Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: "He who becomes merciful unto the cruel is destined to be cruel unto the merciful."
On Monday, June 28th, 2004, a Kassam rocket slammed into the driveway of a S'derot kindergarten, murdering Afik Zahavi and Mordechai Yosefov. Afik was only three years old when his life was cut short by Arab terrorists from the Gaza Strip. These Arabs did not kill him because he is a settler, or because he supported the settlements. He was killed simply because he is Jewish and lives in Israel. The headline in the next day's paper read "Kassam Kills Boy On Way To Nursery School" and the newspaper showed the father of Afik crying over his son's body. I saved this newspaper clipping from almost nine months ago because I wanted to see just how long I would be able to feel the same pain I felt that day when reading about that horrible tragedy.
Do not think me a masochist of some sort; I really believe that sometimes pain is a good thing, because it lets us know when something is wrong. When little Jewish children are killed on their way home from school, part of the natural and healthy emotional reaction is to feel pain, because there is clearly something very wrong with it. However, it seems as though most of the Israeli public (at least those who support the Disengagement Plan) have become numb to such sickening acts of terror, as though the ones who commit these acts don't deserve to be punished properly. How many actually feel such strong pain that they would at least never support a plan where there is an admitted chance of terrorism continuing? Just the thought of excusing a plan because it will only cause "less" deaths should be so sickening that no Israeli would ever dream of supporting it.
While attending a conference at a college in Ariel, President Moshe Katsav made the following statements in regards to the residents of Gush Katif and the disengagement plan: "The Knesset, which approved the evacuation plan, democratically represents the nation. Every Israeli citizen needs to feel the pain resulting from a plan to uproot Jewish communities, a difficult decision that's not limited just to the Knesset. My heart goes out to the Jewish communities of Gush Katif."
Firstly, the president, with all due respect, is making an enormous error in his understanding of the way disengagement was passed in the Knesset. Anyone who claims that it was passed democratically, and that the Knesset represents the will of the nation, is sorely mistaken. The will of a nation cannot be bought and manipulated with millions of shekels, lucrative jobs and all sorts of other perks, as Disengagement was bought and manipulated through the Knesset. Secondly, the president's call for every Israeli citizen to "feel pain" for the residents of Gush Katif remains vague and elusive. Such empty calls to "feel the pain" have also been made by other pro-Disengagement politicians, such as Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon, who constantly remind us of the "pain" disengagement causes them, and how "their hearts go out to the settlers of Gush Katif and the Shomron." How do these politicians really feel people should express their "pain" over the plan? As far as Sharon and Olmert are concerned, any opposition to the plan is labeled "incitement", if not worse. Clearly, they are just paying lip service, making it seem like they cannot stop a harsh inevitability; an "inevitability" that they initiated on their own.
I have been accused many times of using strong emotions as a means of persuasion in order to influence someone's political opinion. However, I see the Disengagement Plan as a very emotional issue, and there certainly are points in time when political actions need to be influenced by emotions. The current plan to expel all Jews living in the Gaza Strip and in the northern Shomron is immoral. The reason for this is plain and simple: it will cause more Jews to die. The plan is dangerous; it puts people's lives in jeopardy and unfortunately, will cause unnecessary deaths.
Much to my dismay, I have actually used this argument in discussions with Disengagement supporters, and apparently, some actually understand this, but feel that since "the number of deaths may be less after Disengagement, then Disengagement is the right way to go." Such a sick and twisted way of thinking has also been applied to supporters of Ehud Barak's cowardly retreat from southern Lebanon. "Centrists" and left-wingers defend Barak by saying it was the right thing to do because the number of deaths as a result of the retreat has "only been a few". How many lives are considered "just a few"? Why are "just a few" deaths a tolerable number?
These band-aid solutions cloud the real issues at hand. What we need are solutions that will result in the deaths of no one. There is absolutely no excuse for supporting government decisions in which it is blatantly clear that Jewish lives are still put in danger, even though it seems "less" Jews will be killed. It is immoral and inexcusable.
Not only is the plan immoral for endangering the lives of all Jews in Israel, it also has the element of rewarding terrorists and pardoning mass murderers. In the last Gazan municipal elections, Hamas won a landslide victory of almost 75% of the votes. This statistic is appalling, if not surprising, and must be brought to the attention of anyone who has ever said or thought, "Well, not all the Arabs support terror." True, still probably not all, but an overwhelming majority does. One can conclude from the results of those elections that, clearly, most of the average Arabs living in the Gaza Strip support Hamas, for one reason or another. Any Arab who participates in terror activity, has membership in any terrorist organization or supports any terrorist organization is guilty of the mass murder committed by those organizations.
