One of my sons, at the tender age of two, learned that playing soccer involves a lot of acting. When he played with his older brothers, he would suddenly throw himself on the floor, cry dry tears, and hold his leg - until the penalty was called, then he was up playing again as hard as ever.


He learned that it doesn't matter whether one is actually hurt, what matters is that one stays down until the penalty is called on an otherwise innocent player - and one can win the game. No one taught him. He learned this technique by watching professional soccer games. My older sons never employed this technique, but the young one learned it flawlessly, or so he thought. My son's antics were easy to see through (two-year-olds are notoriously bad actors), and we often allowed him his moment of triumph before teasing him with, "Faker! Faker!" until he giggled and gave up the ruse.


Unfortunately, in professional soccer and in life, this technique of false penalties is seldom questioned. Because we are of a just mind, we assume the "injured" party, as he rises from the field in seemingly perfect health, has just gotten his wind back, or shaken out his leg and shown a stiff-upper lip - and we have no way of being sure they weren't

Our referee, the Israeli justice system, has refused to observe the behavior of Arabs for what it is.

earnest when the penalty was called. Unless, of course, we know the player well enough and we have seen the technique too many times. This is when we can begin to question the player, accuse them of less-than-sportsmanlike conduct, and intimate, off the field, that the player might be a "faker." This doesn't change past behavior, but we can hope that the twin moral prompts of shame and ridicule will do their work to prevent further similar performances of penalty-producing playacting.


Those of just mind and sound ethics must assume that the faker has morality, has shame, and fears ridicule from those who would play the game with honor, and will amend his ways. However, when one comes across a player without morality or ethics, whose only purpose is to win, we are left with only two options. The first is that we can put our faith in the referee to observe the behavior for what it is and refuse to grant the penalty. If this fails, the only recourse is to prove the fakery by showing examples of past behavior and making a strong case against the player. However, without the player's admission of guilt, fakery is very difficult to prove. The penalty stands, the innocent suffer, and the game is lost.


Right now, we are losing the game. Our referee, the Israeli justice system, has refused to observe the behavior of Arabs for what it is, and have assessed penalties against Shimshon Cytryn for aggravated assault against an Arab actor. When Shimshon Cytryn was being forcibly evicted from a building in the Gaza city of Shirat HaYam, Arabs followed the Israeli forces evicting the settlers and began throwing rocks. Soon after, it was reported that an Arab had been "mortally wounded." The Arab "victim," Hilal Ziad Al-Majaydeh, had been throwing rocks before the incident, and continued to throw rocks after he had been "mortally wounded." That was before being asked by television reporters, eager to show the world the barbarity of the evil Jewish settlers, to lie quietly like he was unconscious. Hilal walked away later, holding on to a soldier.


The Israeli justice system refused to call the "victim" a faker, and when Shimshon's father was on his way to court to prove the victim was playacting, he was attacked, this time by Arabs who tried to force his car off the road. They threw rocks, breaking the windshield (what a coincidence!). Shmuel, Shimson's father, tried to pursue the attackers and was arrested for his effort.


This is only the latest outrage against Jews by faking Arabs. There is also the case of Daniel Pinner, who was accused of shooting an Arab he never saw and who couldn't identify him after he shot a gun into the air in order to disperse a group of Arabs who were about to attack him in Gaza. Supposedly, this Arab was also a mortally-wounded rock-throwing thug who miraculously healed from his wounds in record time.


It is clear to me that the referees of justice are unwilling to look closely at these fakes to see them for what they are - morally bankrupt Arabs who are more deserving of an acting award than the trophy of Gaza. I guess our justice system doesn't realize that this game is for keeps, and we are in the finals. It is time we stopped rewarding the cheaters and started seeing that the only ones who are playing fair are the ones being slapped with the penalties. Daniel Pinner has already paid the price for the Israeli justice system's disastrous blindness, now, it appears, Shimson Cytryn will be its latest casualty.


Watch out if an Arab falls in front of your car, or throws himself down on the ground in front of you, you too can serve months and years of incarceration in an Israeli jail. It doesn't matter if anyone is actually hurt, they just have to stay down long enough for the penalty to be called.