"Sir," you say to the police station chief, "my neighbor is trying to kill me!"
"I know", the police commander says, trying to calm you, "We've already informed everyone that your neighbor wants to kill you."
"He's already killed several in the neighborhood!" you reply, unwilling to be assuaged.
"We know, don't worry, you're a nice guy, and let the authorities to take care of the problem."
At this very moment the murderer himself enters the police station.
"That's him!" you shout, "He's the murderer. And even you admit it. Arrest him!"
"Oh," replies the police chief, "You're really a very brave guy, you have no idea how much I admire your steadfast stand."
He then approaches the murderer, shakes his hand warmly and promises him, in front of everyone, that he has nothing to worry about and that no harm will come his way. The murderer leaves the police station, winking at you on his way out. He then waits for you around the corner, protected by none other than the police chief himself.
Would it be permissible at this point for you to kill the murderer? Would it be permissible for you to call upon anyone who is capable of doing so to save his own life and that of the murderer's next victims?
There are some self-righteous people who will maintain that taking the law into your own hands will impair the authority of the police chief and will cause greater harm. In fact, such action would be the only thing likely to cause the policeman to come to his senses and do his duty. Taking responsibility for your life is the sole action likely to save not only your life, but also that of the police chief himself!
Why did the media and the Left become so enraged at our ad calling for the death of Arafat? After all, only very recently, in an article published in the daily Ha'aretz, Prof. Sternhal encouraged acts of murder by Palestinians against an entire sector of the Jewish population. Uri Avneri and other professional bleeding hearts from the Left haven't retracted their support for terrorists despite their perpetration of the most horrible of crimes.
What has provoked Moshe Negbi, the tame commentator of our Pravda-like media, into demanding that the signatories of our ad be prosecuted? After all, Negbi himself proclaimed in the past that if the government crosses his red lines, "a civil war would be legitimate." The murder of an innocent civilian population, a civil war, encouragement of every international criminal who wants to murder Jews - all these cause no more than a bored yawn from the media, the Israeli Left, and the apparatchiks heading the State Attorney's Office. In contrast, an ad published in the weekly Makor Rishon by a few not very well-known people, a call directed against the greatest murderer of Jews in our generation, immediately created an uproar.
The patriotic public has great difficulty understanding what Arafat means for the hard-core Israeli Left. Arafat is their raison d'etre - no less. If Arafat didn't exist they would have had to create him. In fact, they actually did create him. After the Gulf War, Arafat was all but a political cadaver, when Peres and Beilin rushed to resuscitate him and to bring him into our midst.
Arafat is their salvation, their last hope to prove how enlightened they are, that they belong to the family of nations, that they are not really Jews. Without Arafat there is no solution to the conflict, because there would be no partner for the solution. And if there is no solution, then it's not just another conflict between "normal" peoples, about "normal" issues. Without an Arafat to the rescue, we have before us a far more profound conflict, one that constantly demonstrates that we are different, special - in short, Jews.
In his memoirs, Yon Michai Potchpa wrote of his meetings with Arafat, "Every time I shook his hand, I made sure to wash my hands with a lot of soap." Potchpa was the head of the Romanian counter-intelligence service during Ceausescu's regime. His duties included supplying young boys for Arafat's pleasure during his visits to the Romanian dictator.
"He has gazelle's eyes," was how Uri Avneri described Yasser's beauty. "A very impressive person," added the Leftist rabble from the media and academia.
These people are detached from reality. They are motivated solely by their hatred for themselves and their people. This is the source of their connection with and the automatic justification of every hater of Israel. Since, for them, the Jews are the source of all evil, the murderers of children in Tekoa become freedom fighters and Arafat should be invited to light one of the torches on Independence day. No, this is not a joke, this was a most serious proposal that was published in Ha'aretz. Arafat is our honored ally, because he is the one who will help us make our enlightened Israeli dream come true and enable us to finally get rid of all remnants of our oppressive Jewish identity.
And now, Zo Artzeinu comes along and, with a tiny pin, a small advertisement, bursts their bubble - the very purpose of their existence. We weren't the first to demand to "Defeat Arafat," "Let the IDF win" and other popular slogans. The Left didn't view these slogans as a real threat: they were merely a call to the police chief who was neglecting his duty. But the Left is the police chief and as long as we just follow the rules and carry on with business as usual, then all's well. What shocked the Left in our ad was that our call was not directed at the police chief, but rather at the victim, reminding him of his right and obligation to defend himself.
And that really frightens them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin, founder of Manhigut Yehudit, The Jewish Leadership Movement, led the campaign of mass civil disobedience against the Oslo accords. Feiglin is championing the registration of thousands of new members to the Manhigut Yehudit bloc in Likud to create a Judaism-based leadership for the State of Israel. For other articles by Moshe Feiglin, visit manhigut.org .
