The New York Times has a great feature. If you’re reading one article about a subject, at the end of the article are links to others that might interest you. So while reading David Brooks’ latest column on Israel, I was enticed to take a look at this article from 2001. I can think of no more perfect statement on how well the separation fence—along with Israel’s security services intel—has worked.
Artists, Weighing Risks, Cancel Dates in Israel
The show planned for next week at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv was to have been Israel’s biggest pop concert of the year: an appearance by Red Hot Chili Peppers, the veteran rock band from Los Angeles.But the 20,000 fans who had already bought tickets were bitterly disappointed last week when the band canceled its visit, citing security concerns heightened by a recent Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem and a renewed State Department warning against travel to Israel.
[…] Mr. Weiss said that there had been a 50 percent drop in the number of pop music performers he had been able to bring to Israel compared with previous years, and that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ cancellation could create a ripple effect that would make it even harder to attract other big-name groups.
Now weigh these facts in light of the world’s insistence that Israel remove the fence. And remember that the suicide attacks were coming sometimes at the rate of two and three per day. Per day.
The Israeli foreign ministry has graphs showing the reduction in deaths due to terrorism from 2000-2007. Thirty-six Israelis died from terrorist attacks—including rockets from Gaza—in 2008. This is due to several things, not just the fence—the security services and Operation Defensive Shield, and the reinstallation of checkpoints all contributed.
Go to that link above, and you’ll find the names and ages of every victim of Palestinian terror since the year 2000. Like these:
Mar 9, 2002 – Avia Malka, 9 months, of South Africa, and Israel Yihye, 27, of Bnei Brak were killed and about 50 people were injured, several seriously, when two Palestinians opened fire and threw grenades at cars and pedestrians in the coastal city of Netanya on Saturday evening, close to the city’s boardwalk and hotels. The terrorists were killed by Israeli border police. The Fatah Al Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mar 9, 2002 – Limor Ben-Shoham, 27, of Jerusalem; Nir Borochov, 22, of Givat Ze’ev; Danit Dagan, 25, of Tel-Aviv; Livnat Dvash, 28, of Jerusalem; Tali Eliyahu, 26, of Jerusalem; Uri Felix, 25, of Givat Ze’ev; Dan Imani, 23, of Jerusalem; Natanel Kochavi, 31, of Kiryat Ata; Baruch Lerner, 29, of Eli; Orit Ozerov, 28, of Jerusalem; Avraham Haim Rahamim, 28, of Jerusalem were killed and 54 injured, 10 of them seriously, when a suicide bomber exploded at 22:30 PM Saturday night in a crowded cafe at the corner of Aza and Ben-Maimon streets in the Rehavia neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
Every day, Israelis turned on the news or picked up the paper with a feeling of dread. Every day. Now, tourism has returned and Israelis are going about their business, thanks to the fence, the checkpoints, the IDF security services, and Israeli refusal to cave to world pressure and reduce their self-defense.
I hope Bibi Netanyahu has the stamina to stand up the pressure being exerted on him today by well-meaning, but stupid people like Rahm Emanuel. If it is true that he has told the Israelis that Obama is going to have a Palestinian state by the end of his first term in office no matter what, then Emanuel is dangerously stupid. Because the Palestinians have no intention of living in peace with Israel, and their leaders’ words—unheeded by the world media or, seemingly, by anyone involved in forcing the Israeli hand—prove this, over and over again. Fatah terrorists continue to take part in terror attacks, and the world continues to insist that the Palestinian Authority—Fatah’s official face to the world—is no longer taking part in terror. The PA gets arms, money, and training from the world, and will use it against Israel.
Instead of forcing Israel’s hand, the world should be demanding that the PA stop the incitement on their television shows, in their newspapers, and on their website—which shows the country “Palestine” where Israel is supposed to be.
When the Palestinian Authority displays a map that shows the nation of Israel side by side with their desired country of Palestine, I will believe that the terror is over. Not a moment before.