Israel Forever

1st August 2005

The Chosen Target

by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach zt'l
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How odd / of G-d / to choose / the Jews.

This is how an Englishman named William Norman Ewer once expressed his negative feelings about Jews. Much stronger feelings about Jews and their State were expressed last week by another Englishman, London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

In an interview with Sky News, Livingstone accused Israel of indiscriminately slaughtering Palestinians in acts that border on crimes against humanity. The Mayor, who has a sorry record of anti-Israel outbursts, demonstrated the double standard so common to those who attack Israel. When over 50 people died on July 7th in terrorist attacks in London, he vigorously condemned the suicide bombings. But when the Palestinians kill Jews, he shows understanding for the actions by declaring:

Given that the Palestinians dont have jet planes, dont have tanks, they only have their bodies to use as weapons.

Although Livingstone is not representative of most people in the U.K., such double-talk is hardly new for some of the British. While Lord Balfour laid the groundwork for the creation of the Jewish State with his historic declaration, it is well known that the Colonial Office in charge of the Mandate did their utmost to prevent it from coming into being. Livingstones remarks are so transparently biased and hypocritical that no rebuttal is required. To those who share his attitude toward G-ds Chosen People, we can only offer the rebuttal of another Englishman, Cecil Browne, to Ewers jingle:

But not so odd / as those who choose / a Jewish god / and spurn the Jews.

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