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The Rabbi And The Terrorists (Why The Murder Of Jews In Mumbai Isn't A Merely Jewish Problem Alert)
Townhall.com ^ | 12/02/2008 | Dennis Prager

Posted on 12/01/2008 9:59:49 PM PST by goldstategop

It was obvious to observers around the world that one of the designated targets of the Pakistani Islamist terrorists was the Mumbai Chabad House, the one Jewish center in Mumbai. The 10 Islamic terrorists who came from Pakistan to India chose their targets with great care.

If one assumes that the terrorists primary goals were to destabilize India, weaken growing Indian-Pakistani cooperation in fighting terrorism, and greatly increase Indian-Pakistani tension, hopefully to the point of military war between the two countries, every one of the targets made strategic sense. Slaughtering as many people as possible in Indias major economic center, including as many foreign tourists as possible at Mumbais finest hotels, also made sense.

But one target seemed to make little sense. In fact, until the attack was over people were uncertain whether the terrorists attack on the Jewish center known as the Chabad House was part of the original plan or chosen spontaneously. Only when the lone terrorist who was captured told his interrogators that the Chabad House was planned a year earlier was it indisputable that killing the Rabbi, his wife, their children and any other Jews present was part of the plan.

The question is why?

Why would a terrorist group of Islamists from Pakistan whose primary goal is to have Pakistan gain control of the third of Kashmir that belongs to India and therefore aimed to destabilize Indias major city devote so much of its efforts -- 20 percent of its force of 10 gunmen whose stated goal was to kill 5,000 -- to killing a rabbi and any Jews with him?

The question echoes one from World War II: Why did Hitler devote so much time, money, and manpower in order to murder every Jewish man, woman, and child in every country the Nazis occupied? Why did Hitler -- as documented by the late historian Lucy Dawidowicz in her aptly named book The War against the Jews -- weaken the Nazi war effort by diverting money, troops, and military vehicles from fighting the Allies to rounding up Jews and shipping them to death camps?

From the perspective of political scientists, historians, and contemporary journalists, the answer to these questions is not rational. But the non-rationality of an answer is not synonymous with its non-validity.

For the Islamists, as for the Nazis, the destruction of the Jews -- and since 1948, the Jewish state -- is central to their worldview.

If anyone has a better explanation for why Pakistani terrorists, preoccupied with destabilizing India, would expend so much effort at finding the one Jewish center in a country that is essentially devoid of Jews, I would like to hear it.

With all the Pakistani Islamists hatred of Hindus, they did not attack one Hindu temple in Indias major city.

With all their hatred of Christian infidels, the terrorists did not seek out one of the 700,000 Christians in Mumbai.

To reinforce my point, imagine a Basque separatist terrorist organization attacking Madrid. Would the terrorists take time out to murder all those in the Madrid Chabad House? The idea is ludicrous. But no one seems to find it odd that that Pakistani Muslim terrorists who hate India and want it to give up control of Indian Kashmir would send two of its 10 terrorists to kill perhaps the only rabbi in Mumbai. As Newsweek reported during the siege, Given that Orthodox Jews were being held at gunpoint by mujahideen (sic), it seemed unlikely there would be survivors. Newsweek, like just about everyone else, simply assumes Islamists will murder Jews whenever and wherever possible.

They are right.

For years I have warned that great evils often begin with the murder of Jews, and therefore non-Jews who dismiss Jew-hatred (aka anti-Semitism, aka anti-Zionism), will learn too late that Jew- and Israel-haters only begin with Jews but never end with them. When Israeli Jews were almost the only targets of Muslim terrorists, the world dismissed it as a Jewish or Israeli problem. Then it became an American and European and Filipino and Thai and Indonesian and Hindu problem.

Two final points:

One is that it is exquisitely fitting that the same week the murders in Mumbai were taking place, the United Nations General Assembly passed six more anti-Israel resolutions. As it has for decades, the U.N. has again sanctioned hatred for a good and decent country as small on the map of the world as the Chabad House is on the map of Mumbai.