If Hamas, clearly a terrorist organization by every definition, enjoys 75% support from the Arab adult population living in the Gaza Strip, then the Disengagement Plan is essentially the handing over of control of a strategic part of the Land of Israel to approximately a million Arabs who are guilty of supporting mass murder. They will be creating a Hamas-run state, whose goal is to destroy the State of Israel, in very close proximity to main Israeli population centers. I would say that such an act constitutes a crime against humanity, as mass murders are left unpunished, hate-filled ideology is being left to flourish and thrive, and the lives of many, many Jews are being threatened.
Yes, it is true that there may be a chance that many of the average "Joe-shmoe" Arabs living in Gaza throw their support behind Hamas because of the economic and social support they receive from them. However, I don't believe this absolves them of their crimes of supporting a terrorist organization. Just like in Germany, many of the Germans who supported the Nazis did so purely for economic reasons. I still believe that each and every one of them was guilty of the horrific crimes committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, despite their true intentions for supporting the Nazis. Therefore, even the average Arab who supports Hamas for only economic reasons is still completely responsible for all the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas.
"Centrists" and left-wingers believe that to counter the threat of racist and psychotic hate-filled ideology, popular in the Palestinian world, we must force the Palestinians to "re-educate their children for peace". However, I do not believe the answer lies in re-education. Not only is it not our responsibility to educate them in the way we see fit, as a liberal, I feel we have absolutely no right to instruct another people how to educate their children. If their religion and culture dictates that the Jews and infidels must be killed, then we have no right to tell them otherwise. How would we like it if Arab imams taught Jewish children that there is no mitzvah (Biblical commandment) to observe Shabbat? Or that we do not have a mitzvah to settle the Land of Israel? Of course, no one has the right to coerce another religion to change to its liking.
If Islam dictates violent hatred of the Jews, then so be it. Our responsibility is, plain and simply, to defend ourselves against an enemy who has chosen to seek our destruction.
[Part 1 of 2]
On Monday, June 28th, 2004, a Kassam rocket slammed into the driveway of a S'derot kindergarten, murdering Afik Zahavi and Mordechai Yosefov. Afik was only three years old when his life was cut short by Arab terrorists from the Gaza Strip. These Arabs did not kill him because he is a settler, or because he supported the settlements. He was killed simply because he is Jewish and lives in Israel. The headline in the next day's paper read "Kassam Kills Boy On Way To Nursery School" and the newspaper showed the father of Afik crying over his son's body. I saved this newspaper clipping from almost nine months ago because I wanted to see just how long I would be able to feel the same pain I felt that day when reading about that horrible tragedy.
Do not think me a masochist of some sort; I really believe that sometimes pain is a good thing, because it lets us know when something is wrong. When little Jewish children are killed on their way home from school, part of the natural and healthy emotional reaction is to feel pain, because there is clearly something very wrong with it. However, it seems as though most of the Israeli public (at least those who support the Disengagement Plan) have become numb to such sickening acts of terror, as though the ones who commit these acts don't deserve to be punished properly. How many actually feel such strong pain that they would at least never support a plan where there is an admitted chance of terrorism continuing? Just the thought of excusing a plan because it will only cause "less" deaths should be so sickening that no Israeli would ever dream of supporting it.
While attending a conference at a college in Ariel, President Moshe Katsav made the following statements in regards to the residents of Gush Katif and the disengagement plan: "The Knesset, which approved the evacuation plan, democratically represents the nation. Every Israeli citizen needs to feel the pain resulting from a plan to uproot Jewish communities, a difficult decision that's not limited just to the Knesset. My heart goes out to the Jewish communities of Gush Katif."