"I know", the police commander says, trying to calm you, "We've already informed everyone that your neighbor wants to kill you."
"He's already killed several in the neighborhood!" you reply, unwilling to be assuaged.
"We know, don't worry, you're a nice guy, and let the authorities to take care of the problem."
At this very moment the murderer himself enters the police station.
"That's him!" you shout, "He's the murderer. And even you admit it. Arrest him!"
"Oh," replies the police chief, "You're really a very brave guy, you have no idea how much I admire your steadfast stand."
He then approaches the murderer, shakes his hand warmly and promises him, in front of everyone, that he has nothing to worry about and that no harm will come his way. The murderer leaves the police station, winking at you on his way out. He then waits for you around the corner, protected by none other than the police chief himself.
Would it be permissible at this point for you to kill the murderer? Would it be permissible for you to call upon anyone who is capable of doing so to save his own life and that of the murderer's next victims?
There are some self-righteous people who will maintain that taking the law into your own hands will impair the authority of the police chief and will cause greater harm. In fact, such action would be the only thing likely to cause the policeman to come to his senses and do his duty. Taking responsibility for your life is the sole action likely to save not only your life, but also that of the police chief himself!
Why did the media and the Left become so enraged at our ad calling for the death of Arafat? After all, only very recently, in an article published in the daily Ha'aretz, Prof. Sternhal encouraged acts of murder by Palestinians against an entire sector of the Jewish population. Uri Avneri and other professional bleeding hearts from the Left haven't retracted their support for terrorists despite their perpetration of the most horrible of crimes.
What has provoked Moshe Negbi, the tame commentator of our Pravda-like media, into demanding that the signatories of our ad be prosecuted? After all, Negbi himself proclaimed in the past that if the government crosses his red lines, "a civil war would be legitimate." The murder of an innocent civilian population, a civil war, encouragement of every international criminal who wants to murder Jews - all these cause no more than a bored yawn from the media, the Israeli Left, and the apparatchiks heading the State Attorney's Office. In contrast, an ad published in the weekly Makor Rishon by a few not very well-known people, a call directed against the greatest murderer of Jews in our generation, immediately created an uproar.
The patriotic public has great difficulty understanding what Arafat means for the hard-core Israeli Left. Arafat is their raison d'etre - no less. If Arafat didn't exist they would have had to create him. In fact, they actually did create him. After the Gulf War, Arafat was all but a political cadaver, when Peres and Beilin rushed to resuscitate him and to bring him into our midst.
Arafat is their salvation, their last hope to prove how enlightened they are, that they belong to the family of nations, that they are not really Jews. Without Arafat there is no solution to the conflict, because there would be no partner for the solution. And if there is no solution, then it's not just another conflict between "normal" peoples, about "normal" issues. Without an Arafat to the rescue, we have before us a far more profound conflict, one that constantly demonstrates that we are different, special - in short, Jews.
In his memoirs, Yon Michai Potchpa wrote of his meetings with Arafat, "Every time I shook his hand, I made sure to wash my hands with a lot of soap." Potchpa was the head of the Romanian counter-intelligence service during Ceausescu's regime. His duties included supplying young boys for Arafat's pleasure during his visits to the Romanian dictator.
"He has gazelle's eyes," was how Uri Avneri described Yasser's beauty. "A very impressive person," added the Leftist rabble from the media and academia.
These people are detached from reality. They are motivated solely by their hatred for themselves and their people. This is the source of their connection with and the automatic justification of every hater of Israel. Since, for them, the Jews are the source of all evil, the murderers of children in Tekoa become freedom fighters and Arafat should be invited to light one of the torches on Independence day. No, this is not a joke, this was a most serious proposal that was published in Ha'aretz. Arafat is our honored ally, because he is the one who will help us make our enlightened Israeli dream come true and enable us to finally get rid of all remnants of our oppressive Jewish identity.
And now, Zo Artzeinu comes along and, with a tiny pin, a small advertisement, bursts their bubble - the very purpose of their existence. We weren't the first to demand to "Defeat Arafat," "Let the IDF win" and other popular slogans. The Left didn't view these slogans as a real threat: they were merely a call to the police chief who was neglecting his duty. But the Left is the police chief and as long as we just follow the rules and carry on with business as usual, then all's well. What shocked the Left in our ad was that our call was not directed at the police chief, but rather at the victim, reminding him of his right and obligation to defend himself.
And that really frightens them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin, founder of Manhigut Yehudit, The Jewish Leadership Movement, led the campaign of mass civil disobedience against the Oslo accords. Feiglin is championing the registration of thousands of new members to the Manhigut Yehudit bloc in Likud to create a Judaism-based leadership for the State of Israel. For other articles by Moshe Feiglin, visit manhigut.org .