An Attempt to Isolate Israel

I was struck reading about the Israel-divestment campaign at Princeton (On the Campus, Jan. 7) just as reports were coming in of the terrorist atrocities in Paris, including the slaughter of four Jews at a kosher deli. Apparently, the gunman at the deli felt that the murderous rampage that also struck the offices of Charlie Hebdo was not complete until he could target “some Jews.” Now that the forces of terrorism and anti-Semitism are coming closer to home, it is striking to see some at Princeton attempting to isolate Israel, a prime target of those dark forces.

According to PAW, the supporters of divestment want to press Israel on human-rights violations such as its actions during last summer’s Gaza war. Of course, Israel’s population centers have been bombarded by rockets nearly continuously since Israel evacuated all Jews from the Gaza strip in 2005 (somehow the presence of Jews in the Palestinian territories is always seen as a provocation). After Israel left Gaza, and the residents there gleefully burned down the remaining synagogues, the anti-Semitic terror organization Hamas was popularly elected as the government. Hamas has since exploited increasingly sophisticated methods to murder Israeli civilians, including attempting to tunnel into Israel to catch Jews unaware during their religious holidays. Although BDS supporters may want Israel to passively endure such terror attacks on its civilian population, Israel is not obligated to do so in order to gain their approval.

Finally, it recently was reported that Hamas permitted a demonstration in Gaza by rival Salafi activists in support of the Paris terrorists; it seems that Hamas could not allow the murders in Paris to pass without celebration. That there are those at Princeton who act to support Hamas, either wittingly or unwittingly, is truly disturbing.