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July 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The hallmark of a person

Abe Novick: Up, up, and aliya

July 1, 2009

Rabbi Avi Shafran: The Road Taken

The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta: Get into the holiday spirit with these Star-Spangled desserts

June 30, 2009

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg: What makes a great parent?

Caroline B. Glick: Ideologue-in-Chief

June 29, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Beware of 'Caveat Emptor'

Steven Emerson: ACLU pushing for more money for Hamas

June 26, 2009

Rabbi Yoni Posnick: Learn the secret to a healthy marriage from a scriptural villain

Caroline B. Glick: Barack Obama vs. International Law

June 25, 2009

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf: The Absurd Power of Truth

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 24, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity

The Kosher Gourmet by Andrea Weigl: Summer on a stick: Making frozen treats can be easy, creative and fun

June 23, 2009

Martin M. Bodek: 'On Surnames': And so, We Begin

Caroline B. Glick: The Obama Effect

June 22, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Working for a corrupt firm

N. Richard Greenfield : Where are American Jews?

June 19, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Emotion v. intellect

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's rare opportunity

June 18, 2009

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sometimes it is more essential to define the nature of evil than good

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 17, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Language of Confusion

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Nothing pleases Dad more than a thick, juicy onion-smothered steak. Add home-Baked Potato Chips and …

June 16, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Career v. Careersism

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's losing streak and Israel

Richard Z. Chesnoff: ‘Palestinians’: Never Missing an Opportunity …

June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: How Judea and Samaria can become 'Palestine'

Daniel Pipes: Where Netanyahu's speech failed

June 12, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Some big thoughts about not acting so big

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's High Commissioner

June 11, 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: Our historically challenged President

Mitch Albom: Beware the True Believers

Lewis Grossberger: What we learn from the new Hitler photos

June 10, 2009

Mort Zuckerman: What Obama and his advisors won't -- or refuse to -- grasp about Israel and the Muslim world

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky Lotsa pasta: Tips, techniques and (amazing) taste

June 9, 2009

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: America's first Muslim president?

June 8, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Merchant must take responsibility for careless shopper?

Mark Steyn: A superpower that feeds on mediocrity cannot survive for long on leftovers from the past

Richard Z. Chesnoff: How do you say 'kumbaya' in Arabic?

June 5, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: In quest of spirituality

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's Arabian dreams

Charles Krauthammer: The Settlements Myth

June 4, 2009

Paul Greenberg: The War Comes to Little Rock

The Kosher Gourmet by Judy Hevrdejs: Splash it on! Tap your inner jazz musician and improvise when stirring up a vinaigrette

June 3, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Should terrible teacher be exposed?

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Israel Lobby: Missing in Action

June 2, 2009

Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won't Dare Give in Egypt

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pressure on Israel raises war risk

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Dec. 30, 2003 /5 Teves, 5764

Wrath redux

By Stefan Kanfer

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Is there but one effective way to end the hate and madness?


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | When two Turkish synagogues were bombed last month, the usual crocodile condemnations issued from most world capitals. Israelis took another view. Three different groups of code words are used when members of the Jewish state discuss atrocities.


One is the "Masada Complex," a reference to the Jewish revolutionaries who held out against Roman legions, then killed themselves rather than submit to foreign rule. It is assumed by the Israeli left that Ariel Sharon displays such a complex, fearing that the world is against him, and forcing his country into a suicidal position.


The second is "The Samson Option," a reference to Prime Minister Golda Meir's supposed threat in 1973, when the combined armies of Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur eve. Even today no one is quite sure what happened in Washington D.C. It is only known that after a phone call to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the Nixon administration airlifted arms and munitions, allowing Israel to defend itself with conventional weapons. The current Broadway play, Golda's Balcony, claims that the PM was within hours of authorizing the use of Israel's nuclear arsenal: like Sampson, the Jewish state would take down its enemies even as it perished.


The third group of code words has been heard less often in the recent past. But with the rise of anti-Semitism, prompted by the millions of Muslims now changing the face, politics and ethics of Europe, it is being talked about with increasing decibels. This is called "Operation Wrath of G-d."

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It was first used after the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics of 1972. The late Avery Brundage, then head of the IOC, displayed his customary toilet-seat sensitivity, declaring that the Olympics "must go on" after the massacre. And so they did. But something else went on shortly afterward. That was the decision on the part of the Israeli government to seek revenge on those who would attack unarmed and defenseless Jews.


Over the next months and years, some dozen of the men involved in the murders were knocked off by a squad of Israeli agents. These included Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, the PLO representative in France, who died after explosives were detonated beneath his table. Hussein Abad Al Chik, head of the Black September terrorist group, perished when a bomb went off under his bed. Abou Yousef, third in command of Yassir Arafat's Fatah organization, was shot by Israeli commandos led by Edhud Barak, later Israel's Prime Minister. Adbel Hamid Shibi, a member of Black September, was blown up in his car.


There were many others whose pieces were taken off the board. But the Israeli agents did not stop there. Obituaries of various men, still living, ran in various Arabic newspapers. The names of their friends and family members were mentioned. The message was clear: We know who you are, where you live, who you associate with. We can find you and kill you any time, anywhere. The warnings were enough to make many a potential assassin think twice about working for Arafat's death machine.


Alas, today there are worse threats than the PLO and Hamas. There is Al Qaeda, for example, whose members happily kill Saudis, Turkish Muslims, themselves — as long as Jews die en route. The heads of that organization hope, by these terrorist acts, to intimidate Turkey, Saudi Arabia etc. into breaking relations with the U.S. and Israel.


Thus far the tactics have failed. But there is no reason for complacency. From here on, every synagogue in the world is threatened, and if history holds, every church is next. For radical Islam makes no distinction among the Infidels. The only difference between the Christian nations and the Jewish one is that Israel is closer to the Al Queda headquarters, and therefore more vulnerable. But as 9/11 demonstrated, oceans no longer protect nations, and the enemy is willing to do anything to kill the unbeliever. Anything. As we have seen again and again, the murder of innocent children is the most desirable act they can perform, but women and unarmed men are also among the preferred victims.


What to do? Well, for Jews there is always the Masada example, or the Samson one. But both of these call for the destruction of self. The third choice remains the most effective. Arming those who are the prey of degenerate killers is a sensible way to go. Licensed or unlicensed, Jews have a right to protect themselves and to take down those who would murder them. Temples have a right to have 24-hour guards, and to keep the foe at bay by whatever means necessary. But better still, that foe should be sought out, threatened, and, when possible, annihilated. As numerous incidents in Europe, and lately on U.S. campuses demonstrate, Jew-hatred is in fashion as it has not been since Hitler's time, disguised in the mask of the pro-Palestinian cause. It is long past time to reinstitute Operation Wrath of G-d. Despite protests by people and nations who wish Israel had never been created, the policy of revenge was very effective last time. And it can be again.

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JWR contributor Stefan Kanfer is the author of a dozen books on a wide range of subjects. His last two biographies: the recent Ball of Fire, about the sources of Lucille Ball's comedy, and Groucho, concerning the life and wit of Groucho Marx, were both national bestsellers, as was The Last Empire, a social history of the De Beers diamond company. One of his novels, The Eighth Sin, centering on the fate of gypsies during World War II, was a Book of the Month selection, and led to an appointment on the President's Commission on the Holocaust. Kanfer was a writer, critic and editor at Time magazine for more than 20 years; his articles and reviews have appeared in most major publications. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including installation as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library, among many other awards. Currently he is the drama critic for the New Leader magazine, and serves on the editorial board of City Journal, a quarterly published by the Manhattan Institute.


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© 2003, Stefan Kanfer