Israel Under Siege - Letter from SWC Founder & Dean, Rabbi Marvin Hier

July 13, 2006

“History has shown that for more than half a century, there has been no price to pay for the initiators of terrorism in the Middle East. Only the responders face international condemnation.”    – Rabbi Marvin Hier

Dear Center Supporter,

I write to you in a time of crisis - the Jewish State is under siege. Alone, the people of Israel are standing up to their greatest challenge in years. Over the last few days and months:

• Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Lebanese-based terrorist group, crossed   into Israel kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing eight others. Within hours, hundreds of rockets have rained down into Northern Israeli communities, including Haifa, killing and maiming scores of innocent civilians.  This, despite the fact that after Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 demanded that Lebanese authorities disarm the terrorist group. Not only did Beirut ignore that resolution, today Hezbollah is in the Lebanese government.

Photo: July 13, 2006 - Rabbi Marvin Hier addressing the crowd of over 1200, who joined in solidarity at the Center’s rally for Israel, led by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other community officials.

• Hamas terrorists have fired over 1,000 Kassam rockets into Sderot, a town within  Israel’s 1948 borders.  They have carried out murderous suicide bombings murdering and maiming innocent Israeli citizens. And they kidnapped and murdered Israeli soldiers all with absolutely no hint of sanction from the U.N. or world community.

You and I and all who care about Israel’s future must act now.  Please make an urgent online donation to the Center, because without the swift and vocal activism of organizations like the Wiesenthal Center, the international community will continue to punish and denigrate the Jewish State  - even as she has made enormous sacrifices for peace.

The Center is absolutely committed to this just struggle. We are launching a massive campaign to support Israel’s right to self-defense, spread the truth about the situation on the ground in the Middle East, and rally people of goodwill worldwide to stand with Israel in her time of need.

AP Photo: An Israeli police officer runs to the site where a Hezbollah-fired rocket directly hit a building in the northern costal town of Nahariya, Thursday July 13, 2006.

That is why it is so crucial that we act today. We are counting on your generosity and support.    And you can be sure your gift will be put to immediate good use. You know that the Center has the access, and know-how to make a difference.  Our first order of business will be to confront leaders at the United Nations in face-to-face meetings next week with the Deputy Secretary General of the U.N. along with ambassadors from several major countries.

We will demand that Israel’s right to self-defense must be respected and tell them, in no uncertain terms, just how outrageous it is to condemn Israel while allowing terrorist Hamas and Hezbollah to operate with impunity.

We experienced firsthand the impact of terrorist attacks during our fact-finding mission to Sderot and came back determined to act. We immediately engaged our international representatives in Canada, Europe and South America, and they have conducted high-level meetings with European Commission diplomats, UNESCO officials and others.

Your support - both moral and financial - will increase the Center’s effectiveness to fight these one-sided attacks, expose the truth, continue our presence on-the-ground from Israel, to the U.N., to European Capitals, with the media, and elsewhere…and, above all, show the world the strength and depth of support that exists worldwide for the State of Israel and her people.

Please, act today, and send your much-needed, much-appreciated gift to the Center right away.  We must act on Israel’s behalf, for if too many stay silent, the consequences could be dire for us all.

Thank you,

Rabbi Marvin Hier

Please use this link to forward this urgent message to your family and friends.