Jewish People Under Fire
By: Sallai Meridor, Jewish Agency Chairman

Saturday’s terror attacks on Jews praying in the Newe Shalom and Beith Yisrael synagogues in Istanbul, were perpetrated by Israel’s enemies and haters of peace. The Jewish people in the Diaspora is under fire.

Terror is directed not only against Israel, but also against Israelis in Kenya and against Jews in Tunisia, Morocco, and now in Turkey. Numerous Jews in Europe are the victims of violence on the streets, in synagogues and schools. Jews the world over are exposed to hostile propaganda. Universities all over the world have been transformed from sanctuaries of academic freedom to hothouses of anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist and anti-Israel intellectual terror.

In recent years, Jews worldwide have become the target of those who hate Israel, those who hate the US and those who hate the west as a whole. No less important, they have become the target of Jew hatred that was relatively under control after the Holocaust and is now, once again, rearing its large, ugly head.

For those of us born after the Holocaust, it is sad to see how deeply anti-Semitism is rooted in the hearts of individuals and nations, of religions and cultures alike. Even the most monstrous results of anti-Semitism in the Holocaust failed to destroy it. It bubbles, like boiling lava, deep in the heart searching for opportunities and excuses to spew forth its hatred.

In today’s global context, expressions of anti-Semitism are similarly global. Comments by a Muslim religious leader in one part of the world, or incitement by pretentious intellectuals somewhere else, result in expressions of hate, eruptions of violence and terror attacks everywhere.

The Jewish people and the State of Israel must join together in combating these new revelations of Israel hatred worldwide. We must ensure that the various governments protect the Jews and pursue their persecutors. We must organize a global, public campaign that justifies Zionism and condones hatred of Israel. We must envelope Jews wherever they are with a warm feeling of solidarity: no Jew anywhere in the world nor any Jewish community should feel alone. We are all responsible for one another. And most important - we must remember and remind ourselves how important it is that the Jewish people has a state.

Printed in Hebrew in Ma'ariv