israel today > Politics > ‘Kristallnacht’ Revisited

Politics

Sunday, October 09, 2005

‘Kristallnacht’ Revisited
While the scenes of looting and destruction were expected, it was still a shock to watch Palestinian mobs storm into the synagogues in abandoned Jewish settlements in Gaza and set them on fire. It was reminiscent of Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass), when the Nazis burned down synagogues across Germany in 1938. But this was happening in the Land of Israel.

As soon as the last Israeli tanks rumbled out of Gaza, thousands of jubilant Palestinians went on a rampage in the empty synagogues. They smashed walls, foundation pillars and windows, as flames lit up the night sky. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the man on whom the West has pinned its hopes for Mideast peace, was not only unapologetic. He was proud. “Today is a day of joy and happiness,” he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom described the destruction of the synagogues as a “barbaric act.” “The world is looking to Abu Mazen [Abbas] to see if he can control this territory, and the anarchy that we saw is not encouraging for the future,” Shalom said.

While Israel demolished all the homes in Gaza settlements, it left the synagogues intact after top rabbis said that destroying them would be a desecration and violation of Jewish Law. Incredibly, the world reacted to this Palestinian abomination with deafening silence. It even found a way to blame Israel! US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Israel’s decision not to demolish the synagogues “puts the Palestinian Authority into a situation where it may be criticized for whatever it does.” The international media also excused the Palestinians, on grounds that they regard the synagogues as “symbols of occupation.”

So, as the Jerusalem Post put it: “The problem is not Palestinian savagery, but Israel’s refusal to spare the world images of it.”

More in israel today from October 2005

The World was Silent: Palestinian desecration of the Gaza synagogues was greeted with a deafening silence

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