Six Lessons to Learn From Palestinian Knife Intifada

The international left’s shoddy treatment of Israel continues, even as Palestinian terrorists commit daily atrocities against Jewish civilians, egged on by Palestinian leadership.

President Barack Obama’s administration continues to draw moral equivalence between Israel and those who seek to murder Jews; the media continue to treat Israel as the moral pariah even as it attempts to stop attacks on its citizens; the international community continues to suggest that Israeli concessions would suddenly transform villains into Whovilleians.

So, what can Americans learn from Israel’s treatment at the hands of its adversaries? Here are six lessons.

Obama’s Administration Embraces Jew-Hatred. Palestinian dictator Mahmoud Abbas, now in the eleventh year of a four-year term, launched this latest campaign of terror by lying to his people about Jewish action on the Temple Mount. He said that Jews had “no right to desecrate [the Temple Mount] with their filthy feet,” then continued, “Each drop of blood that was spilled in Jerusalem is pure blood as long as it’s for the sake of Allah. Every martyr will be in heaven.” Abbas told the United Nations that he considered his regime unbound from the Oslo Accords. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he wants to have negotiations without preconditions, and demanded that Abbas cease his incitement. President Obama’s response: “both sides” should “tamp down the rhetoric.” He then labeled Palestinian attacks “random violence,” just as when he labeled the Charlie Hebdo terrorists’ attack on a kosher supermarket “random.”

Obama’s State Department has accused Israel of participating in “excessive force,” even though there is no evidence of that; meanwhile, Abbas said that Israel executed a Palestinian innocent, even though that Palestinian teen attempted to murder a Jewish boy riding a bicycle, and is still alive. Then, just four days ago, the State Department tweeted out that attacks on Israeli civilians were “tragic, outrageous” – and moments later, deleted the tweet.

Last year, I said that the Obama administration was “borderline Jew-hating.” At this point, it is safe to say that the borderline has been obliterated.

The Media Will Openly Lie. From CNN running headlines about Jewish holy sites setting themselves on fire to MSNBC running historically false maps about Israeli territory, from MSNBC reports lying about whether attackers are armed, to the BBC suggesting that Israel shoots people randomly, from the Los Angeles Times suggesting that “Israeli violence” is killing “Palestinian teens,” to The New York Times reporting that a Jewish man was killed after rocks magically pelted his car on their own, media coverage of Israel is egregious and getting worse. Liberated to pursue their most anti-Semitic headlines by an anti-Semitic Obama administration, the media have decided to come of the closet completely. The results are hideous. Conservatives should get ready for the same treatment as soon as the primaries come to a close.

More Guns Held By Responsible Civilians Mean Less Crime. As Israelis come under daily knife attack, Israeli citizens have countered with two strategies, only one of which has been effective. First, certain stores have begun taking knives off the shelves to prevent Palestinians from buying them and using them to attack Jews. This has done nothing to blunt attacks. Second, Israel has encouraged its citizens to begin carrying guns. Last week, government spokesman Mark Regev said, “The responsible civilian population – in the framework of the rule of law – has a part to play…[particularly those] who have had military training and know how to use that weapon effectively.” Israel has experienced a run on guns, with applications for required gun licenses skyrocketing. Security guards are now bringing their on-duty guns home with them, and civilians have been told to carry guns openly. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is doing rounds as he caries an automatic weapon. Already, attacks have been minimized or thwarted so far thanks to civilians with guns intervening.

Fences Work. Israel fought the last Palestinian intifada by erecting a security fence in sections of Judea and Samaria. It worked; from September 2000 to July 2003, terrorists crossing that territory killed 293 Israelis and wounded nearly 2,000. After the security fence was built, attacks dropped near zero. Now Israel will build a wall near East Jerusalem to stop Palestinian Arabs from attempting to murder Jews by throwing rocks and firebombs. The wall will be temporary; it even says so on the six-foot cement slabs. In recent weeks, seven Jews have been murdered by residents of Jabel Mukaber, the Arab area separated off. For those who pretend that building walls has no impact on human movement, Israel’s experience with fence and wall-building suggests otherwise.

Palestinian Hatred of Jews Is Religious, and Cannot Be Satiated Except Via Jewish Suicide. Even as Secretary of State John Kerry urges Israel to make more concessions to a terrorist entity to which the United States taxpayers sign a $400 million check each year, Palestinians now demand that Israel be stopped from any archaeological excavations near the Temple Mount that would demonstrate Jewish presence before Mohammed. They also demand that the Western Wall be labeled an Islamic holy site, despite the Wall having no relevance to Islam. There is a reason for Mahmoud Abbas’ religious rhetoric: this is a religious war waged by Muslims against Jews.

The United Nations Seeks To Destroy Israel. France, a longtime adversary of Israel, now wants to place UN observers on the Temple Mount, buying Muslim propaganda that Israel is a threat to the Temple Mount, even as Palestinians continue to destroy artifacts from that site and use the al-Aqsa mosque as a launching point for attacks. The UN itself is merely an empty vessel for the desires of its members; given that most of its members despise Israel and have for decades, it’s no surprise to see the institution once again targeting the Jews.

George Gilder writes in The Israel Test that “Israel defines a line of demarcation” for the moral among us. It is increasingly clear that the international left fails that moral test – and that is indicative of their generalized moral failure as much as their specific animus for the Jews.

Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News, Editor-in-Chief of DailyWire.com, and The New York Times bestselling author, most recently, of the book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.