Appeasing terror: 75 years ago in Tiberias, today in the White House

Tiberius is one of my favorite cities in Israel. It was the home of many great rabbis who lived or were buried there. The Sanhedrin fled from Jerusalem during the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire, and after several moves eventually settled in Tiberias. Many scholars believe that the Mishna and the Jerusalem Talmud were compiled by Rabbi Judah haNasi in Tiberias. It also happens to be the location of Pagoda, my favorite Chinese restaurant in all of Israel.

A sad part of Tiberias history occurred 75 years ago. On Oct. 2, 1938, an organized group of Arab attackers massacred 21 Jews. Three of the victims were women and ten were kids younger than 12. They were stabbed, shot and burned.

The New York Times on Oct. 4 described the brutal rampage:

Not since the riots of 1929, when Arabs fell on Jewish men, most of whom were rabbinical students, as well as women and children, in the ancient towns of Hebron and Safed, has there been in Palestine such a slaughter as the attack of last night. The main synagogue of the town was destroyed by fire, and the district offices, the police station and the British police billet were fired on.

The attack apparently was well organized, since the Arab gang, before descending on Tiberias, cut all telephone communications. Coming in two parties from opposite directions at a signal, which was a whistle blown from the hills surrounding the town, the firing began simultaneously in all quarters…

The bandits rushed to the central synagogue and, finding there a beadle named Jacob Zaltz, killed him and then set the building afire. … The Arabs broke in and stabbed and burned to death Mr. Kabin [an elderly American Jew who had recently come to Palestine] and his sister…

From there the bandits went on to the house of Joshua Ben Arieh, where they stabbed and burned to death Joshua, his wife and one son, and then shot dead his infant son. In the same house three children of Shlomo Leimer, aged 8, 10, and 12, were stabbed and burned to death. Proceeding farther, the Arabs broke into the house of Shimon Mizrahi, where they killed his wife and five children, ranging in ages from 1 to 12 years, and then set fire to the house…

The Tiberias massacre was part of three years of terrorism by Arabs living in or near the holy land. There was no Israel and no disputed territories, just some communities of Jews, with many who had been living on that land for generations.

Rather than put down the violence, the British Government decided to appease the terrorists with a British White Paper limiting Jewish immigration into Palestine just as Hitler was beginning his final solution. As a result, the British sentenced many Jews to death at the hands of the Nazis.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the 75th anniversary of this massacre occurred the same week that President Obama rewarded the terrorist-funding Iran with a phone call based on unsubstantiated promises to moderate. “The Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons,” Obama told the UN.

It’s a nice story but it’s false. Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei never issued such a fatwa; no one in the Iranian government has been able to produce one. The Iranian regime and its spokesmen have used the tale about Khamenei’s anti-nuke fatwa for several years. Each time they told the story the Fatwa was given a different year of issue (2005, 2007, and 2012) but the actual “fatwa” was never presented.

The respected Arab-media monitoring organization MEMRI published two reports demonstrating that the Fatwa is a lie. The most recent was released in August 2013.

Like the Palestinian claim that there was never a Jewish Temple on top of the Temple Mount, the Iranian regime believes that the frequent repetition of the “fatwa” lie will result in its acceptance as truth.

To date, Europeans refuse to accept it. EU legal advisers made an official request to Iran in 2005 to provide a copy of the “fatwa,” but in vain, MEMRI reports.

To date, no fatwa has been issued against nuclear weapons. But that hasn’t stopped Barack Obama from being snookered.

It didn’t end with the UN speech. As Iranian forces were taking part in the massacre of innocent civilians in Syria against the policy of Obama’s administration, the Iranians are still supporting terrorism throughout the world. Additionally, the facts show that Iran is enriching uranium way beyond the point needed for energy,

Ignoring those facts, President Obama decided to have a direct phone call with the Iranian president last Friday afternoon.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t talk to Iran if they make overtures. However, it is a big deal to talk to the President of the U.S. even for a foreign leader. Discussions are usually held at lower levels until a country demonstrates with action that it is looking to moderate. Direct talks with the U.S. President are supposed to be an incentive, but Obama appeasing the terrorist nation, gave away this incentive for nothing.

This was not the first time this President has shown a lack of backbone while dealing with terrorists (just ask the families of the four people killed in the Benghazi attack). Sadly it probably won’t be the last.

As we learned 75 years ago, appeasement of terror teaches the terrorists their murderous methods work.

May the memories of those slain in Tiberias 75 years ago always be for a blessing. And may the President of the United States realize the error of his appeasing ways.