Posted on 06/02/2005 5:34:07 AM PDT by SJackson
My daughter, Malki, was murdered in a pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem. How come Oprah's heart aches -- for her killer?
Anyone who has ever watched television’s successful The Oprah Show knows that its host is no ordinary celebrity. “The most powerful woman in the world” is the way her web site describes her.
When Oprah Winfrey says she has read and liked a book, it rockets to the top of the best-seller lists. When Oprah vents about her childhood sexual abuse, 22 million Americans reach for the tissues. When Oprah urges other victims to proudly speak out, they rush to share their story on her show.
The June 2005 issue of ‘O’, Oprah's magazine with 2.7 million readers - features a sympathetic article about an imprisoned 18 year-old Palestinian woman, convicted of conspiring to perform a suicide bombing. The journalist's sentiments will undoubtedly move that impressive multi-racial, multi-religious following.
So here I am at my keyboard.
Immediately after the Beslan massacre, Oprah chatted on her show with several of its victims and declared: "The Beslan terror attack has been a watershed event. The terrorists showed the world that there are no holds barred. Even children are fair game."
Her words bowled me over. My daughter, Malki, and fourteen other innocents including eight children were murdered in a pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem two years before Beslan. By time of the September 2003 Beslan massacre, tens of Israeli children had already perished at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. Had they never blipped on Oprah's radar screen?
In Oprah’s world, not all murdered children were created equal. There are those who do not merit a mention provided their murderers “define their situation as hopeless”, as ‘O’ magazine’s Palestinian terrorist defined hers. There are those who do not warrant any tears or tissues since their murderers “feel that they have no way to respond against what they see as Israeli military aggression" to quote Oprah's magazine.
When it comes to child molesters, Oprah tosses the psycho-drivel out the window and gets very direct. She holds those criminals accountable for their acts period. But not my daughter's murderers.
Oprah may not be a political figure yet, but TIME magazine named her one of its 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2005 the third year it has done so. Her name has been seriously bandied about as a future candidate for some high office. And if Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwartzeneger could pull it off, why shouldn’t she?
Hannah Laszlo, Israel’s icon of the hour, aped Oprah last Saturday in her acceptance speech for the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. She too felt obliged to dabble in politics and offend murdered Israelis. "I want to share this prize with my Mum, who is a Holocaust survivor and also with the victims on the Arab and Palestinian side. It's time we sit and try to solve the problem." The above version of Laszlo’s remarks, carried by Reuters and such major papers as the Toronto Globe & Mail, was egregiously offensive to Israel’s forgotten victims. An only slight-milder version, still stinging to Israeli sensibilities, was heard by Jerusalem Post and New York Times reporters. They quoted Laszlo saying: "I dedicate this award to my mother, a Holocaust survivor, and "the victims of both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict", lumping the victims together with their murderers.
I wonder how Laszlo would react if someone leveled the World War Two playing field and memorialized her mother's murdered family in the same breath as "all the casualties from both sides" of that war?
At the close of the ‘O’ piece on the female terrorist, Oprah’s readers are urged to help "prevent Palestinian children from becoming suicide bombers by donating money to Oprah's Angel Network or to UNICEF". Oprah should be told about my fifteen year old Malki's murderer. He was the son of a well-to-do restaurateur and lacked for nothing. Many other terrorists enjoyed lives of comfort. My advice to Oprah’s followers: Save your dollars. No amount of hand-outs will convince them to spare the lives of the innocents they intend to kill.
Oprah should be informed of the machine guns the Palestinians distribute to their children like roller-blades, only costing a lot more. She should know about my precious child a true angel who devoted herself to helping disabled children and who was a gifted flutist, a caring sister and a loving daughter.
Once enlightened, Oprah will surely realize that evil can lurk not only in the hearts of sexual molesters but even in those of teen-age girls like the one profiled in her magazine. Because there just is no “explanation” for murdering angelic children like my Malki -- ever.
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I hate Oprah. Thank you.
The worst thing I can remember was the museum they made
from the bombed pizza place.
Oprah's beliefs are based upon opportunity and PC timing. Her love of Israelis will give way to love of the bomber's to love of prisoner's at GitMo. Oprah has all the depth of a sidewalk's puddle of dog pee.
What a sobering article.
I have always despised Oprah -- not hated, but despised -- and this is just another reason to continue.
That is a good point and well-stated.
Oprah is where she is precisely because she was fortunate to be born in the only nation where she had the chance to climb.
She is a fool, and an ingrate.
Oprah is a cult too, if she asked her audience to strap a bomb on, they would.
I can't stand the woman either. I would never watch her "Jerry Springer" show. It's no different except that her old media friends try to make her out to be a saint!
Oprah's trying a bit too hard to see the 'good' in everybody on this one. She needs to talk to some old people in Israel and study the PLO founding articles to learn what evil guides the palestinians against the Israelis.
I will say that Oprah has helped many poor people throughout the world and has done a lot of good with her wealth, which I commend her for, but, she's wrong on this one.
Lest we forget. I still don't understand why President Bush wants to give $50,000,000 to the PA.
Oprah has gone off the deep end with the rest of Hollywood...home one day and surfed through channels for a minute to see Oprah praising same-sex couples...that did it for me....kept right on surfing...
Exactly. Much to my amazement, I have heard Oprah advocate contradictory positions with the same tear-jerking sincerity. One day she's telling listeners that they must learn to vent their anger or suffer terrible psychological consequences. A while later, after listening to a different expert, she urges them to set anger aside and move forward. The woman seems totally unaware that what she's selling today is the opposite of what she sold yesterday.
She's also dangerous.
She has quite the following .....of mindless, shallow, propagandized folks, both young and old, who would embrace her every word and deed and think themselves better for it.
And we've given her the venue to do just that!
Also, like so many others who have an agenda, she started out ...small.
Small, and built steam.....and ideas....and planted thoughts....and gained approval and reputation.
I think we should be very wary of this woman.....she has power and large amounts of money.
You should see the way they spoof Oprah on MAD TV. They really highlight her pomposity. Oprah's like Streisand. Lots of opinion, most of them based on ignorance. LIMOUSINE LIBERALS.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Oprah...only looking out for...Oprah....
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