Oops...

Can it be it just coincidence that three important Western leaders, while covering the subject of terrorism in major speeches, managed to forget to mention Israel or the Jews? First it was the new Pope Benedict XVI, who in his inaugural speech several months ago spoke about the scourge of terrorism and mentioned the bombings in Barcelona, London and Bali, but somehow forgot to mention the bombings in Israel, including one in Tel Aviv that had occurred a few days before, and had killed 5 Israelis. When remonstrations were made to the Catholic Church hierarchy by Jewish groups, the Church reacted angrily and said that the Pope does not take direction from outside sources. This put-down was in sharp contrast to the supposedly friendly relations that Benedict had said he would continue, following the lead of his successor Pope John Paul II. However, subsequent interactions have been very friendly and supposedly the rift represented by this omission and reaction has now been overcome.
Then came that other leader of Christianity, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, who in his memorial speech for the London Bombings on November 15, 2005, mentioned every major religion but the Jews: "It does not matter to the killers if their victims are Christian or Muslim, Hindu or Humanist; what matters is that they show that they can kill where they please." When this omission was pointed out to him, he said it was inadvertent, a slip of the tongue. Here is the official apology: "It was pointed out following the service that the Archbishop had not mentioned Jewish victims of terrorism; as the Archbishop made clear to the office of the Chief Rabbi, this was an entirely inadvertent omission and he regretted any offence that might have been caused by this." Yes, we've heard that kind of excuse before. But, this is entirely in keeping with his well known leftist sympathies, that include support for the Palestinians and opposition to British and American involvement in the war in Iraq.
Finally, and most recently, US Secty. of State Condoleezza Rice, in her speech on arriving in Europe on her current tour, covered the subject of the war on terrorism, and mentioned the bombings in London, Barcelona, Casablanca, Iraq, but failed to include the suicide bombing that had occurred a few days before in Netanya and that had killed 5 Israelis (again). She cannot have the excuse that she "forgot" or that it "slipped her mind," since her speeches are carefully prepared and crafted. No, her omission of Israel in this context was deliberate (as were the others), but for a somewhat different reason.
In the case of the Pope, one can attribute the omission of Israel as a left-over from the bad old days of Church anti-Semitism, that was supposed to have been replaced by the new philo-Semitic theology of Vatican II. In the case of the Archbishop of Canterbury, one can attribute the omission of Jews to the liberal leanings of the leader of the Anglican Church, representative of his flock. But, in the case of the US Secty. of State, since the US wants to have the cooperation of all countries in the war on terrorism, and in order not to antagonize particularly the Muslim and liberal European countries, it is expedient to exclude Israel.
After all, terrorism against Israel is seen by many as somehow justified, while against all others it is not. So each for their own reasons they happen to forget to include Israel/Jews amongst those that have been afflicted by terrorism, when in actual fact Israelis have suffered among the most from murderous acts of Islamic terrorism. Yes, it is more than just coincidence!