What is being ignored in the current situation when terror shows its ugly face in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, in the Binyamin region, in Huwara, near Hebron and on the roads is the mentality of the Arab people in the Middle East. Murder is part of that mentality, part of the culture, part of the interpretation of their religion and pushed by many of their leaders.
Mentality and culture is what it is all about. You can have great friends in an Arab village, spend time with them, laugh with them, have coffee with them, buy from their shops and even service your car there for a pittance. But the next thing you know you are dead, killed in the name of Allah. That is how it has always been and that is how it is. Over 160 Arabs have been killed by their own people this year.
A South African white years ago asked his faithful black housekeeper if he was in danger as they were more than friends for over twenty years. That was the time of sectarian violence. The housekeeper said: “No, I wouldn’t hurt you, but my neighbour would come to kill you, and I would kill his employer.
It is not only the Arabs who have a mentality different to those living in the West. It is also most Israelis, but a contrasting one. The vast majority of Israelis, the ones who voted in this government have their mentality coloured by being part of the Jewish people with the Torah. Random murder by a Jew is forbidden, but weeding out enemies is not and is even expected. The exception to this Judaic mentality is the majority of the Israeli media, who make every effort to represent the minority of Israelis who have not been exposed to a Torah education, espousing values that are very different.
And this majority of Israelis have a mentality that has lost patience with how the IDF and the government have handled the terror situation. They are openly demanding that the army takes a harder line. That mentality does not sync well with what the West thinks. Being very careful to toe the line pleasing international media does not help in stopping the murders. Even relations with other countries are not much different with many believing that there are strings attached to our relationship with the United States when the truth is that the US needs Israel more than Israel needs the US.
Criticism from the international community must be ignored. It is fueling terror as is the stream of money going from European and other countries to support and encourage the murders.
There are steps that have to be taken to bring tranquillity to Israel:
Firstly Israel has to cut the heads off each of the snakes, whether they live in Dubai, Gaza, Lebanon or Iran. Currently their leaders are threatening death to every Jew both in Israel and worldwide. Leaders in a position of power who encourage murder against Israelis and Jews must fear for their own lives. That also includes targeting the money trail which is supporting murderers in jail and their families.
Most importantly an example must be made of one, two or more villages or towns where these atrocities are being carried out or where their murderers come from. The people aiding terror from these towns should be sent to Gaza or Jordan. It takes a village to raise a child, and these children are being brainwashed by their parents and in their schools to hate and murder all in the name of Allah, even at the cost of their own lives.
Once murderers are caught and convicted the penalty should be death.
There is a war going on. As of now Israelis are being picked off one by one and two by two leaving families devastated, with hurt befalling a whole nation. There are rules of war, rules clearly spelt out in Jewish sources. The first rule is offering peace. This obviously is not working. Allowing this to continue without drastic action has only one result: it emboldens the enemy. The time has now come to show who means business. Israel does not need full jails. Israel should not negotiate with murderers in jails who are threatening hunger strikes – let them die.
The IDF is fully aware of how to act whilst protecting their soldiers and ensuring that whole areas of the enemy are subdued. Conduct in war must not be sabotaged by foreign influences. We have our own rules of successful engagement, going back thousands of years.
Speeches of sorrow by politicians of all stripes will not solve anything. The enemy needs to understand whose land this is. They and their backers have choices: they can use the United Nations money to be relocated or live peacefully with the Jews in Israel.
If not, Israel has no alternative than to force quiet upon them.
Leonie Ben-Simon is a freelance journalist with an MBA from Monash University, Victoria Australia.