There's an Elephant in the Room

by Arlene Peck
January 2006

Do you think it is possible to really see clearly anymore? 
Do we still have the capacity to detect the face of evil?

I ask this because, every time I open up a newspaper and 
see rampaging masses of Muslims in black ski-masks, 
fists upraised, armed to the teeth, shouting, "Jihad!  Jihad!,  
I am not only repelled by what I see but convinced I have 
seen the very Devil unmasked.  However, I don't think that 
most people have that reaction when they click on the news.  
Possibly it's because I was reared in the south and remember 
the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) marching in those stupid white 
sheets and dunce hats that those old feelings of revulsion 
lie just below the surface and are easily re-awakened?  
I don't know.

Maybe we have it so good over here that we have become 
like the proverbial frog in the pot of water. As the heat was 
applied, he felt warmer and warmer until suddenly the pot 
was boiling over, with catastrophic consequences for the 
frog!  Is that us now? The nightly terrorist attacks in Iraq 
no longer seem capable of scaring us.  Who really notices 
when our President tells us that we are winning the war on 
terrorism? Who feels committed to the task, or that this is 
their war? Does anyone really believe that we're all going 
into the sunset holding hands with the Muslim community 
in the Middle East, or anywhere else for that matter, if they
get the gift of democracy?  Democracy is also their enemy. 
Ask the Iranians. In fact, look how Iraq is handling it. 
As I write this they are "protesting" in the only way they 
know how because the price of gas has gone from 5cents 
a gallon to sixty-five cents, with violence and bloodshed.

We are dealing with a mentality that is innately incapable 
of grasping the basic, simplified Democratic concepts; 
that whoever gets the most votes rules. And there is no need 
for us to wonder why this is so. It is fundamental to their 
religion, inherent in every "truth" they practice. Theirs is a 
religion based on submission, not representation and 
difference, where shame and "honour" supplant decency 
and compassion.

Somehow, the democratizing of Iraq has gotten mixed up 
with the success of the war on terror. To my way of thinking, 
this has only muddied the waters and, as usual, has 
inevitable and disastrous consequences for Jews and Israel. 
We are in a World War and just like in pre-War Germany 
nobody seems to want to acknowledge it. Apparently there 
is no elephant in the room! Just to illustrate the point, 
recently Jerusalem Bureau Chief Aaron Klein was denied 
entry into Syria simply because he was a Jew.  However 
his non-Jewish colleagues, travelling with him, were welcomed.  
As far as I know, not one news agency considered this 
newsworthy enough to report.  I wonder? Would they have 
noticed had he been required to wear a yellow Star of David 
on his sleeve? There was no worldwide outrage.  It was received
with the same ho-hummery accorded Iran's President, 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, when he went on camera to ridicule 
the Holocaust and repeat how Israel should be blown off the 
map. Hello people! Nuclear threats from a certifiable madman, 
not retracted or repudiated?. but repeated, just so no-one 
would be left in doubt as to the intention. Nuclear destruction 
of a sovereign nation!

It has gotten to the point where not even leftist Jews think 
it is deplorable that Muslims continue to repeat their mantra - 
no Jews should be permitted to live in the Middle East.  
How obvious does it have to be before there is outrage, 
International OR Israeli, over Palestine's refusal to back away 
from their stated goal of Israeli annihilation and replacement 
by "Palestinian" hordes?

Repeat THIS mantra.  In the history of the world, there has 
never been a Palestinian people (other than the Jews), 
a Palestinian king, a Palestinian state, a distinct Palestinian 
language or culture.  It never existed!  And, it should not now.

But, why should I be surprised? For years, I've been writing 
on the subject of the International Federation of the Red Cross 
and the deliberate attempts of its 182 members to block the 
admission of  Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA).   
Why is this an issue at all? Isn't the motivation of all these 
Associations to give aid, to whoever, wherever, not bicker 
like school-children over a flag?

But no, Arab nations, insulted by the Jewish Star, have used 
their 22 votes, in concert with many non-Muslims lands, 
to block Israel's entry.

They're insulted? Insulted? When is the world going to become 
insulted by the manner in which one culture has changed 
the world in ways too horrible to comprehend? Maybe that's 
why we stay so hung up on "political correctness" and 
denial, refusing the politically incorrect notion that, in fact, 
that the Jews are the "good guys" in this war of culture. 
Our culture deniers seem more eager to have their 
"acceptable rules of behaviour" defined by a barbaric and 
evil culture where   "Death to All!" rules.  Let the double 
standard prevail?rather than face the Devil and what they 
represent! There is another mantra we should all remember: 
"All Muslims are not terrorists, but, ALL TERRORISTS 
HAVE BEEN MUSLIMS."

