With its support for the establishment of a Palestinian state and with its pressure on Israel to exit Area A, the breeding ground of terrorism, the United States administration has unequivocally declared its willingness to sacrifice Israel for the sake of an "anti-terror" coalition. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon urged the countries of the free world "not to repeat the horrible error of 1938" when the enlightened democracies of Europe decided "to sacrifice Czechoslovakia in favor of a convenient temporary solution."
Some Israelis hoped that following the Attack on America, the free world would finally understand the nature of those whom Israel is being forced to deal with. These hopes were soon shattered. Even after one of the worst concretizations of evil we had ever witnessed, leaders of the free world refuse to see the nature of the beast - the self evident truths about terrorist groups and the states that nurture them.
Over the last month it has become blatantly clear that western democracies have thoroughly embraced the unethical ethics of pacifism. Instead of a just response that would eradicate the root cause of terrorism - put an end to the regimes that support al-Qaeda, Hizbollah, Hamas, Jihad Islami and other groups - the United States is turning its other cheek and joining forces with those bent on its destruction.
Literally embracing the Christian edict to give the other cheek is highly problematic, because it allows evil to triumph and spread. Those who subscribe to such a morality, however, are not necessarily evil: most pacifists have good intentions and they actually believe that their lack of response to being slapped will stop the cycle of violence. Yet over the last few weeks the United States has openly given its support to another form of perverse morality - after itself being slapped, it is sacrificing the cheek of another.
To fulfill one's own masochistic impulses and turn the other cheek is unjust and potentially dangerous; to sadistically sacrifice someone else's other cheek, is inexcusable and outright immoral. This perversion of Christian morality is comparable in its depravity to the actions of the Crusades, and later, of the Spanish Inquisitors. Forcing Israel to pay the price for the terrorist attacks - a price that, if paid, could lead to its demise ? would be one of the worst crimes that has ever been committed against the Jewish people and against humanity. It is teaching the terrorists that terrorism pays.
Attaining political gains through barbarous attacks is exactly what the terrorists want as part of their phased plan: the gradual destruction of Israel through diplomatic and military activities. The PLO and its allied Arab countries adopted this plan after the 1967 and 1973 wars, when they realized that Israel could not be annihilated in one fell swoop. The destruction of Israel is in itself part of a larger phased plan: the ultimate destruction of the "Great Satan" and all those who support the values it stands for.
Israel cannot wait for the world to realize the real intentions of the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists and Israel must resist being put on the sacrificial altar. If the Arabs fulfill their threats to throw Israelis ? and not just those residing in the West Bank - into the sea, then the sympathies and apologies of the rest of the world for not doing something sooner will be meaningless. The apologies and sympathies of the world came too late for six million Jews and if the terrorists continue to have their way, they will come too late for millions of Jews living today, in Israel and in the Diaspora.
The difference between 1938 and 2001 is that Israel has its own state with its own powerful army. Israel, already 53 years old, has reached an age when it must rely on itself, assert its independence and determine its own future.
To survive, Israel must return to the values that have held the Jewish people together, against all odds, for thousands of years. The essence of Jewish morality is the integration of mercy and justice, of emotion and reason, heart and mind. Christian and Moslem ethics emanated from the Jewish Bible, though with radically different emphases: Jesus put mercy above justice, while Mohammad, in words and even more so in action, stood for a heartless, vengeful form of justice.
Israel must not allow the modern adherents of a perverse form of Christianity to feed it to the claws of Islamic "justice." Israel must teach the free world that "Those who have mercy on the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the merciful" and teach those who value destruction above progress and oppression over freedom, that terrorism does not pay. Israel must exemplify genuine justice and mercy, so that it can fulfill its destiny and be a true light to the nations.
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Tal Ben-Shahar, a teacher and lecturer, writes extensively on education, philosophy, psychology and politics and published the book "Heaven Can Wait" in 1998.
Some Israelis hoped that following the Attack on America, the free world would finally understand the nature of those whom Israel is being forced to deal with. These hopes were soon shattered. Even after one of the worst concretizations of evil we had ever witnessed, leaders of the free world refuse to see the nature of the beast - the self evident truths about terrorist groups and the states that nurture them.
Over the last month it has become blatantly clear that western democracies have thoroughly embraced the unethical ethics of pacifism. Instead of a just response that would eradicate the root cause of terrorism - put an end to the regimes that support al-Qaeda, Hizbollah, Hamas, Jihad Islami and other groups - the United States is turning its other cheek and joining forces with those bent on its destruction.
Literally embracing the Christian edict to give the other cheek is highly problematic, because it allows evil to triumph and spread. Those who subscribe to such a morality, however, are not necessarily evil: most pacifists have good intentions and they actually believe that their lack of response to being slapped will stop the cycle of violence. Yet over the last few weeks the United States has openly given its support to another form of perverse morality - after itself being slapped, it is sacrificing the cheek of another.
To fulfill one's own masochistic impulses and turn the other cheek is unjust and potentially dangerous; to sadistically sacrifice someone else's other cheek, is inexcusable and outright immoral. This perversion of Christian morality is comparable in its depravity to the actions of the Crusades, and later, of the Spanish Inquisitors. Forcing Israel to pay the price for the terrorist attacks - a price that, if paid, could lead to its demise ? would be one of the worst crimes that has ever been committed against the Jewish people and against humanity. It is teaching the terrorists that terrorism pays.
Attaining political gains through barbarous attacks is exactly what the terrorists want as part of their phased plan: the gradual destruction of Israel through diplomatic and military activities. The PLO and its allied Arab countries adopted this plan after the 1967 and 1973 wars, when they realized that Israel could not be annihilated in one fell swoop. The destruction of Israel is in itself part of a larger phased plan: the ultimate destruction of the "Great Satan" and all those who support the values it stands for.
Israel cannot wait for the world to realize the real intentions of the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists and Israel must resist being put on the sacrificial altar. If the Arabs fulfill their threats to throw Israelis ? and not just those residing in the West Bank - into the sea, then the sympathies and apologies of the rest of the world for not doing something sooner will be meaningless. The apologies and sympathies of the world came too late for six million Jews and if the terrorists continue to have their way, they will come too late for millions of Jews living today, in Israel and in the Diaspora.
The difference between 1938 and 2001 is that Israel has its own state with its own powerful army. Israel, already 53 years old, has reached an age when it must rely on itself, assert its independence and determine its own future.
To survive, Israel must return to the values that have held the Jewish people together, against all odds, for thousands of years. The essence of Jewish morality is the integration of mercy and justice, of emotion and reason, heart and mind. Christian and Moslem ethics emanated from the Jewish Bible, though with radically different emphases: Jesus put mercy above justice, while Mohammad, in words and even more so in action, stood for a heartless, vengeful form of justice.
Israel must not allow the modern adherents of a perverse form of Christianity to feed it to the claws of Islamic "justice." Israel must teach the free world that "Those who have mercy on the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the merciful" and teach those who value destruction above progress and oppression over freedom, that terrorism does not pay. Israel must exemplify genuine justice and mercy, so that it can fulfill its destiny and be a true light to the nations.
-------------------
Tal Ben-Shahar, a teacher and lecturer, writes extensively on education, philosophy, psychology and politics and published the book "Heaven Can Wait" in 1998.