Passover and the Modern Day Ten Plagues

By Henry J. Levy

On Passover we recount the story of the miraculous escape of the Jewish People from 400 years of bondage in Egypt and of their subsequent journey to freedom in a land of their own; the land of their forefathers; the Land of Israel.
Today, the State of Israel has become the veritable homeland of the Jews the world over but there seems to be a feeling in the world that the other nations want to effectively enslave Israel, which we believe they take to be synonymous with enslaving the Jewish People, by having it conduct itself according to their demands.
When one reads the Haggadah, there are enumerated a series of ten plagues to which Pharaoh and the Egyptians were subjected before Pharaoh reluctantly agreed to give the Jews their freedom. If we use that list of ten Plagues as a kind of basis of comparison; or better, a jumping off point, we might come up with today�s "Top Ten List" of those who have been more recently plaguing Israel with demands that would limit that country�s freedom to act as a sovereign nation.

1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran has been continually calling for the destruction of the State of Israel and, as his country gets closer to becoming a nuclear power, the threat Iran can become cannot be ignored. And, the fact that Ahmadinejad also spreads the lie that the Holocaust never happened makes him twice as dangerous.
2. Ban ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations was in Israel recently demanding that it immediately stop the growth of settlements because it is his belief that such growth is an impediment to the furtherance of the peace process. He also met with Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, but made no demands of him, not even a simple one like recognizing the right of the State of Israel to exist.
3. The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, who was blindsided during his recent visit to Israel when the Israeli Government announced that 1600 new housing units would be built in east Jerusalem, said he was incensed that such a project was unveiled while he was there. Both he, and later Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, labeled it an affront to the US demands of no new settlements while the peace talks were trying to be restarted. The fact that these 1600 residential units were to be built in an already existing Jewish neighborhood meant nothing to either of them. Creating places where new generations of Jews could live seems to be of no concern to our nation�s leadership. And the flip side of the same coin, is not surprising either, neither one of these statespersons made demand number one for the Palestinians to do anything at all to get closer to be able to sit down at the peace table.
4. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil recently visited Yad Vashem in Israel for a refresher course on the Holocaust. Afterward he met with PA leader Abbas and admitted to him that he participated in past Brazilian demonstrations against Israel.
5. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met with Ehud Barak and while discussing peace talks said that Israel must make some concessions. When Barak asked what concessions the other side should make the topic was changed to Iran.
6. The United Nations Human Rights Council concluded its main session of the year by slamming the State of Israel with five separate resolutions with only three resolutions for the rest of the world combined. There was no mention of Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism but the Council did manage to freely circulate a statement that falsely accused Israeli doctors of a racist plot to steal Palestinian organs.
7. Arabs in Bethlehem and Hebron said that Israel�s plans to improve and restore the Tomb of Rachael and the Cave of the Patriarchs would lead to a religious war since these are holy Arab sites and not Jewish sites. History would have another take on that statement.
8. The United Kingdom expelled an Israeli diplomat while blaming Israel for forging British passports that were supposedly used in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a major Hamas terrorist and killer, in Dubai. There was no evidence of Israel�s involvement. Previously planned trips by Israeli officials to Britain, Tzipi Livni and Maj. Gen. Doron Almog, were also cancelled because arrest warrants were secured against them by pro-Palestinian groups for alleged war crimes.
9. Justice Richard Goldstone�s infamous Goldstone Report accused Israel of war crimes in the Gaza conflict, based to a certain extent of his adopting the narrative of a terrorist group for his report while ignoring input from Israel. One should also take notice of how completely he downplayed a nation�s right to defend itself from attack and its obligation to save the lives of its citizens from a constant barrage of over 6000 missiles from an enemy within striking range of its borders. The fact that these rocket attacks emanated from mosques, schools, ambulances and heavily populated residential neighborhoods in Gaza by Hamas, a group that has as one its main doctrines wiping Israel off the face of the earth, was probably too much information for Goldstone to process in a fair and impartial manner.
10. United States President Barak Hussein Obama seems to be treating Israel as an opponent in a political race. Perhaps if Israel were to change its name to Iran or North Korea, or Venezuela, Obama would respect its sovereignty, its borders, its policies and its leaders. However, since Israel just happens to be a democracy and a friend and ally of America, it�s only fitting that he try to humiliate its Prime Minister and force it to cave on new settlements while making no demands on its supposed peace partners. On another note, during an impromptu Seder prior to the election, Obama ended it by saying, "Next year in the White House." This year, during the Seder, if he says, "Next year in Jerusalem", Jews everywhere, especially in Israel where he has an under 5% approval rating, will be quaking in their boots fearful of just who he wants to see ensconced in Jerusalem.
    My how the tables have turned since Moses led the Jewish people out of Egypt so many years ago. Now the Jews are the ones being subjected to the plagues. While this has been going on for many years from most of the nations in the world, it has been Mr. Obama who became the first President of the United States since Jimmy Carter to pile on with such relish such enslaving criteria. When Mr. Obama publicly tries to make Israel, and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu his whipping boy, it sends a message to the rest of the world that it is open season on each and every Jew living in Israel. In our opinion Mr.Obama�s behavior is not only disgraceful, it is treacherous and dangerous. Can it be that President Obama has more in common with a man with which he shares the Nobel Peace Prize? Just maybe he has the same peace plan in mind for Israel that Yasser Arafat had. It is hard to imagine how he so skillfully fooled the 79% of the Jewish people who voted for him during the last election. It is up to all of us to insure that this will never happen again.