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We should count ourselves among the enemies of evil

By Debbie Israel

August 15, 2008
 

Every year since 2001, around this time, as we get closer and closer to Sept. 11, I notice that there is some new commemorative coin or other collectible (this year it’s a silver "bill" from Liberia) issued in memory of the people who died in the World Trade Center attacks. It is important that we all remember what happened on that day.

The only problem with all this is the same thing that bothers me about all the pomp and fanfare over the Holocaust memorial programs that seem to proliferate around Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). People keep saying "Never Again," but the governments of both Israel and the United States (let’s not even discuss Europe or Canada) are doing absolutely nothing to ensure that these things will never happen again.

As a matter of fact, both holocausts and terrorist attacks are happening right before our very eyes. Genocide is a reality in parts of Africa, like the Darfur region of the Sudan. This came up in the news recently when US gold medalist Joey Cheek, who is a member of Team Darfur, which is asking athletes to support peace in Darfur, a place where non-Muslims are being victimized and murdered by the government supported militia, was denied a visa by the Chinese government so he cannot attend the Olympics. The Chinese foreign minister said that protesting for Darfur would defy the "spirit" of the Olympics. How can standing up for peace and against genocide be against the "spirit" of games designed to bring peace to the world by promoting cooperation? And terrorist attacks occur on a regular basis, whether it’s a homicide bomber blowing up American soldiers in Iraq or missile attacks on Sderot, Ashkelon, and Ashdod launched from the area we used to call Gush Katif and that others call Gaza.

Observers and analysts, who truly see what is happening, and has happened, know exactly what needs to be done. Over the past 60 or so years, the pattern has repeated itself on numerous occasions. The terrorists (such as Hamas and Hezbollah, supported by Iran) attack in one way or another, and Israel or the U.S. or some other country launches a defensive attack in an effort to eradicate the terrorist threat. After these attacks, which generally do part of the job of uprooting the danger, there are no terrorist attacks for some time. But instead of eliminating their ability to make war, we allow the enemy to retool and rearm, and again we stand at the precipice of war, rarely looking it straight in the eye and even more rarely dealing with it as though our existence and way of life depend on our vigilance.

The other pattern that has emerged over this period of time is the Neville Chamberlain school of thought: the appeasement road. Terrorists attack and the government of the victim country can’t get the message out fast enough that all they want to do is whatever it is the terrorists want, whether that entails releasing criminals from their correct "home" in prison; recalling their soldiers from the war front; or simply pressuring Israel to stop defending herself, her citizens, and all Jews around the world. After this strategy, one would think peace would be guaranteed, but all the world gets from attempting to placate the Islamofascists is more violence, more deaths, more threats, more murders. The Islamists interpret our reticence to fight not as a love of peace, but as weakness.

So, where does that leave us? I hope that one day in the very near future the majority of the people in the world will realize what we need to do. Or, barring that, I hope that at least the leaders of the free world will realize that sometimes there is a good war and a bad peace. Right now, I’d rather be engaged in a good war, one that totally extinguishes the menace that jeopardizes our world, our lives, and our freedom by destroying its ability to attack and murder people.

I consider myself, with pride, an enemy of evil. The leaders of the free world need to stand up and be counted among us.

Debbie Israel is a graphic artist (see https://www.cafepress.com/compugraphd2 for some of her work) and tutor living in Highland Park.