US Congressman Steven Rothman wants the Palestinian National Authority to halt anti-Jewish incitement on the national television station. His excuse is a sermon by a Nablus mosque imam, who said (based on the congressman's letter): “Jews will always be Jews. Even if asses cease to bray, dogs cease to bark, wolves cease to howl and snakes cease to bite, the Jews will not cease to be hostile to Muslims.” Before I continue, I fully condemn incitement against Jews, and would like to ask Congressman Rothman: Did he send the letter to his colleagues to urge them to write a joint letter to the Israeli prime minister, in order to condemn the statements by Rabbi Ovaida Youssef against Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims? Or did he want to condemn similar statements, made on a daily basis, by the settler rabbis? Congressman Rothman reminds his colleagues of the Road Map, which stipulates an end to terrorist attacks, the recognition of Israel and the end of incitement. I tell him, the Road Map is dead: it was killed by the war criminal Ariel Sharon and buried by Netanyahu. I ask him, does the Israeli government recognize the Palestinians or want to expel them, as the bouncer Avigdor Lieberman wants to do, knowing that he is someone who has threatened every neighboring country with destruction. Congressman Rothman then reminds his colleagues that the PNA has received $679 million from the United States since 2007. However, he does not tell us how much Israel has received. We know that it has received more than $3 billion a year in direct assistance; it officially gets about $10 billion in three years, and twice this amount in the form of loan guarantees, tax exemptions and donations from Jews in the US, a country on the verge of bankruptcy, which deprives its people to pay Israel. The result is that the Palestinians have been killed since their land was stolen from them in 1948, not just 2007, by American weapons. IN addition, Congressman Rothman and his colleagues vote enthusiastically to help Israel and bring its per capita GDP to European levels, while their country is bankrupt, thanks to its wars against Arabs and Muslims. Incitement is not a speech by an imam, who holds no political post in the mosque; it is the killing of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims, which renders the imam's unknown words null and void, even if I am against seeing them broadcast on Palestinian television. Congressman Rothman must have received a translation of the imam's speech from MEMRI, which has diligently engaged in accurate translation since Netanyahu established the institution, upon becoming prime minister in 1996. I ask Congressman Rothman, have you received translations of incitement against Palestinians by Rabbi Ovaida Youssef and the rabbis of Shas and the settlers, or did he read them in Hebrew, which I believe he must know fluently? The Israeli press itself is embarrassed by these types and from time to time, it publishes articles condemning them. Has Congressman Rothman ever condemned them, since he is aware of the difference between a powerless imam and the godfather of Shas, a major partner in the Israeli government? This government comprises Likud, Shas and Israel Beiteinu; these are not political parties, but criminal gangs and institutionalized mafias. Every day, they steal the homes of Palestinians and expel them or kill them, then claim that they want peace. They are a disgrace to the Jews; they incite against Jews by their acts. Peace is a matter of deeds, not words. Palestinians do not require the incitement of a lowly imam; they see the crimes with their own eyes. I will cite just one statistic, so that we do not get into a debate about who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter. Since 28 September 2000, when the second intifada began, 1,400 Palestinian children (under the age of 15) have been killed, compared to 135 Israeli children. A ten-to-one ratio is Nazi-like, par excellence. Has Congressman Rothman condemned the killing of Palestinian children, or was he a partner in every congressional vote that supported the war against them, as in Gaza last year, or Lebanon in 2006? If Congressman Rothman does not care about hearing the opinion of an Arab journalist, has he heard that of American churches, which have declared a divestment campaign against Israel and condemned its occupation and its acts? Has he heard the position of the World Council of Churches in Switzerland, which announced a similar stance? Have Congressman Rothman and his colleagues, who will write a letter to PNA President Abbas, followed the march of the occupation army and settlers against the lands and vestiges of Christians in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, and its attack on protestors this week with tear gas and concussion bombs? A few dozen Jewish associations defend Palestinians and condemn the acts of the fascist government headed by Netanyahu; has Rothman read what these humanitarian Jews have written? I began by condemning incitement against Jews and will end by condemning it, but I insist that the crimes of the Israeli government are a much greater form of incitement than the sermon in a mosque. [email protected]
