JEWISH WORLD

more than a unilateral executive order signed by Abbas that report- edly simply changed the name of the PA (the quasi-governmental administrative entity created under the Oslo Accords) to the “State of Palestine.” The U.S., which legal- ly recognized the State of Israel upon its declaration of independ- ence, has not recognized the PA/“State of Palestine” as a nation-state, and the Palestinians do not have full member-state sta- tus at the U.N. C ountries who reject rejection- ism often become the targets of the terrorists. An early example of this came in the wake of the 1979 Camp David Accords, the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. The Arab world was furious with Egypt for its détente with Israel, and feeling betrayed, Arab leaders at the time sought ret- ribution against Cairo. In November 1985, three Palestinian members of the Abu Nidal Organization terrorist group hijacked EgyptAir Flight 648 on the flight from Athens to Cairo. The hijacking resulted in the deaths of 58 civilians, includ- ing one American and one Israeli, as well as the maiming of count- less victims. As Libya and Syria were both recognized by the U.S. State Department as state spon- sors of terror, our law firm, Heideman Nudelman & Kalik, P.C., sued both countries on behalf of the American victims of this heinous act of international terror. In contrast to the PA-PLO poli- cy of rejectionism and terrorism, Cairo has steadily improved cooperation with Israel in recent years, reopening embassies while actively working to rein in Hamas terrorists seeking to leave Gaza, destroy Palestinian smuggling tunnels to the Sinai, and for the first time voting in favor of Israel joining a U.N. committee. E gypt should be applauded for taking these bold steps. While other Arab countries are also beginning to work with Israel to achieve a peaceful and secure region, the pervasive threat of the rejectionists’ encour- agement of terrorism jeopardizes these efforts. The Palestinian leadership con- tinues to rally global support for statehood and claims to be seek- ing peace, but Abbas has neither appeared at the negotiating table, reduced the vitriolic language toward Israel, cleansed the PA’s textbooks of hate, nor used the billions of dollars the PA has received in aid to truly benefit the Palestinian people. The PA con- tinues to maintain an attitude of rejectionism, using threats and terror as a substitute for diploma- cy. While terrorism is rightly con- demned and fought around the world, Palestinian rejectionism, though equally damaging, is not. In fact, in far too many places, it is welcomed and emboldened. Those who want peace, stability, economic development and secu- rity for all people of all religions must stand against and fight rejectionism as they do terrorism. Richard D. Heideman is presi- dent of the American Zionist Movement. 20 JEWISH WORLD • JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2018 Reject continued from page 4 newspaper, Rodriguez shared her views about who’s really to blame for the island’s recent Hurricane- related strife in a column entitled “What Does ‘The Jew’ Want with the Colony?” Spoiler alert: The Jew, accord- ing to Rodriguez, wants money. Incensed with Puerto Rico’s debt, the Jews, the columnist opined, had mobilized Congress, which they control, to punish the strug- gling and gallant island. Such tac- tics, Rodriguez told her readers, were hardly new; Twenty years ago, she claimed, the Israeli news- paper Ma’ariv ran a piece explain- ing precisely how the Zionist octopus had Washington in the grip of its tentacles. You’d think that anyone espous- ing such old-school, classic, grade A anti-Semitic drivel would, come the backlash, have the courage of their conviction to stand up and defend their hateful views. But once the column started circulat- ing and enraged responses started pouring in, Rodriguez was moved to apologize. “I deeply regret that my writing is interpreted as anti-Semitic,” she wrote in what was labeled “an explanatory note,” attached to another apologetic note signed by the paper’s editorial board. “My path is clear. Prejudice and racial or religious hostility have never been part of it. I can under- stand the mental reaction of some to the mere use of the Jewish word. But the intention is not to provoke offense, but to contribute to public discussion. With that clear, I apologize to those who in good faith have felt hurt by my political allusion. I do not have and will never intend to aggravate them.” I ’m no apology expert like my colleague and friend Marjorie Ingall, (a columnist for Tablet mag- azine), but it strikes me that if you accuse Jews of exercising “vulgarly the prototype of true power,” say, you probably shouldn’t bother say- ing you’re sorry. Anti-Semites used to know how to be anti-Semites. The new breed of bigots should spare us their apologies. Having abandoned common sense, com- passion, and civility, they should at least hold on to the courage of their convictions. Liel Leibovitz is an Israeli- American journalist, author and media critic. Tablet magazine. reprinted by permission. Countries who reject rejectionism often become the targets of the terrorists. Bigots continued from page 4 Anti-Semites used to know how to be anti-Semites. The new breed of bigots should spare us their apologies.