Applause Can Kill

"The story of the horrific murder of Hallel Ariel last Thursday did not begin when the Palestinian terrorist entered her home in Kiryat Arba, or even earlier when he decided to set out on his ghastly mission.

Rather, it began a week before the attack, far from Israel, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered an address full of anti-Semitic incitement to the European Parliament in Brussels.

In his speech to hundreds of EU lawmakers, Abbas claimed Israeli rabbis had demanded that the government poison Palestinian drinking water. And instead of walking out of the hall and immediately condemning Abbas, EU lawmakers, who are supposed to represent democracy and moral values, enthusiastically applauded the PA leader...

However, the main issue here is not what Abbas said (the extent of PA incitement against Israel has been known for years), but rather the applause he received from EU lawmakers.

Incitement has seeped into the minds of young Palestinians and incitement is what caused a 17-year-old Palestinian boy to turn into a monstrous beast and murder a 13-year-old Israeli girl in her sleep. Incitement is what terrorists use to justify their sick actions. In their minds, it is fine to slaughter a young girl because 'rabbis want to poison our wells.' There is, however, a step between believing in a twisted ideology and committing a terrorist act based on that ideology. But it becomes easier for a young Palestinian to take that step when he or she gets ideological affirmation from EU lawmakers. The line of thinking is: 'If they cheer for Abbas, they will definitely cheer for me too.'..."