The horror of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, where Islamist terrorists killed at least 130 people in half a dozen coordinated assaults, rightfully made headlines around the world. The notion that the Islamic State could strike so far outside its territory, with such precision and to such deadly effect, was mind-numbing.
Missing from the headlines that day were the suicide bomb attacks ISIS carried out in Beirut at the same time. It’s as if the world expects such mayhem from the Middle East, whereas an attack in the heart of Europe is beyond the pale.
It’s all beyond the pale. No terrorist attacks of this magnitude can be tolerated, anywhere in the world. Not in Paris, not in Beirut, not in Mali, where Islamist insurgents attacked a hotel on Nov. 20, holding 100 people hostage and killing at least 19.
Nor can they be tolerated in Israel. Yet the world shows little interest in the escalating violence there these past few weeks, as dozens of Palestinians — many quite young, some of them teenage girls — have used guns, knives and other weapons in lashing out at Israeli Jews.
At a Nov. 22 conference at the Palo Alto JCC, Haaretz chief editor Aluf Benn called it Israel’s “new reality” — while not yet reaching the heights of the previous two intifadas, this current violence indicates that yet another generation of young Palestinians, raised in despair and anger, feel they have nothing to lose by killing Israelis.
Last week alone, five Jews were killed in two separate terror attacks Nov. 19 — three shot to death near the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut, including an 18-year-old American yeshiva student (see page 34), and two men killed in a knife attack in Tel Aviv while they were praying.
On Nov. 21, a Palestinian stabbed four people, including a 13-year-old girl, outside a sports stadium in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat.
On Nov. 22, a 21-year-old Israeli woman from Tsfat was stabbed to death by a Palestinian, also near Alon Shvut.
Earlier that day, a Palestinian taxi driver attempted to run over a group of Israelis near the West Bank settlement of Kfar Adumim, then got out of his car and tried to stab passersby. That same morning, a 16-year-old girl from Nablus tried to stab an Israeli Jew, before being shot dead by security forces.
Each of these acts must be remembered. Each should generate the same outrage and grief as any other terrorist attack elsewhere in the world. It’s up to us to keep attention focused, and to make sure world interest does not wane.