Yishai Fleisher: Three Muslims and a settler
The third Muslim I met on my trip was working at the airport in Houston. I flew in for a tight 15 hours to attend a commemorative hilula gathering in honor of the saintly “Baba Sali”—Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira. Upon landing, I hit a snag: My bag was not coming out of the chute and I really, really did not have time for that. So, I went over to the baggage claim counter and approached a representative named Huma. I asked her about my bag, produced a tag and she started clicking on her keyboard. She announced that it was coming out soon. In the meantime, we got to talking.Daniel Greenfield: After Biden sent $1 billion to the PLO, Israeli deaths rose 900%
A middle-aged woman, Huma’s accent and look gave away her origins in the Indian subcontinent. I asked her if she was Hindu or Muslim, to which she replied that she was a Muslim from Pakistan. She asked me where I was coming from. I wear a kippa and have a beard and my luggage tags show I fly internationally, so she was not surprised that I was from Israel. But what she said was surprising to me: “I love Israel—I have visited twice!” Warmth entered her eyes as she described the amazing congeniality of the people, how safe she felt and how clean it was.
Sadly, Huma told me about her son’s Jewish business partner, who before her first trip urged her not to visit Israel. He bizarrely warned her that she would be kicked and spat at in the Jewish state. Both she and I were dismayed at his warped sense of reality. Thankfully, she went to Israel anyway and had a great time.
I asked her what places she had visited. She mentioned Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and that she had seen Al-Aqsa and the Tomb of Abraham. “You went to Hebron?” I asked. She said, “Yes, absolutely!” I produced my business card with a picture of the Tomb of the Ancestors and gave it to her. A visible shudder went through her. Her eyes widened: “Do you pray at the Tomb of Abraham every day?” Yes, I said, most days. “Would you pray for my sons to get married?” she asked earnestly, clutching my card. I answered, “Yes, I will” and asked for their names. She thanked me profusely.
At no point did she seem to mind that I was a Jew, an Israeli and a “settler” who works in Hebron. All that mattered was that I was connected to Abraham and that Israel was a welcoming place. Here again, there was no mention of Palestine. As a woman who had left Pakistan for Texas, she had chosen liberty over a restrictive form of Islam. To her, Israel is a place where you can connect with religion and identity, and do so in freedom. In fact, she specifically mentioned her amazement and pleasure at being able to walk freely in Jerusalem at night. Although she did not say it, I guessed that Palestine is more like the oppressive Pakistan of her past.
I often meet people during my travels who have respect and love for the Jewish state. Israel’s authentic culture, military strength and economic growth are respected in the region and many see Israel as an example of liberalism and humanity—a leader in the battle against tyranny and jihad. Millions see Jerusalem as a spiritual capital they aspire to visit.
Palestine, on the other hand, is not attractive to many Muslims. They know all too well that the P.A., PLO and Hamas are the same corrupt jihadists who have destroyed so many Arab and Muslim states. These Muslims see the Abraham Accords and Israel’s normalization in the region as a source of hope and they are watching and praying for the success of the Jewish state—inshallah!
When U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas last month, he boasted of the over one billion dollars in aid that the Biden administration had programmed for the terrorist territories.Mahmoud Abbas Rejects Efforts of Biden Administration to Secure Quiet
That aid has come with a very heavy price.
In Feb. 2019, President Trump’s total cutoff of aid to the Palestinians became official. That year, 10 Israelis or people in Israeli controlled areas were killed in stabbings, shootings, rocket and other attacks, down from 12 the previous year, 15 in 2017 and 16 in 2016.
In 2020, however, only three Israelis were killed.
These numbers reflected the diminished capacity of the Islamic terrorists. The reduction in numbers was not due to the pandemic. The year still saw attacks, including firebombings, rocket launches and stabbings, but the success and lethality rates for these attacks were lower.
The numbers turned around dramatically once again in 2021.
In April 2021, the Biden administration restored aid to the PLO. Terror incidents, reflecting attack attempts, shot up sharply, from 91 in February and 89 in March to 130 in April.
By May, major fighting had resumed, with 13 Israelis, including two children, killed.
By the time the year was over, 17 people in Israeli areas had been killed. The over 400% increase in deaths was only the beginning. In 2022, 31 Israelis or people in Israeli areas were killed, up from only three in 2020, for a massive 900% increase in casualties since the restoration of foreign aid to the terrorists. This was the worst death toll since 2015 under Obama.
But in January and the first half of February, 10 Israelis have already been killed, including a 6-year-old boy and his 8-year-old brother.
Abbas’ Reading of President Biden
Abbas’ working assumption is that the Biden administration is preoccupied with its confrontation with Russia over the war in Ukraine and the economic conflict with China. Biden, according to this assumption, does not want a U.S. confrontation with the PA. Therefore, Abbas allowed himself to ignore Biden’s request. After all, Biden has not invited him to the White House for a visit, and from the PA perspective the White House is not ready to get its hands dirty and offer the Palestinians a political horizon.
In conversations with his associates, Abbas says that the American administration cannot be trusted because it is biased in Israel’s favor.
The refusal of the PA chairman is a blow to the Biden administration. Terrorist activity is expected to increase toward the month of Ramadan (March 22 – April 20, 2023) and force Israel to defend itself through intensive military activity, which could result in Palestinian casualties and regional instability.
President Biden is wrong in refusing to apply levers of pressure on Abbas, as President George Bush did at the time on Yasser Arafat to fight terrorism. Abbas did not hesitate even for a moment to thwart the American security plan, knowing that the continuation of the existing situation may encourage terrorism and cause more victims on both sides.
Abbas’ reluctance to have the PA fight terrorism emphasizes the fact that he has finished his role as a possible partner for negotiations with Israel. He has only one thing that interests him: to survive in his position of power.