A Terrorist Murder by Arabs but US Admin ‘Condemns’ ‘Attack’ ‘That Resulted in Death’By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus
Our deepest condolences for the death of humanity in the State Dept.’s alleged condolence note about a random attack on a random American in a random place.
Why is it that this U.S. Administration, including its leader, President Barack Obama, refers to the intentional murder of Jews in the most remote and passive of terms? No one murders Jews: an attack happens and later the unfortunate Jew dies.
No Jews are targeted because they are Jews: the victims – random ones, of course – just happen to be Jews.
And it’s gotten worse. Now the Israeli Jews, when they happen to die of some random attack, are not even Jews, but Israelis, unless they happen to live beyond the 1949 Armistice Line (the invisible Green Line) in which case they are neither Jew nor Israeli, but simply the maligned “settler” or, sometimes, only referred to as the other half of their dual nationality, such as American – as if they have no connection at all to the Jewish people or Israel, and as if those connections had nothing to do with their random death.
Take, just as the latest example, yesterday’s stabbing and murder.
Tuvia Weissman, 21, and his wife Yael and four month old daughter Netta are from Ma’ale Mikhmas, just a few miles northeast of Jerusalem. The three were shopping on Thursday, Feb. 18, in a grocery store outside of – and on the wrong side of, according to this administration – Jerusalem.
The Weissmans were shopping in the local Rami Levy, a string of Israeli supermarkets which caters to both Israelis and Arabs. These stores are amongst the few and certainly best examples of real-life co-existence – not merely the wish emblazoned on countless bumper-stickers and decals, sported mostly by white, especially Jewish, liberal Americans who have never met, let alone shopped next to, a Palestinian Arab.
This Rami Levy is located in Sha’ar Binyamin. All of a sudden Weissman heard a commotion. He knew what was happening. A pigua, a terrorist attack, was taking place, and Weissman, although unarmed, ran to help.
As his wife and child waited for his return, Weissman was stabbed with such force in the upper body by one of the two teenage Palestinian Arab terrorists from Ramallah, that he died. The terrorist murdered him. Another Jewish man, 36, was also stabbed in the attack.
That is what happened.
But here’s what the official statement from the administration says about the Palestinian Arabs’ terrorist attack and murder: an attack happened in the West Bank and an American died as the result.
Hard to believe?
Here’s the actual language issued by Deputy State Department Spokeperson Mark C. Toner on Friday, Feb. 19:
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack that took place yesterday in the West Bank that resulted in the death of U.S. citizen Tuvya Weisman. There is no justification for terrorism. This horrific incident again underscores the need for all sides to reject violence, and urgently take steps to restore calm, reduce tensions, and bring an immediate end to the violence.
We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends, and stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further.
Not in Israel, but some other place — the West Bank. Not an Israeli or a Jew, but only an American. There is no Arab violence; instead, “all sides” need to reject violence, as if Weissman and his family and the other Jewish shoppers in that grocery store were just as guilty of violence as the Arab terrorist murderer. Both sides should “take steps to restore calm” and “reduce tensions” and “bring an immediate end to the violence.” Both sides equally.
For you American readers, be advised: your tax dollars were at work in the construction of Toner’s statement.
Oh, and that privacy considerations language? Not so much. All the Israeli papers ran the names of the victim and his family once his family had been notified, all of which happened on Thursday.
So here’s our deepest condolences for the death of humanity in the alleged condolence note about a random attack on a random American in a random place.
About the Author: Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the U.S. correspondent for The Jewish Press. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools. You can reach her by email: Lori@JewishPressOnline.com
A Terrorist Murder by Arabs but US Admin ‘Condemns’ ‘Attack’ ‘That Resulted in Death’
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