On Monday night, The New England Patriots, led by their owner Robert Kraft, honored the memory of Ezra Schwartz, the American teenager brutally slaughtered by a Palestinian terrorist on November 19 as he delivered food to Israeli soldiers.
Conversely, President Obama, who relegated the task of commenting on Schwartz’s murder to the State Department, spoke in Malaysia the day after the murder and mentioned other Americans killed in recent terrorist attacks, in Mali and Paris, but did not mention Schwartz. He finally called Schwartz’s parents on Monday, possibly because he got wind that Kraft and the Patriots would acknowledge the murder on national television Monday night.
The address to the 66, 829 fans in Gillette stadium, as seen on video, went like this:
Ladies and gentlemen, in a month in which the NFL salutes the service of our brave men and women in our armed forces, we also pause to remember the many who have recently lost their lives in senseless terrorist attacks abroad. Last Thursday, this reality struck close to home, when 18-year-old Ezra Schwartz, a native of Sharon Massachusetts and a huge Patriots Fan, was gunned down nearly 5,500 miles from home while studying abroad. At this time, we would like to honor Ezra Schwartz and the hundreds of victims like him with a moment of silence.
Ten seconds of silence followed.
“I am usually a Washington Redskins fan but tonight – and possibly from now on – we are all Patriots. Let’s go Pats!”
Former Knesset member Dov Lipman
Former Knesset member Dov Lipman, who had sent a letter to Kraft, asking him to memorialize Schwartz, commented later: “This is such a fitting tribute to Ezra and is so meaningful to his family and friends. Mr. Kraft is a first class human being who does what is right and just. His support for Israel during these tough times has been unwavering and a pillar of strength for all of us. I am usually a Washington Redskins fan but tonight – and possibly from now on – we are all Patriots. Let’s go Pats!”
On Tuesday, Obama had no problem saying to French president Francois Hollande, “We are all French.” When it comes to Jews, of course, Obama would never claim the same.
But after Robert Kraft’s acknowledgment of yet another Jewish victim claimed by Palestinian terrorists, the same people who danced in the streets after 9/11, red-blooded Americans might well say, “We are all Patriots fans now.”