And the Oscar Goes To…Dalal Mughrabi, PLO Terrorist
It is almost midnight, but I can’t sleep. I am haunted by their faces, by the thought that, thirty-two years ago, at this very hour, both Gail and Dalal were still alive.
Gail was packing her cameras, checking that she had enough film and the right lenses. She would get up early so the beach would be empty. Too many people, and she wouldn’t get close enough to the birds.
Dalal was also going to the beach, but she wasn’t going to take pictures of life in Israel, and she wasn’t going alone. It would have taken her longer to check her gear. You need a lot of guns to arm eleven PLO Terrorists.
Twenty-four hours later, both women were dead. Dalal Mughrabi sailed from Lebanon and landed on the beautiful coast, north of Tel Aviv. After asking the American photographer for directions, the terrorists shot Gail Rubin and left her to bleed to death on the beach. Mughrabi and the other terrorists were members of Fatah, a nationalist group determined to kidnap and hold prominent Israelis in exchange for “Palestinian” prisoners.
They hijacked a bus and drove towards Tel Aviv, throwing grenades at passing cars. When they finally reached a closed check point, they opened fire on police and set fire to the bus. Dalal and the terrorists died with their thirty-seven victims.
Early yesterday, March 10, 2010, the Palestinian Authority canceled a memorial celebration during which a city square in Ramallah was to be named after Mughrabi. The PA has not issued an explanation for postponing the ceremony. Presenting Dalal as a model for young girls, encouraging them to rival her contribution to humanity, thirty-seven Jewish corpses, is consistent with previous official acts of the PA. A school, technology center, scholarships and summer camps are named for the mass-murderer, so the only reason to cancel today’s ceremony was political.
With the Vice-President of the United States touring the region, honoring terrorists would certainly be poor timing. While the Obama Administration is working overtime to give an egalitarian impression to Israel and those under the Palestinian Authority it makes sense to pretend they are prepared to do their part for peace. Particularly since Israel declared its intention to open settlements in the West Bank, cancelling the party in honor of the Coastal Road Massacre was a clever way for the PA to score some PR points.
It is such a shame, though, that this didn’t all transpire last week, before the Oscars. Imagine the scolding Israel could have gotten from the Oracles of Global Morality as they teetered in their Jimmy Choos, clad in the fruit of fifty thousand underpaid sweatshop hours.
It was Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Wizard of Oz, who said, “If you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.” The Palestinian Narrative is a lie that has become the truth, in no small part because of Leftist film stars using cinematic award moments to throw the undeserved credibility attendant upon fame, wealth, and the cult of Hollywood, behind a deadly fairy tale.
A year before Palestinian super-star Dalal shot Gail Rubin to death, Vanessa Redgrave shocked the Oscar audience as she clutched her Little Man of Gold and declared support for the PLO:
“Neither I nor the Academy will be intimidated by a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums — whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression.”
Redgrave was far from being the last to legitimize the methods used by the PLO to advance its agenda. The “off” switch temporarily rescues the justly indignant from pro-terrorist lectures given by women who wear three-thousand dollar shoes while feigning concern for global poverty. This, unfortunately is a short term, isolated solution. Left-driven Hollywood culture is a major factor in forming the political opinions of millions who never expose themselves to any other source of information about world events.
The powerful people who play dress-up for a living will continue to weep their way through pacifist speeches. None will cry for the woman who bled to death next to her camera on a beach in Israel. Ramallah will wave good-bye to Biden and give its own Oscar, a city park named in her honor, to a woman who left nothing behind her but death.
Wow…just wow
As long as someone like you remembers Gail Rubin, people like me will never forget her, nor will we ever forget all the victims of Islamic terrorism. Thank you for reminding us about what we continue to face. Never forgive, never forget.
Like its founder, islam's accomplishments are measured in numbers killed.
This was an astoundingly powerful piece. Strong writers who put a face on the Islamist threat render an invaluable service.
Thank you.
Thank you for that piece, it makes us all think about those who died in the hands of terrorists.
Leave it to a cult to name a street or park after a person who's only contribution was to kill 37 people, 38 if you count Gail.
When are we going to stand up and call these cult members down and tell them to get out?
Jeanette, thank you for the powerful article that brings truth into the conversation and projects a light on the pretense and deceit infecting the political left and celebrity driven informational media. We need more truth and honesty in the world. George Orwell stated that "when deceit is universal and world-wide,the truth then becomes revolutionary".
I, for one, have a weeping heart over Gail Rubin. This is just tragic. The Islamics are making it more and more difficult for innocent folks to just live out their lives.
There should be a special flag, and perhaps there is, made to be flown in honor of and to remember the fallen victims of the Jihadists. I'd fly it every day.
Gail was a sensitive and kind woman. We were friends when we both lived in Israel during the seventies. The fact that she was murdered has always struck me as an example of the mindless need to destroy that has characterized the so called freedom fighters, and knuckle dragging celebrities who demonize Israel. Venessa Redgrave is an early leader in the anti Israel cheerleading section of elite film stars. Who the hell is Vanessa Redgrave in the long history of the Jewish people? Nobody. Just a self righteous mouth. Poor Gail, so innocent and guileless, a regular DANGEROUS enemy # 1 of the Arabs? ZICHRONAH L'BRACHA.
Who the hell is Vanessa Redgrave to espouse the cause of a violent terrorist outfit. Do the film stars know about the history or politics of the Middle East? Or for that matter any part of the globe to mouth concern. There will be very few personalities to shed tears for the Gail Rubins of the world. While many a Oscar and Nobel may be awarded to killers and terrorists.
I believe that, yes, there are some filme stars who know A LOT about politics. It is known to happen
I seem to recall a film star who became president of the USA. It is possible to have some kind of talent, succeed in it and know about the world around them. Just saying
Good piece although I have no inclination to agree with you. Only maybe two things: Dalal Mughrabi is far from being an heroin and peolple who worship her are very very misguided. Killing innocent people is not the answer to anyone’s problem. And Gail Rubin and 36 other people died before their time. But, I’m sorry to say, Israel does not have a good record of dealing with innocent palestinians as well. This situation is not black and white. The Palestinians do have a right to land and to have quality of life(and breathe of course). It’s a vicious cycle of violence that will never end unless people start to listen to reason. And that can only be made through education. Discrimination is not the answer.