The State Dept. Tuesday issued a rare condemnation of terror “against Israelis citizens’ without directly mentioning injuries to Palestinian Authority and Israeli Arab terrorists and rioters, who are called “civilians” by Western leaders and media.
Spokesman John Kirby said:
The United States condemns in the strongest terms today’s terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, which resulted in the murder of three Israelis and left numerous others wounded.
He added, “We mourn any loss of innocent life, Israeli or Palestinian, but the statement was a clear change from the usual “balanced” statements that express sorrow for victims on “both sides.”
Kirby added the routine comments that the United States is “in regular contact with the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority [and] remain[s] deeply concerned about escalating tensions and urge all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm and prevent actions that would further escalate tensions.
More important is what Kirby did not say.
He did not call on “both sides” to prevent injuries, which would imply that Israel must tolerate rioters and use limited force against terrorists.
Even more significant was the omission of any reference to the Temple Mount and the Al Aqsa mosque, which is at the heart of the Arab campaign that accuses Israel of trying to prevent Muslims from praying there while supposedly encouraging “settlers” to destroy it.
Israel indeed has prevented Muslims from using the mosque as a launching pad for attacking police and Jews, as well as non-Jews, who visit the site. That is not exactly what the value of “freedom of worship” means.
The change in tone by the United States is a sign that the traditionally successful Arab lie of playing the victim is not going to work this time.
The Palestinian Authority already is churning out the same warped reports that Hamas previously has fabricated to suck the sympathy and anti-Zionist venom of the European Union and United Nations, if not to a lesser degree the State Dept. and the Obama administration.
Arab media are working overtime to tell the world that more than 1,000 Arabs have been wounded by Israelis forces, compared with only a few dozen Jews who have been stabbed or shot by terrorists,. It has headlined that more than 30 Arabs have been killed, compared with less than a dozen Israelis victims.
It wants to convince everyone that it is disproportionate when more terrorists are killed than Jews.
The official Palestinian Authority still calls the terrorists “martyrs”, and the Palestinian Authority’s official WAFA website today was full of reports with headlines such as:
Israeli Police Kills Teenager, Injures another near Jerusalem.
Israeli Police Fatally shoot 3 Palestinians, Critically Injure another in Jerusalem.
It also reported that Israeli officials “claimed” that Arabs had staged the attacks.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has called on the European Union “to exert pressure on Israel to immediately end its military escalation against Palestinians in the occupied territories.”
He also “called for an end to settlers’ extremism and their daily violations in Jerusalem and the West Bank against vulnerable communities and sacred and holy sites.”
Hamdallah then urged “the United Nations Security Council to take immediate action to stop the grave Israeli escalations and provide international protection to the Palestinian people.”
UNRWA, as usual, has cooperated, and said that Israeli forces are using “excessive use of force [that] “may be contrary to international law enforcement standards.”
It made no mention of Palestinian Authority or Israeli Arab murders and attempted murders of Jews.
The United States is not buying it, and it is questionable how much the European Union will swallow it.
EU Federica Mogherini said earlier this week, “Far from preventing the resumption of a political dialogue, the latest tensions should push both parties to work together for the sake of their people.”