The staged video of the attempted murder and lynching of David Be’eri of Ir David, the other day in Jerusalem should serve at the least as a wake-up call to all who care about Israel.
For those of you who haven’t heard of this incident, last week while driving through the Shiloach neighborhood of Jerusalem, about 200 meters from the Old City near the Western Wall, David Be’eri was the victim of a planned ambush that was orchestrated by members of the international media. (See film here http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139971)
This attack is not a rare occurrence; it is not a reaction by the Arabs to any particular incident; it is also not limited to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, but is a nation-wide problem; and it is not the first time the media has staged an event that could result in the loss of life for Jews.
There are many aspects of the recent attacks that bother me to the core. Yes, I call them attacks, simply because that is what they are. A demonstration is a demonstration, but the second you pick up a rock or anything else with the intent to cause bodily harm, you cross the line.
Most children are taught that when a bully taunts them his first step is to tell the teacher - after all they are the authority and they are charged with keeping order. In the child’s mind this provides the classroom with a sense of security and stability. Many times we see the bully coming back, at times the teacher is not around, or maybe the teacher just doesn’t have the time to deal with the problem. Then, either the child learns that he must fend for himself, or his parents teach him that he has to fight back at times.
As a society we are taught that if you have a problem, call the police. That is what the civilized people do, right? The police are supposed to uphold the law, keep the peace. In Israel, as in most countries, most citizens, abide by this philosophy. In fact, Israeli Jews have been so conditioned to do this that it is coming back in our faces. In recent years, any Jew that has stood up against attempted murder, lynching -whatever name you would like to give it - has found himself at odds with the police instead of finding the security and protection that he deserves.
We have become much like the child who comes home beaten up every day by the bully. We are stronger; we could have responded, we should have responded, but we have become afraid, lest the teacher punishes us.
We watched this conditioning set in back during the Iraqi war of 91. For the first time in history, Israel was attacked and did not respond. We could have, we should have, but were told not to. Many of our people were dumbfounded, how could this be, how could we let ourselves be pounded time and time again and do little against it?
The lesson was not wasted. The lesson learned during that time was not learned by the Jews, the lesson was learned by the Arabs, that lesson being taught was: you can hurt the Jews, you can hurt Israel and they won't always fight back. They applied this lesson to our troops in Lebanon, they learned to apply this lesson to Jews in Judea and Samaria, to Jews in the Galil, in the Negev.
We like to say that we restrained ourselves, we are better than them, and we behaved… all this as tears fell on filled coffins.
The situation today in Israel is, locally, where there are problems, we find that our police do not respond quickly enough. It seems that this is happening more and more, and at times the delays seem politically motivated. Instead of teaching Israelis to be good citizens, the message seems to be, if you want to be safe, either run away or take matters into your own hands.
Not a good recipe for a strong civil society.
Being attacked is accepted as a norm. “Its just a mortar” ... “its just a Molotov cocktail” ... so you got a little injured, could have been worse... They shot at the “settlers” not at us.
The media learned that they could get great stories and great pictures all for a few dollars. Arab leadership learned that publicity was as cheap as a neighbor’s son, and we fell for it.
So here we are today, where it is all right for Jews to be attacked for their crime...Living. I know, there are those of you out there saying, “well, they shouldn’t be in those areas.” I ask you, who hold those thoughts, to tell me: where we should be? Maybe you are not aware that this is happening in all parts of Israel. Jews being attacked in the Galil, in the Negev; is that okay also?
We are being conditioned to be victims again and this is the disease that I am talking about. This is the disease that must be fought against. In the name of peace we are being told to lay low, take it, don’t defend yourselves, dare I say, turn the other cheek?
Where else in the world does this happen? Nowhere.
The phenomenon of Jewish strength came about by Jews around the world seeing Israel respond to its enemies. We witnessed terrorists and other adversaries struck down where ever they were. The names “Mossad” and “Shabak” struck terror amongst the Arabs. “Israeli” meant that you were strong and could defend yourself. As our nation developed, as we fought off enemies against all odds, and proved that miracles do happen, our pride as a strong people spread throughout the world.
We are seeing media-staged attacks occur more frequently. By not stopping them, the government of Israel, the Police and the reporters who are organizing these events are creating an atmosphere of anarchy and vigilantism. They are playing with a fire hotter than they can imagine.
This disease is viral and it will not be contained.
