Hamas, ISIS, Hypocrisy, and Why We Should Care

A few items have come my way that are very much worth sharing. The first two, a little cartoon and then a very short speech from the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, illustrate the lunacy and hypocrisy that characterizes much of the world’s response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The third link is a quick read from which I’ve extracted a portion that cuts to the heart of why we should care about what is going on in the Middle East and across the Islamic world—if not from the basis of our values, principles, and beliefs than at least from the perspective of our own security right here at home.

The first: a simple presentation on the nature of the Israel’s response to Hamas and the nature of the world’s response to Israel.

Second: Amb Ron Prosor addresses special UN General Assembly session on Gaza during which he quotes Winston Churchill:

"The family of nations suffered from a want of foresight, an unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, and a lack of clear thinking and confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong."

Then commenting on Churchill, Prosor closes by saying:

Seventy years ago Winston Churchill bemoaned what he saw as the inability of mankind to act until the emergency comes. Today I am here to issue a warning: Stand with Israel and stand against terror before it is too late, before the danger lands on your doorstep and self-preservation strikes its jarring gong.

Last: Holy War Arrives in Germany, by Soeren Kern, August 10, 2014. The last quote in the article sums up the central issue:

"Anyone who thought the civil war in Syria or the barbarity of the Islamic State in Iraq does not affect us, you are now wrong. No matter how far away Qaraqosh [Iraq's largest Christian city] and Sinjar [home to the Yazidis in Iraq] may be: What happens there also affects us here in Germany. Sympathizers of the Islamic State have attacked the Yazidi in Herford, which means that Qaraqosh, Sinjar and Herford are now inseparable.
"For far too long, Germany's political leaders, and especially the leaders of German Muslim organizations, have sat by and idly watched the proliferation of the Salafist-jihadist hatred culture, in the purported belief that it poses no danger. It is absolutely outrageous that local politicians have played down the risk of Islamism, while the capabilities of the security authorities are increasingly being overstretched by the need to deal with this threat.
"Muslim organizations should hang their heads in shame. Rather than bluntly stating that the barbarians in northern Iraq are 'not Muslims,' they whistle away to say that Islam is 'only peace.' In the future, this kind of obfuscation will no longer suffice, especially if German Muslims, who are subject to the German legal system, wish to avoid being held accountable for the killings in the name of Islam.
"The Islamic State under its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may not last very long; but the propaganda from his jihad certainly will survive him. This is because the seeds of hatred that 'Caliph' Baghdadi has sown are far more toxic than those of Osama Bin Laden. For disaffected youth, the Islamic State exerts great appeal, and not only in Herford."