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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Before the keynote speaker took the stage at the Jewish Community Center Thursday, Uri Perlman, director of Bais Menachem school, addressed the crowd and explained he was standing before them to discuss the sanctity of human life.</p><p>Perlman challenged the audience to not let secondary liberties override basic human rights. &#8220;Is there anything a country should not do for its citizens, for their safety?&#8221; Perlman said. &#8220;The answer is probably no.&#8221;</p><p>On an evening that brought together religious leaders from both Jewish and Christian communities and had representation from Wilkes-Barre City Council in Tony Brooks, people gathered to hear a message concerning the escalation of terroristic activity by Muslim extremists throughout the world dubbed &#8220;Stand with Israel, Stand with Paris, Stand with Humanity,&#8221; featuring keynote speaker Asaf Romirowsky.</p><p>Romirowsky is a fellow at the Middle East Forum and co-author of &#8220;Religion, Politics, and the Origins of Palestine Refugee Relief.&#8221; A former Israel Defense Forces International Relations liaison officer, he has been published in national news outlets and scholarly journals.</p><p>Romirowsky addressed the audience after several others stressed the idea that Israel needs to not be apologetic for the measures it is taking to protect its people.</p><p>&#8220;One of the rabbis before said that Paris is reminiscent of the Israeli reality,&#8221; Romirowsky said. &#8220;For sure that is to be the case, and for sure the question about not being afraid to stand up and talk about the reality, about Israel&#8217;s right to defend itself &#8230; I totally agree with that. I could not agree more.&#8221;</p><p>Romirowsky called the world scenario today one in which Israeli people are faced with recapturing the narrative they have lost in the eyes of world public opinion.</p><p>&#8220;If the peak of North American public opinion was almost 50 years ago in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the reality is today that the Israelis can do no right and the Palestinians can do no wrong.&#8221;</p><p>Israel has come under scrutiny for military actions that have included the closure of Palestinian communities and the refusal to return the bodies of slain Palestinians to their families, but Romirowsky said policymakers in Washington are unaware of what is truly happening on the ground in Israel.</p><p>&#8220;It is much easier to be a supporter and a radical Islamist than it was in 1979,&#8221; said Romirowsky. &#8220;All you have to do is follow a Facebook page or follow a Twitter feed and you can join the revolution.&#8221;</p><p>Romirowsky said the intifada movement, which calls Arabs to act out against oppression and revolt, is ingrained in the Palestinian society and is the legacy of Yasser Arafat. He noted extremists in their early 20s do not know a world before the Oslo Peace Accords, which set agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993.</p><p>While the sentiment in the room was universal in that Israel should stand up for its safety without guilt or fear of public opinion, Rabbi Larry Kaplan of Temple Israel offered an acknowledgement that there is no clean or easy solution.</p><p>&#8220;What we need to do is see the humanity in everyone, in the other side, and if that means that Israeli border guards and police need to be trained to see that humanity, then that has to happen,&#8221; Kaplan said. &#8220;However, from the other side, there needs to be &#8230; an ability to sit down and say, &#8216;We are not going to continue to teach our children that Jews are animals that should be slaughtered.&#8217;&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scholar and former IDF international liaison officer Asaf Romirowsky addresses the crowd at the Jewish Community Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_AsafRomirowsky.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scholar and former IDF international liaison officer Asaf Romirowsky addresses the crowd at the Jewish Community Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Renowned keynote speaker highlights rally for support of Israel</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:mmattei@www.timesleader.com">mmattei@www.timesleader.com</a>.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Asaf Romirowsky delivers keynote address during ‘Stand with Israel’ event at Jewish Community Center in Wilkes-Barre