Zero Tolerance

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The horrors of the Bondi Beach massacre will not soon disappear from our collective consciousness.  Many of the immediate responses seek to provide solace of a sort, if you are partial to responses that are calculated to make us feel a bit better but will not improve our situation one iota.

Prime Minister Albanese, who had epitomized antipathy and virulent opposition to the Jewish State and tacitly encouraged violent rhetoric, allowed as to how killing Jews might not be a core Australian value.  He was remarkably unable, however, to discern any connection between his vitriolic vilification of Israel, his endorsement of a Palestinian State as a reward for the terrorism of Hamas, and the massacre at a Jewish Chanukah celebration.  He is ever mindful of Islamophobia, not to mention the Muslim voters in West Sydney, blaming only the ideology of ISIS. 

The Sydney Opera House, on October 9, 2023 the venue of a mob of anti-semites yelling “Where are the Jews?” “Gas the Jews,” and “Fuck the Jews,” was lit in the shape of a menorah, thus demonstrating the communal integration called for by Albanese (until the next antisemitic, pro-Palestinian riot).

A kiosk at Bondi Beach was set up at which Chabad teens can help people put on tefillin. When bad acts bring about heightened performance of mitzvot, how can we complain?

In a truly heartwarming and unifying gesture, people from around the world were invited to submit pictures of themselves holding signs proclaiming “We stand with the Sydney Jewish Community,” to be assembled and made into a video by the Torah M’Tzion shlichim of Sydney.  We do, indeed, stand with them and, nonetheless, there are still 16 people dead at the hands of Islamic extremists.

Out of respect for the dead, Mayor-elect Mamdani may refrain from saying “Globalize the Intifada” for 48 hours.

As a result of these, and hundreds of other similar gestures (there are mountains of flowers, including a clump from Albanese himself, at the site of the massacre that may have been prolonged because the police in attendance appear to have cowered for 20 minutes, perhaps uncertain whether forceful opposition might give rise to charges of Islamophobia), those satisfied by virtue-signaling will continue to associate Chanukah with jelly doughnuts and festivity, and not with a slaughter that was enabled by Western complicity, complacency, and tolerance for antisemitism.

I do not minimize the feeling behind most of these gestures, and I do not suggest that they are not necessary expressions of our grief, support, and solidarity.  I am simply stating that, while necessary and even salutary, they are not sufficient.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, we did not immediately respond by laying a wreath at the site of the USS Arizona.

When the Arab States launched a war on Yom Kippur, Israel did not light candles, pronounce empty statements of peace and harmony, and gather to sing soulful songs. It roused itself to beat the crap out of the Syrian and Egyptian Armies and would have destroyed them completely but for Western intervention.

When Hamas launched its terrorist attack on Simchat Torah, the people of Israel did not seek expressions of solidarity from people of good faith throughout the world (what an exercise in futility that would have been!).  With the assistance of its civilian heroes and the bold tenacity of its fighting forces, it taught Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, and their eager supporters lessons that will not soon be forgotten.  The yellow ribbons were a moving expression of love and solidarity; the pagers were a game changer.

We must treat the Chanukah war as we treated the wars of Yom Kippur and Simchat Torah.  The goal is not merely to survive, but to prevail and, to the extent possible, to weaken and defeat the enemy.

Flowery, heartfelt, but empty words and gestures will not reverse the torrent of hatred that has been loosed upon the Jews and the West by complaisant and acquiescent progressive politicians and professors.  The metastasizing barbarism of Islamic intolerance throughout Europe and the West will not be checked by handwringing apologists for evenhanded treatment of all cultures, including those that are most loathsome.  Iran will not cease its endless provocations as a result of constructive dialogue.

The bloodshed at Bondi Beach did not occur in a vacuum.  While abhorrent, it was not surprising.  On the contrary, it or something like it was inevitable, given the absence of attention by the Australian government to pleas for greater prophylactic action against rampant antisemitism.  The shootings in Washington, the attacks in Manchester, the random violence–if allowed to proceed, they will escalate.

Where is the outrage and action against militant Islamic organizations?  Why is there still a Middle East Studies Department at Columbia University when an antisemitism task force has found that it lacks any faculty who are not explicitly anti-Zionist?  Why is DEI that targets  Jews allowed to change its name and continue its discriminatory practices unchecked? Why is anyone making nice with Tucker Carlson when he platforms Nazis and accuses Israel of murdering children, and why is anyone patronizing his sponsors, or, for that matter, those of Candace Owens?

People who promote antisemitism should be reviled and shunned, not lionized.  (I would include Nick Fuentes, but the utter inanity of a Nazi named Fuentes who is one-quarter Mexican and pronounces himself uncomfortable in the presence of women puts him almost beyond ridicule.)

So yes to flowers, sympathetic lighting, prayers and thoughts, and mealy-mouthed speeches from politicians.  But they are useless expressions of mere sentiment unless accompanied by strong and decisive action.  Lawless behavior needs to be met with strict law enforcement.  Why were mobs permitted outside Park East Synagogue?  Why are masked rioters not arrested?  Why are CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood not totally ostracized, if not criminalized, in every moral society?

War has been declared against us.  We must use all legal means to fight back and defeat our enemies.  No offensive action must be disregarded or tolerated.  When they shout, we need to drown them out.  When they break the law, they must be prosecuted.  When they threaten violence, the power and intimidation of law enforcement must be unleashed against them. When they inflict damages they must be held legally accountable. We must show no patience or leniency with those who promote violence against Jews while hiding behind the artificial barriers of religious freedom or freedom of speech.

War has been declared against us.  If we are unwilling to see ourselves and our families massacred in a hundred Bondi Beaches, we better be prepared to fight back.