Two: Statements from Chabad in reaction to the torture-murders of a 28-year-old Chabad rabbi and his wife called on humanity to react to this evil with random acts of kindness. Evil hates goodness. Thats why the terrorists targeted a Chabad Rabbi and his wife.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Israel; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: antisemitism; chabad; dennisprager; evil; faith; god; good; india; islam; islamofascism; israel; jihad; judaism; mohammedanism; mohammedanism122008; moralabsolutes; mumbaimassacre; rabbigavrielholtzman; rivkahholtzman; sandnazi; theodicy; townhall; whythejews
Evil hates goodness. Why would Pakistani Muslim terrorists devote so much care and effort to finding Jews to murder? After all, its to be noted the terrorists did not target Hindus and they did not target Christians. They went after Jews. That says how much hatred of Jews is central to the Islamist world view as it was for the Nazis. As Dennis Prager rightly notes, it would be a grave mistake to dismiss this as merely a "Jewish problem." The enemies of the Jewish people may initially target Jews but the evil they do consumes others and finally them in the end. Evil knows no bounds and that why we must do everything in our power to resist it and to defeat it. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute in summoning our will to do that that we can bestow upon the memories of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzman and his wife Rivkah.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

1 posted on 12/01/2008 9:59:50 PM PST by goldstategop
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To: goldstategop

‘The canary in the coal mine.’


2 posted on 12/01/2008 11:42:40 PM PST by onedoug
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To: goldstategop
It's because Islam is a demonically-inspired religion, if you want to call it that. Sickness would be better. The enemy of all hates Jews in particular because it was from the Jews that his conqueror came, the One that beat death and deprived the enemy of his power.

Since satan can't get to Jesus, he goes after His children, either spiritual (Christians) of physical (Jews). 'Course, satan's lost the war, Islam is a lie, and when Jesus returns, He'll set things right.

3 posted on 12/02/2008 12:33:23 AM PST by Othniel (Kirk: Don't trust them. Don't believe them. Spock: They're dying. Kirk: LET THEM DIE.)
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To: goldstategop

I’m afraid youre wrong.

Several Hindu temples have been targeted even in this past year.


4 posted on 12/02/2008 3:17:06 AM PST by ketelone
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To: little jeremiah; Indian_Fighter_Kite; Knitting A Conundrum; Hari prasad; MimirsWell

Kurukshetra War - Kali Yuga ping...

To be added to or removed from this ping list, please FReepmail Sir Francis Dashwood.

5 posted on 12/02/2008 3:47:08 AM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood
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To: ketelone
Several Hindu temples have been targeted even in this past year.

Muslims and the Left are now blaming the Hind-Jews for terrorism.

6 posted on 12/02/2008 3:50:22 AM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

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7 posted on 12/02/2008 5:24:08 AM PST by SJackson (http://www.jewish-history.com/emporium/)
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To: goldstategop

Right on, goldstategop!


8 posted on 12/02/2008 8:06:25 AM PST by Convert from ECUSA (RINO = Big government, blue blood, country club Vichy Republicans)
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To: All
Some reports say that Mumbai Jews believed they were safe because they maintain friendly relations with Muslims. Indeed, they lived in Muslim quarters of the city.

It's time for Jews to realize that there are enough fanatics among Muslims to threaten them every time they come into contact with Muslims. Their attitude is too often "it can happen to me, I buy my groceries at Ahmed's". The situation is very much the same in France, where a lot of Jews still don't realize that they are now a target.

9 posted on 12/02/2008 9:10:57 AM PST by FrogBurger (Always compare news articles from different sources. When they fully agree, you can be sure it's BS.)
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To: Othniel

Remember satan KNOWS his time is getting short so he is also stepping up the attacks via these terrorism acts.


10 posted on 12/02/2008 3:19:57 PM PST by Biggirl (BlessedAdventChristianNewYear2008-09=^..^==^..^==^..^==^..^==^..^=)
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To: goldstategop

They started by blowing up Jews in buses and restaurants in Israel.

They continued by flying airplanes into the World Trade Center.


11 posted on 12/03/2008 5:46:39 PM PST by dbz77
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