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Standing Up to Intimidation

(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - When violence is used to terrorize and bully a group into abdicating basic human rights, it becomes a threat to the foundations of democracy. On Wednesday, Mu'taz Hijazi, who is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, tried to assassinate Rabbi Yehuda Glick. This was a horrific act of violence directed at a man who was singled out for his religious and political beliefs. What makes this crime all the more tragic was the fact that Glick, who is a vocal activist for the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, is also a strong defender of Muslims' right to freedom of religious expression on what they call Haram a-Sharif. We must disabuse ourselves of the idea that innocuous acts such as Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount are the trigger for Muslim rioting, stone-throwing, destruction and murder. Rather the Arabs who commit these offenses choose to lash out against Jews in order to intimidate them into ceding their rights. Permitting Jews - or members of any other religion - to visit the Temple Mount and even pray there should be a religious freedom that is carefully protected by a democracy. Caving in to the demands of militant Muslims out of a desire to avoid "escalation" is capitulating to extremism and betraying the ideals of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
2014-10-31 00:00:00
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