After 9/11 Americans were in a state of shock as to what had happened. We watched live on television the mass destruction, the people jumping from windows, the New Yorkers running for safety and we saw it all happen in places we knew. We had been to the World Trade Center towers. We had walked the streets of Manhattan. Our family members, our friends and colleagues worked in those buildings. They worked in the buildings next door and down the street, and we didn’t know if they were safe or had been pulled in by the days events. It was one of the worst days of my life, and I can only imagine the incredible pain, terror, and suffering inflicted on the victims themselves and their families.

It was also an enlightening moment in American history when we were struck at home by the very same type of terror that Israelis must deal with on a day-to-day basis. September 11th happened on a horribly grand scale, and threw the United States from a state of peaceful existence into the already festering war being waged against our freedom and values around the world. This same battle rages and continues today with the attack in Jerusalem.

This madman has no justification for his actions. There is no rationalization that can place ANY of the blame for terrorism at the feet of Israel. This free democracy wants peace in the region, and they have endured decades of violence and conceded nearly everything asked of them in an attempt to achieve a peaceful existence. But the terrorists continue to wreak havoc; they continue to play political games of life-and-death with the innocent lives of civilians on both sides of the security divide.

The actions of today made a major impact on our group. It rapidly brought all of the abstract information we’ve received into focus as we observed the reaction of those around us. The Israelis in our vicinity were angry, disappointed, shocked, and saddened, but they have also been hardened by the relentless violence waged on them and they know that they must live on. In the face of terror, they stare back at this existential threat and say,

“Our hope will not be lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.”

Four days ago group walked down Jaffa Road in Jerusalem spending some time in the Ben-Yahuda Mall (a large pedestrian section of town with many shops, bars, and restaurants). This is the street where today’s psychopath drove his stolen bulldozer and used it as a weapon to crush innocent Israelis.

After we heard the news in the morning many people called home to make sure our parents knew we were all fine. As we got more details, discussions ensued in which attendees expressed their disbelief that the attack had occurred where we had just recently been walking and enjoying our freedom for a few hours. Never once, not one time, did I hear a single person doubt the right of our Israeli allies to defend themselves. Not once did I hear a justification for this terrorist’s actions.

Our trip has truly impressed upon us the dire importance of the United State’s relationship with Israel, and the truly horrible threats Israelis face. It has shown us the tremendous efforts they have gone to in an attempt to secure peace both through extensive security measures, but also through deep-reaching concessions to their enemies. This region is so very compact, the territory so heavily disputed, and the prices paid by innocent people so high - and we have seen it all first-hand.

Soon, we will all return home with these experiences and with some level of comfort that we are safer in America than we were in 2001, but also with the knowledge that we have a long ways to go in defeating this enemy motivated by a sick but powerful ideology of hate and destruction who harbor some very specific geopolitical agendas.

We will continue to learn more about Israel on this trip as we tour more sites, witness more remnants of the destructive work of evil extremists, and hear from experts on the nature of this threat and how to stop it. The terrorists will continue their attacks, whether coordinated or as lone wolfs, until we defeat them and their ideology. And this small nation Israel will continue to live on their land, developing this arid desert into an oasis while enduring carnage carried out in their school buildings, markets, clubs, and backyards…in spite of the pathetic, unnecessary, and cowardly actions of today.

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday, 35 percent of Americans believe a terrorist attack somewhere in the United States is likely over the next several weeks.

The figure is the lowest in a CNN poll since the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people…

…According to the survey, 30 percent of Americans approve of how Bush is handling his job, while 68 percent disapprove of Bush’s job performance.

Americans feel safer from terrorism now than they have since before 9/11/01.  The credit for this, and for a lack of subsequent attacks on American soil, can be given to the War on Terrorism, and the Bush administration’s aggressive pursuit of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.  Despite everything President Bush is doing to keep Americans safe, many still do not approve of his job performance.  Does anyone else see the contradiction in that?

Give me a break! This guy (Barack Obama) is now trying to court the Jewish vote by attempting to relate his losing a Congressional race in Chicago to what the people of Israel endure everyday in horrible acts of terrorism. Take this passage:

When I ran against Bobby Rush [for Congress], the perception was that I was Hyde Park, I’m University of Chicago, I’ve got all these Jewish friends. When I started organizing, the two fellow organizers in Chicago were Jews, and I was attacked for associating with them. So I’ve been in the foxhole with my Jewish friends, so when I find on the national level my commitment being questioned, it’s curious. [Emphasis mine]

Really Barack? You enduring some politics by association hardships in your failed candidacy for Congress is comparable to innocent people in Israel being blown apart by savage terrorists? Your inexperience is showing…

On top of this, Barack was widely known in his early days in Chicago to have been associating with radicals on the Palestinian side of the argument and only came around to support Israel when he realized it would be politically advantageous for a future life in politics. (See this article about Barack’s ascent in Chi-Town’s machine politics).

Now, if that wasn’t ridiculous enough, Barack then trains his perceptive foreign policy analytical skills on the current situation in Israel with this earth-shattering, bold observation:

The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions, and so we have a national-security interest in solving this, and I also believe that Israel has a security interest in solving this because I believe that the status quo is unsustainable. I am absolutely convinced of that[…] [Emphasis mine]

Are you joking?! Is that supposed to be some sort of bold proclamation condemning terrorism - that Israel probably can’t sustain itself if it continues to be bombarded by rocket attacks, suicide bomber, and radical jihadists of all stripes into perpetuity?

That Barack Obama is just now stumbling onto these facts should be very disturbing to anyone interested in national security and foreign policy, its domestic impact, and the impact on allied nations like Israel who is engaged in a fight for their very survival against these monstrous and cowardly terrorists.