Condemn Fanatic Extremists!
Condemn Fanatic Extremists!

Fanatics such as Amos Oz must be stopped, and their hatred rejected across the political spectrum.  As the left regularly insists for extremists to be condemned, so too must the right insist that the left do the same.

To the joy of Anti-Semites, and Israel haters worldwide, prolific Israeli writer Amos Oz claimed that those perpetrating so-called “price-tag” actions are neo-Nazis.

Oz said at his seventy-fifth birthday this weekend, “I cannot stand to hear the term ‘price tag,’ and even more I cannot bear to hear the prettified term ‘Hilltop Youth.” “‘Price tag’ and ‘Hilltop Youth’ are sweet, sugary nicknames, and the time has come to call this monster by its name. We wanted to be like all other nations, we longed for there to be a Hebrew thief and a Hebrew prostitute (alluding to a famous comment by David Ben Gurion) — and there are Hebrew neo-Nazi groups.” “There is nothing that the neo-Nazis in Europe do that these groups [in Israel] don’t do. Perhaps the only difference is that our neo-Nazi groups enjoy the backing of numerous nationalist lawmakers — maybe even racist — and also rabbis who give them a foundation that is, in my opinion, pseudo-religious.”

These absurd, disgusting remarks must be repudiated by all mainstream political elements in Israel. 

One must not forget the dangerous history of this man. In 1995, Amos Oz wrote in  The New York Times that followers of Israel’s center right Likud party were accomplices of Hamas.

Amos  Oz sent imprisoned terrorist Marwan Barghouti a personalized signed copy of his book – Barghouti is responsible for murdering countless Israelis.

Oz was barred from appearing at Assaf Harofeh Hospital to give the keynote speech at an awards ceremony. 

This extremist has called for boycotts of certain areas of Israel and shamefully said that the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, “is moving in the direction of Qum, in Iran.”  

Vandalism and graffiti are inexcusable hooliganism, unquestionably wrong and across the board, political parties have supported police efforts to catch the vandals. But Oz’s comments are apt to ignite a firestorm and are dangerous and must be condemned.

As Ze’ev Jabotinsky wrote in Instead of Excessive Apology, "Our habit of constantly and zealously answering to any rabble has already done us a lot of harm and will do much more. ... We do not have to apologize for anything. We are a people as all other peoples; we do not have any intentions to be better than the rest. As one of the first conditions for equality we demand the right to have our own villains, exactly as other people have them. ... We do not have to account to anybody, we are not to sit for anybody's examination and nobody is old enough to call on us to answer. We came before them and will leave after them. We are what we are, we are good for ourselves, we will not change, nor do we want to."