No, there are no “two sides”. And no, it’s not the “occupation”. And no, it’s not that “they don’t have a political outlook”. These illusions and false claims will not decrease the level of terrorism. On the contrary, they will encourage it to increase. And the fact that there are many useful idiots, who belong to the enlightened and progressive circles in the world, including Israel, who make these excuses for terrorism – does not make all of these people right.

 There is no “cycle of violence”. There is a Palestinian side, which is pro-Iranian or jihadist, which has no interest in reconciliation and in peace, but rather in the destruction of the Jewish state. The mythical leader of the Arabs of Palestine was a Nazi Islamist, the Mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who preached to the extermination of Jews. His legacy still lives on. Hamas and Jihad are his successors and continue in his footsteps. The incitement to hate Jews continues. The EU threatens to stop the funding, but these are only threats. 

And there is another side; the side of the Jews who were persecuted in almost every country in the world and who fled or were expelled, from Europe or from Arab countries. They received the right to self-determination and established a state. The Arab refusal to compromise and to division led to a double Nakba: both Palestinian and Jewish. Throughout the years of the conflict, the Jews have repeatedly extended a hand for peace, with a willingness to make far-reaching concessions. The outstretched hand was repeatedly rejected. And when the Palestinians prefer Jihad and terrorism – Israel must respond. 

When the Americans killed the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden – no one condemned “both sides”. So I say thank you to the Pope for condemning the violence in his weekly address on Sunday. But all the violence belongs to the side that supports terrorism, educates its children about hatred, that identifies with messages of anti-Semitism and racism. 

Source: Ben-Dror Yemini/Jewish Journal (Photo: ffikretow/Getty Images)