
> reach Masada.  The Jews of Masada committed suicide rather than let
> themselves be taken captive by the Romans.
>
>
>
>           In Rome itself, I have seen the Arch of Titus with the sculpture
> showing enslaved Jews and the treasures of the Jewish Temple of Solomon with
> the Menorah, the symbol of the Jewish state, being carted away as booty
> during the sacking of Jerusalem.
>
>
>
>           Oh, you may say, that is a far fetched analogy.  Please hear me
> out.
>
>
>
>           The most recent sacking of the old city of Jerusalem – its Jewish
> quarter – took place under the Jordanians in 1948 in the first war between
> the Jews and the Arabs, with at least five Muslim states – Egypt, Jordan,
> Lebanon, Syria and Iraq – seeking to destroy the Jewish state.  At that
> time, Jordan conquered East Jerusalem and the West Bank and expelled every
> Jew living in the Jewish quarter of the old city, destroying every building,
> including the synagogues in the old quarter and expelling from every part of
> Judea and Samaria every Jew living there so that for the first time in
> thousands of years, the old walled city of Jerusalem and the adjacent West
> Bank were “Judenrein” — a term used by the Nazis to indicate the forced
> removal or murder of all Jews..
>
>
>
>           Jews had lived for centuries in Hebron, the city where Abraham,
> the first Jew, pitched his tent and where he now lies buried, it is
> believed, in a tomb with his wife, Sarah, as well as other ancient Jewish
> patriarchs and matriarchs.  I have visited that tomb and at the time  asked
> an Israeli soldier guarding it – so that it was open to all pilgrims,
> Christians, Muslims and Jews — “where is the seventh step leading to the
> tomb of Abraham and Sarah,” which was the furthest entry for Jews when the
> Muslims were the authority controlling the holy place?  He replied, “When we
> retook and reunited the whole city of Jerusalem and conquered the West Bank
> in 1967, we removed the steps, so now everyone can enter,” whereas when
> Muslims were in charge of the tomb, no Jew could enter it.  And I did.
>
>
>
>           I am not a religious person.  I am comfortable in a synagogue, but
> generally attend only twice a year, on the high holidays.  When I entered
> the tomb of Abraham and Sarah, as I recall, I felt connected with my past
> and the traditions of my people.  One is a Jew first by birth and then by
> religion.  Those who leave their religion, remain Jews forever by virtue of
> their birth.  If they don’t think so, let them ask their neighbors, who will
> remind them.  I recall the words of the columnist Robert Novak, who was for
> most of his life hostile to the Jewish state of Israel in an interview with
> a reporter stating that while he had converted to Catholicism, he was still
> a cultural Jew.  I remain with pride a Jew both by religion and culture.
>
>
>
>           My support for the Jewish state has been long and steadfast.
> Never have I thought that I would leave the U.S. to go and live in Israel.
> My loyalty and love is first to the U.S. which has given me, the son of
> Polish Jewish immigrants, so much.  But, I have also long been cognizant of
> the fact that every night when I went to sleep in peace and safety, there
> were Jewish communities around the world in danger.  And there was one
> country, Israel, that would give them sanctuary and would send its soldiers
> to fight for them and deliver them from evil, as Israel did at Entebbe in
> 1976.
>
>
>
>           I weep today because my president, Barack Obama, in a few weeks
> has changed the relationship between the U.S. and Israel from that of
> closest of allies to one in which there is an absence of trust on both
> sides.  The contrast between how the president and his administration deals
> with Israel and how it has decided to deal with the Karzai administration in
> Afghanistan is striking.
>
>
>
>           The Karzai administration, which operates a corrupt and
> opium-producing state, refuses to change its corrupt ways – the president’s
> own brother is believed by many to run the drug traffic taking place in
> Afghanistan – and shows the utmost contempt for the U.S. is being hailed by
> the Obama administration as an ally and publicly treated with dignity.
> Karzai recently even threatened to join the Taliban if we don’t stop making
> demands on him.  Nevertheless, Karzai is receiving a gracious thank-you
> letter from President Obama.  The New York Times of April 10th reported,
> “…that Mr. Obama had sent Mr. Karzai a thank-you note expressing gratitude
> to the Afghan leader for dinner in Kabul.  ‘It was a respectful letter,’
> General Jones said.”
>
>
>
>           On the other hand, our closest ally – the one with the special
> relationship with the U.S., has been demeaned and slandered, held
> responsible by the administration for our problems in Afghanistan and Iraq
> and elsewhere in the Middle East.  The plan I suspect is to so weaken the
> resolve of the Jewish state and its leaders that it will be much easier to
> impose on Israel an American plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian
> conflict, leaving Israel’s needs for security and defensible borders in the
> lurch.
>
>
>
>           I believe President Obama’s policy is to create a whole new
> relationship with the Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, and
> Iraq as a counter to Iran – The Tyrannosaurus Rex of the Muslim world which
> we are now prepared to see in possession of a nuclear weapon.  If throwing
> Israel under the bus is needed to accomplish this alliance, so be it.
>
>
>
>           I am shocked by the lack of outrage on the part of Israel’s most
> ardent supporters.  The members of AIPAC, the chief pro-Israel lobbying
> organization in Washington, gave Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a
> standing ovation after she had carried out the instructions of President
> Obama and, in a 43-minute telephone call, angrily hectored Prime Minister
> Benjamin Netanyahu.
>
>
>
>           Members of Congress in both the House and Senate have made
> pitifully weak statements against Obama’s mistreatment of Israel, if they
> made any at all.  The Democratic members, in particular, are weak.  They are
> simply afraid to criticize President Obama.
>
>
>
>           What bothers me most of all is the shameful silence and lack of
> action by community leaders – Jew and Christian.  Where are they?  If this
> were a civil rights matter, the Jews would be in the mall in Washington
> protesting with and on behalf of our fellow American citizens.  I asked one
> prominent Jewish leader why no one is preparing a march on Washington
> similar to the one in 1963 at which I was present and Martin Luther King’s
> memorable speech was given?  His reply was “Fifty people might come.”
> Remember the 1930s?  Few stood up.  They were silent.  Remember the most
> insightful statement of one of our greatest teachers, Rabbi Hillel: “If I am
> not for myself, who is for me?  And if I am only for myself, what am I?  And
> if not now, when?”
>
>
>
>           We have indeed stood up for everyone else.  When will we stand up
> for our brothers and sisters living in the Jewish state of Israel?
>
>
>
>           If Obama is seeking to build a siege ramp around Israel, the Jews
> of modern Israel will not commit suicide.  They are willing to negotiate a
> settlement with the Palestinians, but they will  not allow themselves to be
> bullied into following self-destructive policies.
>
>
>
>           To those who call me an alarmist, I reply that I’ll be happy to
> apologize if I am proven wrong.  But those who stand silently by and watch
> the Obama administration abandon Israel, to whom will they apologize?
>