There was never a thought of turning her away simply because she was Palestinian. That’s not how things are done in Israel. Jewish doctors worked day and night to save her, without expecting that they would receive even a penny in payment.
After extensive treatments that did, in fact, save her life, Wafa al-Biri was released from the hospital and returned to her family in Gaza. She was told to come back for a routine follow-up and assured there would be no charge for that visit, either.
Al-Biri returned to the border between Gaza and Israel and asked permission to enter. A routine security check revealed she was carrying enough explosives in her underwear to destroy the clinic where she was treated and kill not just herself, but the doctors who worked so hard to save her.
And that, my friends, is what it’s like to live in Israel these days.
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As terrible as this story is, here’s a sequel that’s even more horrible: Had al-Biri succeeded in her deadly mission, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would probably have named a public park after her.
This is the kind of enemy Israel faces. These are the sorts of people who have taken a solemn vow to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. They have been taught — and they honestly believe — that they have a sacred duty to kill any infidel they can. (That includes us, by the way; Jews are at the top of the list.)
Here’s the point of today’s column: These are the same people the President of the United States wants to guarantee sanctuary a stone’s throw (or a rocket’s launch) from Jerusalem.
Make no mistake about it: If Barack Obama’s insane policy of forcing Israel to retreat to its pre-1967 borders is implemented, the very survival of the most loyal friend we have in the Middle East will be at risk.
If you opened this article hoping to find a word of sympathy for the Palestinian cause, you will be sorely disappointed. I want to correct some of the appalling lies that have been told about the Palestinians’ so-called “noble struggle” for their homeland. First of all, the Israelis did not drive a single Arab from their “sacred homeland.” Arabs living in what became Israel in 1948 were welcome to stay. They might not enjoy all of the rights, privileges and advantages of the people who won the war. But they were not slain, enslaved, or driven from their homes.
I visited Israel. I was a guest in the homes of several Arabs whose parents (and in some cases, whose grandparents) decided to stay. Every single person with whom I spoke was glad to be living in Israel. They were grateful for the opportunities they had, the affluence they enjoyed, and the security they felt. Their lives were so much better — and in so many ways — than what their relatives in surrounding lands endured.
The women in particular were glad they were not subject to the ancient traditions of their Muslim ancestors. They were proud to be educated and independent. Not for them concealment behind a burqa that left only their eyes exposed.
They did not hesitate to tell me their greatest fear: that the jihadists in neighboring countries would start a war that would destroy them, their families, their homes, and their homeland.
While I was in the Middle East, I also visited some of the refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. Or rather, I visited camps in what used to be those countries, before they waged a surprise war on Israel in 1967 — and lost.
In the aftermath of what became known as “The Six-Day War,” thousands of Arabs fled from what had been their ancestral homes into neighboring countries, where they were herded into concentration camps and forced to stay for the next 30 years.
Please understand what I’m saying: The Arab countries surrounding Israel refused to let their brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews assimilate into their own lands. Instead, they were kept in unbelievable squalor for a generation. Whole families were confined to one room in a mud hut, with no electricity and no running water. And they were forced to live like this not for a year or two, but for decades.
You will not be surprised to learn that the camps became breeding grounds for terrorists and suicide bombers. I, for one, believe it was planned that way.
In speech last month, Obama insisted Israel agree to return to borders that did not even exist prior to the Arab war against Israel. Since I agree that to do so would be suicide, I was glad to see that Israel’s prime minister wasted no time in rejecting our President’s outrageous demands.
I thought Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint meeting of our Congress was incredibly powerful. A lot of U.S. Congressmen obviously agreed, because they interrupted him with applause more than 50 times. It made the Democrats’ reaction during Obama’s State of the Union speech look pallid by comparison.
I have a few comments before I sign off and turn the rebuttal over to you. I always enjoy my readers’ responses. But I’m especially looking forward to seeing what some of you have to say when you comment at the end of this piece. First, let me make two more observations.
One is that I wish our President were one-tenth as passionate in defending our country and our interests as Israel’s prime minister is in representing his. We used to have Presidents who were proud of their country and eager to defend it; I hope next year we will elect one again.
The other is a question: What is it with Jewish people who live in the United States? No sooner had Netanyahu returned to Israel than a Zogby poll came out, stating that the majority of Jews in this country still support Obama.
To any sons or daughters of Judah reading this, may I ask you something? Don’t you realize that your people, their country and their noblest aspirations are being sacrificed by a scheming, amoral politician who happens to inhabit the White House? Wake up and smell the coffee, as my teenage grandchildren would say.
Chip Wood was the first news editor of The Review of the News and also wrote for American Opinion, our two predecessor publications. He is now the geopolitical editor of Personal Liberty Digest, where his Straight Talk column appears weekly. This article first appeared in PersonalLiberty.com and has been reprinted with permission.
