Rafael Castrois a Noahide Italian-Colombian with degrees from Yale and Hebrew University. Rafael can be reached at [email protected]
On the 26th of February, two Palestinian Arabs shot and killed in cold blood two Israeli residents of Har Brakha, a Jewish community near the Arab-populated town of Huwara. This act of terror followed a series of similar attacks and tensions in and around Huwara.
As reported by both The New York Times and Haaretz, hundreds of Israeli "settlers" launched a violent, late-night rampage in Huwara. The aftermath, it was claimed, left one civilian dead and around 100 Palestinian Arabs injured, and parts of the town itself in flames.
The frustration and anger felt by these Israelis, who, it turned out, were not all residents of Judea and Samaria (commonly branded "settlers") is understandable, and their act of retaliation and intimidation might even have been motivated by a desire to prevent further loss of life and not just revenge. However, for this show of intimidation to truly resonate, the reaction from the Jewish world and Israeli population should have taken a different path altogether.
Rather than just the Finance Minister expressing support for the Jewish response, the Israeli Prime Minister and all cabinet ministers together with eighty Jewish Members of Knesset (MKs) from various Jewish parties should have unequivocally endorsed the attacks. In place of La Familia endorsing Jewish vigilantism, major Zionist and Jewish organizations should have voiced their support. With each of these reactions reinforcing the others, symbolic venues like Rabin Square in Tel Aviv and Times Square in Manhattan should have echoed with chants of "Avenge Huwara murders! Punish Huwara!"
However, none of this transpired. Instead, the Israeli Finance Minister initially claimed his words were misconstrued when he said Huwara should be burned and later issued an apology. Distinguished Jewish organizations and respected public figures condemned the rampage in Huwara. Amid debates among Israelis and Jews about whether this was a "pogrom," a "lynching," or simply a "rampage," thousands of Israelis made certain that those Arabs affected actually received financial compensation for their financial losses.
In essence, the Huwara incident proved to be a debacle from both a liberal Jewish Zionist viewpoint and a nationalist Jewish standpoint. From the former perspective, the actions of a few hundred Jewish residents in Samaria cast a shadow on the true image of the Zionist settlement movement as a peaceful and uplifting endeavor, particularly in the eyes of the Jews who don't regularly read Arutz 7.
From a nationalist Jewish vantage point, the broader Jewish community's reaction undermined the deterrent impact of the punitive response. Prior to the Huwara incident, Palestinian Arab terrorists might have held concerns that ministers like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in the cabinet would put an end to terror party time. However, this incident showed them that these right-wing ministers are paper tigers. The evidence lies in the fact that terror attacks have actually increased following the Huwara murders, rather than decreased.
This can partly be attributed to heightened Arab resentment towards Jewish residents of Samaria following the incident. But the greater reason is that this anger can be channeled into violence, much like during any other period of Jewish control over Judea and Samaria.
Let me be unequivocal: While I understand the anger that sparked the Huwara rampage, I condemn it. Ethically and legally, the strictest measures against terrorism should never succumb to vigilantism. Politically, strategically, and from a security standpoint, I denounce it as well. For the Huwara episode to have truly acted as a deterrent against potential Arab terrorists in Judea and Samaria, the Israeli response should have been vastly different. It should have mirrored the actions that governments of nations across the world might have taken in similar circumstances – not in the manner of a few vigilante Jews.
This brings to mind a famous line from Bertolt Brecht's play, where a mother tells her son, "Since you're not clever, I taught you to be honest." Reflecting on Brecht's words, it seems fitting to say to the Jewish people, "Since cruelty isn't in your nature, your only choice is to act ethically."
As a Noahide by choice and a staunch Zionist, I want to make it clear that despite my reservations about Jewish reluctance to resort to brute force and collective punishment, I am incredibly proud to be a friend and ally of a people and nation where most individuals do not rejoice at the suffering of the innocent among their enemies.
Throughout my engagements and disputes regarding Israel and Zionism on social media, there's one argument and one incident that silences all critics of Israel and Zionism, even more than the medical care Israel gave Arab victims of Syria's civil war: The over 300,000 Israelis who gathered in Tel Aviv in September 1982 to protest Israel's alleged involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
No Arab, Muslim, or anti-Israel European voice can learn about that event without acknowledging that Israeli Jews stood up and protested to defend the rights of their enemies in a way that very few nations have ever done, even in the name of their friends.
Am Yisrael Chai!