Firstly, the president, with all due respect, is making an enormous error in his understanding of the way disengagement was passed in the Knesset. Anyone who claims that it was passed democratically, and that the Knesset represents the will of the nation, is sorely mistaken. The will of a nation cannot be bought and manipulated with millions of shekels, lucrative jobs and all sorts of other perks, as Disengagement was bought and manipulated through the Knesset. Secondly, the president's call for every Israeli citizen to "feel pain" for the residents of Gush Katif remains vague and elusive. Such empty calls to "feel the pain" have also been made by other pro-Disengagement politicians, such as Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon, who constantly remind us of the "pain" disengagement causes them, and how "their hearts go out to the settlers of Gush Katif and the Shomron." How do these politicians really feel people should express their "pain" over the plan? As far as Sharon and Olmert are concerned, any opposition to the plan is labeled "incitement", if not worse. Clearly, they are just paying lip service, making it seem like they cannot stop a harsh inevitability; an "inevitability" that they initiated on their own.
I have been accused many times of using strong emotions as a means of persuasion in order to influence someone's political opinion. However, I see the Disengagement Plan as a very emotional issue, and there certainly are points in time when political actions need to be influenced by emotions. The current plan to expel all Jews living in the Gaza Strip and in the northern Shomron is immoral. The reason for this is plain and simple: it will cause more Jews to die. The plan is dangerous; it puts people's lives in jeopardy and unfortunately, will cause unnecessary deaths.
Much to my dismay, I have actually used this argument in discussions with Disengagement supporters, and apparently, some actually understand this, but feel that since "the number of deaths may be less after Disengagement, then Disengagement is the right way to go." Such a sick and twisted way of thinking has also been applied to supporters of Ehud Barak's cowardly retreat from southern Lebanon. "Centrists" and left-wingers defend Barak by saying it was the right thing to do because the number of deaths as a result of the retreat has "only been a few". How many lives are considered "just a few"? Why are "just a few" deaths a tolerable number?
These band-aid solutions cloud the real issues at hand. What we need are solutions that will result in the deaths of no one. There is absolutely no excuse for supporting government decisions in which it is blatantly clear that Jewish lives are still put in danger, even though it seems "less" Jews will be killed. It is immoral and inexcusable.
Not only is the plan immoral for endangering the lives of all Jews in Israel, it also has the element of rewarding terrorists and pardoning mass murderers. In the last Gazan municipal elections, Hamas won a landslide victory of almost 75% of the votes. This statistic is appalling, if not surprising, and must be brought to the attention of anyone who has ever said or thought, "Well, not all the Arabs support terror." True, still probably not all, but an overwhelming majority does. One can conclude from the results of those elections that, clearly, most of the average Arabs living in the Gaza Strip support Hamas, for one reason or another. Any Arab who participates in terror activity, has membership in any terrorist organization or supports any terrorist organization is guilty of the mass murder committed by those organizations.
If Hamas, clearly a terrorist organization by every definition, enjoys 75% support from the Arab adult population living in the Gaza Strip, then the Disengagement Plan is essentially the handing over of control of a strategic part of the Land of Israel to approximately a million Arabs who are guilty of supporting mass murder. They will be creating a Hamas-run state, whose goal is to destroy the State of Israel, in very close proximity to main Israeli population centers. I would say that such an act constitutes a crime against humanity, as mass murders are left unpunished, hate-filled ideology is being left to flourish and thrive, and the lives of many, many Jews are being threatened.
Yes, it is true that there may be a chance that many of the average "Joe-shmoe" Arabs living in Gaza throw their support behind Hamas because of the economic and social support they receive from them. However, I don't believe this absolves them of their crimes of supporting a terrorist organization. Just like in Germany, many of the Germans who supported the Nazis did so purely for economic reasons. I still believe that each and every one of them was guilty of the horrific crimes committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, despite their true intentions for supporting the Nazis. Therefore, even the average Arab who supports Hamas for only economic reasons is still completely responsible for all the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas.
"Centrists" and left-wingers believe that to counter the threat of racist and psychotic hate-filled ideology, popular in the Palestinian world, we must force the Palestinians to "re-educate their children for peace". However, I do not believe the answer lies in re-education. Not only is it not our responsibility to educate them in the way we see fit, as a liberal, I feel we have absolutely no right to instruct another people how to educate their children. If their religion and culture dictates that the Jews and infidels must be killed, then we have no right to tell them otherwise. How would we like it if Arab imams taught Jewish children that there is no mitzvah (Biblical commandment) to observe Shabbat? Or that we do not have a mitzvah to settle the Land of Israel? Of course, no one has the right to coerce another religion to change to its liking.
If Islam dictates violent hatred of the Jews, then so be it. Our responsibility is, plain and simply, to defend ourselves against an enemy who has chosen to seek our destruction.
[Part 1 of 2]