Rabbi Leo Dee Slams CNN for Equating Arab Terrorism With Israeli Self-defense

ISRAEL (VINnews) — Rabbi Leo Dee, who tragically lost his wife and two daughters in a terror attack before Pesach, slammed CNN for equating his family’s murder with Israel’s acts of self-defense against Palestinians.

Rabbi Dee referenced what he called “terror journalism” and “moral equivalency” of Israel and its attackers.

In an emotional TV interview last week, Rabbi Dee described the murder of his wife Lucy, 48, and daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15 HY”D.

Closing out the segment, reporter Christina Macfarlane said: “Well, as with most conflicts, those impacted most are ones who have the least to do with the fighting. And just as we heard Rabbi Dee’s story, coming up we’ll hear similar stories from Palestinians.”

In response, Rabbi Dee told the UK’s Jewish Chronicle (JC): “The moral equivalency is outrageous. There is no equivalent on the Israeli side. I don’t know of any Israeli terrorist who has murdered Palestinians in cold blood in almost 30 years.

“Terror journalism is breaking the world apart. If we had honest reporting, we could get peace rapidly. Peace doesn’t sell, terror does.”

At one point Rabbi Dee said that “most Palestinians are good people””. He was quoted by the JC saying his family has even gotten messages of condolence from Palestinians.

He also said: “We will never blame the murder on the victims..There is no such thing as moral equivalence between terrorist and victim. The terrorist is always bad.”

The UK government was criticized after Britain’s foreign office used weak phrasing in its initial statement on the attack.

It said: “We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual”, and called for “‘all parties… to de-escalate tensions”.

In response, Israel’s former US ambassador Michael Oren wrote: “Shame on Britain. No mention of Palestinians or terror, no outrage. The sisters merely ‘died’ and a third person was somehow injured.”

Then last Thursday, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote a stronger letter to Rabbi Dee.

It said: “There can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence, and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism. The UK remains steadfast in our commitment to work with the Israeli authorities, and all parties in the region, to bring an end to the terrorism that Israel faces, and to the cycle of violence which, as we have seen all too clearly, is so destructive.”