Canada's Prime Minister teaches Israel: defend yourself!

By Tuvia Brodie

On Monday, January 20, 2014, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke to Israel’s Knesset. We can see from the speech that, clearly, he supports Israel. He believes in Israel. He is not afraid to defend Israel.  He is not ashamed to praise Israel.

Except for two Arab MK’s who hate Israel—and who stomped out in protest during Harper’s pro-Israel speech--the Knesset responded warmly--perhaps even enthusiastically-- to Harper’s words. His support was a welcome change from the scolding Israel has become accustomed to receiving from foreign leaders.

Harper challenges us. His spirited support reminds us that we should defend ourselves. We shouldn’t have to rely on others.

If we do not defend ourselves vigorously, who will? Our so-called ‘peace partners’ won’t. They attack us without mercy.

If we do not defend ourselves today, how many Harpers will Israel need tomorrow? If we do not defend ourselves now, how long with Canada’s Prime Minister be willing to stick out his neck for us?

The more silent we are in the face of Arab attacks, the more aggressive the Arab will become; and the more aggressive the Arab, the stronger will be the support he gets from those who ennoble him. The more ennobled the Arab becomes, the more wicked and guilty we become.

That’s how life works for Jews: when our enemy ascends, we decline. When our enemy grows strong, we grow weak.

We stop the enemy’s ascent by defending ourselves. We become strong by fighting back.

Everybody loves the ‘comeback kid.’ Nobody loves a coward.

We control our Destiny. When we speak out, we influence our friends.  A vigorous defense will strengthen our friends’ resolve. Silence will weaken that resolve.   

If we remain silent we will become isolated, sanctioned and demonized.  We will be isolated because our silence will fuel our enemy’s aggression. We will be sanctioned because our silence will confirm our guilt. We will be demonized because our silence will validate the accusations that we are demonic.

Silence will kill us. Prime Minister Harper’s vocal defense  pushes us to confront who we are. Are we Jews who belong on this land or are we guilty as charged?

Many say, we are guilty. They say we don’t belong in the Middle East. They say we are European—and have only come here because we could. They say it is time for us to leave—and any defense we give for our presence here is offensive and vulgar, even illegal.

We should ignore those voices. Those who argue this way have no knowledge of history. They have no idea what Zion is and what it means to Judaism.

The future of Israel does not lie with these voices. They are the voices of the anti-Israel. They promote the un-Israel. They seek the non-Israel.

Others say they believe in Israel. But they dare not speak out lest we offend the powerful. We should ignore these voices, too. They are the voices of cowardice—or worse.

Anyone in Israel who believes that attacks against Israel are so scurrilous they don’t deserve a response, is wrong. The entire world watches us. They listen to the Arab verbal assault—and wait for us to defend ourselves. They are hungry for truth.

But if we remain silent, our silence condemns us. Everyone knows that the wicked are silent in the face of Truth. If we answer every lie with silence, then the lie become the truth.

Our silence marks us as wicked. It tells the world that we are indeed as evil as the Arab says we are.

Look! The Arab calls us, ‘Apartheid’. What do we say to that? Nothing.

Look! The Arab calls us ‘occupier’. What do we say to that? Nothing.

Our silence is a confession: we appear guilty as charged.

Our Prime Minister’s Office should form a team similar to the cyberwar team that defends Israel against cyberwar attack. This new team should identify every anti-Israel attack from Europe, America, Abbas, Erekat and all other Fatah and Hamas officials.

After every attack, the team should pound out a vigorous response. Then, using the influence and attention-gathering power of the Prime Minister’s Office, the team should produce headline stories to attack the attackers.

For example, the next time Abbas says, ‘no Jews in Palestine’, the team should publish, ‘Abbas promises war crimes!’, ‘Abbas violates humanitarian law,’ ‘Abbas violates international law’ and ‘No state for war criminals.’

The world needs to see these defences. The world needs to see who is the liar, who promotes murder, who builds a case for statehood upon lies, misrepresentation and war crimes.

If we do not defend ourselves, who will?