Who said that they do not follow our calendar? The despicable murders by the Palestinian Arab terrorists of innocent Israeli people, children, teenagers, rabbis, teachers, housewives are often committed on or close to Shabbat or our holidays.
Our New Year 5779 started that way. Two days before Yom Kippur, Ari Fuld, dear friend of so many people, the real lion of Judah, one of the best of us, was murdered in another vicious attack by a Palestinian Arab terrorist, a 17-year old barbarian trained and indoctrinated by the bestial system that is run and executed by criminals.
Ari Fuld, 45-years old, father of four, courageous, motivated, articulated, devoted, a great Jewish man who loved his country, his land and his people. An enormous loss for Israel and Jewish world. And it is just absolutely surreal for anyone who knew Ari.
And the terrorist? Slightly wounded, he was rushed to the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem and treated in the Israeli hospital by the Israeli doctors.
Wrong. Utterly wrong.
The primary value of Judaism is human life. Human, not the lives of the creatures who are bred to commit barbaric crimes, with criminal psychology and modes of behaviour.
They are cold-blood terrorists, would they be seventeen or seventy. The value of human life is not valid by definition if those who murder people for business are treated equally with their victims. This is absurd.
Terrorists do not have human rights. When the state of Israel implemented this logical policy, Israel was perceived and treated in the world substantially differently. And Israeli people were not slaughtered so casually in their own country.
But it is not about how anybody treats us. It is about how we treat our people - and our enemies. Sworn enemies who kill Jews for both business and pleasure receiving those abominable ‘stipends’ for years, turning terror into profitable business. In the Jewish state. On Jewish soil. This is wrong. Absolutely wrong. And it must not be tolerated, not just the ongoing terror against the Jewish people on Jewish soil, but the attitude and policy towards it.
How on earth do a few appointees who enjoy a king-like status in the life of modern Israel, who have been parachuted above reason and anything else, dare to demand from the IDF the creation of a special body which would be designated specifically to consider requests from terrorists - who are sentenced to life in prison for the most atrocious crimes - requests to shorten their sentences? This is not a democracy. This is not even a mockery of the memory of all the victims of terror and their victimized families. This is an insult to basic moral values - and because of that, it is screamingly, outrageously wrong. Worst of all, we heard about it the morning of the day Ari Flud was murdered.
We hear of the state decision to shorten the sentence of the accomplices of murder in a terror attack just a day after the funeral of Ari Fuld - the decision that everyone is surprised by and against. But somebody made that decison. Who and why? How this is possible and what does it tell us - and those who live to kill us?
There are so many wrongs evoked in connection with this vicious crime and which pound in our ears - no, our hearts - powerfully. It is wrong to allow the attacking and attacked terrorists to live, but the military and security personnel have been cautious for a good while about whether to shoot and kill - as would happen anywhere in the world - due to the pressure on them to restrain their response.
It is wrong to send the convicted terrorists to comfortable prisons where they enjoy life, putting on weight, socializing, having feasts among the other like barbarians, having a great time, communicating with the outside world easily against all odds and pronounced restrictions. It is wrong to allow them to study, to become MBAs and authors. It is insane, it is a travesty of human rights.
And first and foremost, it is wrong not to implement capital punishment for terrorists. It is long overdue to implement it in the state of Israel. Because of this unpardonable leniency, terror has become routine, and that evil routine knocks down the best of our people, the symbols of Israeli strength as Ari Fuld was.
The backbone of morality has been broken by this realpolitic effective surrealism. And when the backbone of morality is no more, life becomes a bitter and very painful reality..
This holiday season is full of real-time pain.
Heroes are not murdered for nothing. This is the one of the quotes Ari used to say: “When we stop begging the world for love, and demand respect, then peace will come”.