So, instead of a Jewish Star, Israel has been forced to accept 
a Red Crystal, a supposedly, "simple diamond shape", 
thanks to another inane suggestion by South Africa. 
Apparently, the "diamond" originally proposed had 
connotations of slavery so, in the face of this compelling and 
vital issue, the MDA and Israel have caved in.  Instead, 
eager to gain the world's acceptance, they will use an 
empty crystal with their real symbol, the red Star of David to 
be allowed only in Israel, unless more is heard from this 
conference of anti-Semites.  By the way, virtually every 
major Jewish organization in the US, with rare exception, 
applauded this appalling flim-flam rather than resist the 
rejection of the historical symbol of Judaism.  So, the 
Christians get to keep their cross, the Muslims keep the 
Red Crescent and the Jews get the shaft.

Israel, in her stupidity, or maybe because she is so used to 
grovelling for crumbs at the United Nations, accepted this 
and Israel's Foreign Minister, Sylvan Shalom, actually said, 
"The vote reflects Israel's improved international standing.  
This is yet another achievement for Israel's diplomacy and 
paves the way for Israel to join international rescue missions."  
So, once again, Israel openly admits that she is not worthy 
of the same status as the cross and crescent and we are 
privy to seeing the double standard applied yet again.

Examples such as these are small potatoes, in an overall 
world context. My gripe is that the cumulative effect of 
50 plus years of this irrational behaviour towards Israel has 
seeped into not only World consciousness but also Israel's 
own perceptions of herself. It's ok to behave immaturely and
appallingly, its only Israel!

I am disgusted at the lack of outcry, from any quarter, 
over the savagery we have allowed ourselves to become 
accustomed to. The world has to realize that Israel is not 
a banana republic and Israel has to learn a little more of 
"Just say no!" Personally speaking, I want to regain some 
of that pride I used to feel. But, why stop with the press, 
governments and the Red Cross, who could care less and, 
for the most part, are hostile to Jews and every Israeli 
position presented, seemingly by default.

Why should I be any less surprised by the actions of 
Israel-hating Jewish leftists - who are actively doing 
everything they can to destroy their very heritage, 
pointedly ignoring Jewish welfare and interests, 
yet proudly and publicly marching for the dolphins - 
when I am surrounded by the Spielberg's of this world, 
denying our history, circulating false claims or outright lies 
in movies concerning things Jews have not done or endorse.  
Anything goes, in the name of political correctness.

I wrote a column a few years ago about the Jewish Federations, 
where bloated salaries prevail and dollars are wasted on 
causes which never promote Israel and are rarely pro-Jewish, 
where the very idea of affordable Jewish education is 
discouraged.

I am disturbed to read that the FBI refuses to hire 
Arabic-speaking Jews, but shouldn't be.  Is this another 
insult to CAIR or maybe the ACLU? Maybe it's considered 
racial profiling?

One of the many things that was so special about our 
Jewish heritage was the way we always took care of each 
other. In fact, that almost defined us!  Not so today, where 
Jews are discriminated against, by Jews, especially the 
elderly in the inner cities who face poverty and illness. 
Where is their support? Hell, where is the support for the 
settlers from Gaza, who are now homeless, having been 
evicted by their own government?

Why should I be surprised? I called into the Israeli Consulate 
a couple of weeks ago and offered to do a program for them 
on my weekly television show. I told them it would run like 
a commercial for them and be great Public Relations.  
I'm still waiting for them to respond. Are they scared of me? 
Frightened I might talk about Israel positively, as though 
she has rights?

I know it's an effort to attend meetings, write letters to government 
officials and attend marches. We've grown weary complaining 
about the biased newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times.  
However, one person CAN make a difference. I write these 
columns and people do respond. I'm invited to speak at Universities;  
Radio and Television shows contact me, asking me to speak . 
I am encouraged, often, when I receive letters from all over
the world from people who tell me how they are now doing 
their part to wake up the catatonic to the dangers facing us 
on a world-wide basis, but we all need to be doing this, 
and often! I know I am not the only Jew who has intimate 
knowledge of what happened to our people once before, 
not that long ago .The threat of Islamic Fundamentalism is 
marching over the hill....every hill. If we are going to survive, 
we have to turn back the tide!   NOW