JACK ENGELHARD:SYNAGOGUE MASSACRE: ENOUGH STATUS QUO?

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Jerusalem Synagogue Massacre: Enough Status Quo, Maybe?

Four rabbis at prayer in a Jerusalem synagogue were murdered – hacked to death — by a pair of terrorist Arabs, and this we all know. We have since learned, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the homes of these terrorists will be destroyed, and this is too is not big news. (A Druze-Israeli policeman to the rescue has become the fifth fatality.)

Nothing, in fact, is really news. Another day, another massacre. Despite the shock, the grieving and the rage, Israelis have learned to take it in stride.

We also learn that Har Nof, the same place where all that happened only hours ago, is “back to normal.” Those words from an Israeli spokesman.

Yes, the doors of the shul are open again, the blood wiped clean of Rabbis Moshe Twersky, Aryeh Kupinsky, Kalman Ze’ev Levine and Avraham Shmuel Goldberg.

Among Israelis, getting back to normal is a matter of pride. “We won’t live in fear. We won’t be intimidated.” That is the message.
For Obama’s citing Palestinian suffering in the same breath as this atrocity, no words at this moment except one – disgraceful.
Admirable, I suppose.

I remember another incident in Jerusalem. Yes another cold blooded murder and, moments after the streets and sidewalks had been scrubbed of Jewish blood, I watched the mothers stroll their baby carriages over the exact spot where the murder had taken place, watched them defiantly walking, heads up, to make the point that Israelis are resilient.

How could you not love them?

But even then I had mixed opinions. Hurray for Jewish bravado. But on the other hand, are Israelis getting too used to this? Is this a case of Israelis proving that nothing can stop them, or is this a case of Israelis accepting their fate as sheep doomed to be slaughtered?

When will it end…how can it end…when no matter what happens “everything is back to normal?” Only days ago civilian pedestrians were murdered in broad daylight by Arab terrorists using knives and automobiles. A three-month-old baby girl was counted among the victims.

After the blood was hosed down from this daughter of Israel, Chaya Zisel Braun, everything was the same as before. As if nothing had happened?

Netanyahu mentioned her in his address this afternoon. Earlier, his economics minister Naftali Bennett (always stalwart in defense of Israel) unfortunately reassured the world through the BBC that the “status quo” remains in place for the Temple Mount, which means that access to Judaism’s holiest site is to be reserved for Muslims only. Thanks, but submissiveness does not seem to be working. For a right-on review of the BBC’s coverage, see Rabbi Dr. David Nesenoff’s Arutz Sheva piece here.

For Obama’s citing Palestinian suffering in the same breath as this atrocity, no words at this moment except one – disgraceful.

So what is status quo? This means “an existing state of affairs.” For the Arabs who seek Israel’s annihilation that is priceless information. They have nothing to fear if the trend remains “more of the same.” At this rate Jerusalem will be as dangerous tomorrow as it was yesterday.

Is anybody in Israel falling out of love with “status quo?” Any suggestions on how to turn Israeli lambs back to lions?

For starters – how about those Gazans who cheered the news of the Har Nof killings? Thousands danced and handed out sweets. They also danced when New York’s Twin Towers were taken down by their Islamist brothers. Next Gaza war, remember these Gaza “innocent civilians” when the media seeks your pity for them.

Suppose, Mr. Netanyahu, you let them cheer, but let them cheer in the dark. Israel supplies access to their electricity. That is too ridiculous.

Cut it off! Put them in the dark…and sweets? Let them have a taste of the same bitterness that they sow…but double.

For Jerusalem’s rioting Arabs, let them be reminded that they are guests eligible to be deported when they act traitorously.

Furthermore, Mr. Prime Minister, in an opinion piece along these pages posted 10/26 (“Breaking Bad in Jerusalem”) I asked you to consider arresting the man mainly responsible for all this Jewish blood. That would be Mahmoud Abbas, known sometimes as Abu Mazen.

Call him Ishmael, but put him behind bars for his treachery and for his incitements. I am asking this again. What a welcome change that would be.

Because really, the status quo will always favor the enemy.

For once, let Jewish blood be exceptional and cause for nausea and trembling among Israel’s enemies. Never mind normal.

Jack Engelhard writes a regular column for Arutz Sheva. Engelhard wrote the int’l bestseller Indecent Proposal that was translated into more than 22 languages and turned into a Paramount motion picture starring Robert Redford and Demi Moore. New from the novelist, media bias fully exposed in The Bathsheba Deadline – and the heralded anti-BDS thriller Compulsive. Website: www.jackengelhard.com

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