The world has resounded over the news of the death of the world's number one terrorist, Osama Bin Ladin. That is, except for the Muslim world. Everyone has been thinking about what his removal means to their countries and regions. So we certainly have to ask what it means to Israel, as well as to the United States."Justice has been done," declared United States President Barack Obama, and major newspapers quoted his statement in large, bold headlines. People all over the United States celebrated, especially at the site of the former twin towers in New York, which Bin Ladin's Al Qaida terrorist organization destroyed, killing some 3,000 innocent people. Jubilant crowds also gathered around the White House in Washington. They all celebrated with the joyful feeling that justice had been done, and that after ten years a great victory had finally been won.But two other things that President Obama said are significant. First, he cautioned that the war against international terrorism is not over, even though its primary leader has been taken out. And that word of warning is true. Nobody has the luxury of loosening up on vigilance and security. Bin Ladin was only one man, and the terrorist forces are still many. Certainly someone else will assume his place of leadership and their violent and cowardly terrorism will continue.But Obama also stated quite emphatically that he wanted everyone to understand that we are not in a war against Islam. In that statement he was not truthful. He might not think of our battles with Muslim terrorism as a war with Islam, but it is obvious that Muslims consider themselves in a war with us – the infidels. In fact, they are engaged in world-wide warfare against non-Muslims in Israel, in the United States, in Europe, in Africa, and in the Middle East. All the terrorism everywhere in the world right now is being instigated by those members of the Islamic faith we call radical Muslims. They are involved in a declared war. To misunderstand is to our peril.We appreciate what Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had to say following the Bin Ladin death news. He congratulated the United States president and America’s intelligence and military for their significant accomplishment. But he added an acknowledgement of a US double standard. The raid that the US conducted to get Bin Ladin was very similar to several raids that Israel conducted to remove enemy leaders who were terrorizing Israel. For their actions, the US administration and other world leaders strongly criticized Israel. So, the US virtually said that it’s okay for us to do it but not for Israel. Other controversies have surfaced, also, even in the United States. Most Americans are not pleased over the captors giving Bin Ladin a respectful Muslim funeral. Reports indicated that his body was ceremoniously washed and wrapped in white linen, and then buried at sea. He was a murderer of so many thousands of people. Perhaps he should have been dumped in an ignominious grave without any respect or ceremony whatsoever. Obama stated in his speech to the nation that Bin Ladin was "not a Muslim leader," so why did he go to the extent of providing him with such a respectful Muslim funeral? var zflag_nid='794'; var zflag_cid='1091/988'; var zflag_sid='122'; var zflag_width='300'; var zflag_height='250'; var zflag_sz='9'; If the Muslim funeral was ordered by President Obama, it certainly is another indication of his pro-Muslim leanings and his personal desire not to offend Muslims. Never mind how much he offends Israel. Is that pro-Muslim appeasement supposed to help our US relations with the Muslim world? After all, we killed their great hero. It is doubtful that the respectful funeral and burial alleviated their hatred of us to any degree at all. Many analysts right away started sounding alarms that the Bin Ladin killing is going to stir up violent reprisals by Muslims in many places. And who knows where? If so, the most likely first target would be Israel. The terrorist leader's death certainly will not alleviate the Muslim hatred for Israel and the Jews, and it will not diminish the Muslim desires to destroy and eliminate the Jewish people and nation. Israel certainly needs to maintain its great vigilance and strong security at its borders, since every one of its bordering countries is Muslim controlled. Are they more dangerous now? Another controversy that has arisen concerns how much and for how long the government leaders of Pakistan knew that Bin Ladin was living and functioning at the site where he was finally discovered and killed by the American forces. He certainly could not have lived there for three years or more without someone's knowledge there in Pakistan. According to Islamic teachings, Muslims are permitted to be intentionally deceitful and dishonest when such actions benefit their purpose in their service to Allah, so we are not surprised that the Pakistani Muslim leaders did not expose Bin Ladin’s whereabouts. But it certainly proves once again that neither Israel nor the United States can or should trust Pakistan's leaders in the future, nor any other Muslim leaders anywhere, for that matter. One commentator stated, "The world is now a safer place." While we all hope so, don't count on it. Now is not the time for any non-Muslim country in the world to sit back and relax. This is especially true for our friend and ally, Israel. We must continue to look up to the God of Israel to protect and preserve His chosen people and His special land.
