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Rabbi Joel Lehrfield
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| The Rabbi's Study |
| May, 2002 |
It doesn't take much for my blood to boil over lately. The information I receive about Israel from a biased media is particularly galling. The constant shifting of blame to the Israelis and to us for supporting this "terrorist" state is particularly deceitful. America's sin is that we helped create Israel. Upon being born, this little, tiny nation defeated the armies of the Arab world and "dispossessed" 750,000 Palestinians. (How accurate these figures are one will never know, because they first have to pass muster through the United Nations - Arab propaganda machines.) That the bulk of those dispossessed left at the urging of their own leaders is now a conveniently forgotten fact of history. Furthermore, one hears the canard spoken by all including the diplomats of my own country that if Israel would only give up the settlements established on "occupied land", then peace might be at hand. The media has conveniently forgotten that the settlements are not on occupied land. They are on land conquered from Jordan, and Jordan has removed itself from responsibility for them. If anything, the settlements are on disputed land. |
What makes my blood boil the most however, is the statement that Israel's humiliation of the Palestinians, past and present, is what has led to this rage and that the rage is projected on to America because of our connection with Israel. Israel is accused of targeting civilians (how convenient to attribute one's own sins to one's enemy, when everyone knows (the Arabs as well), that if the I.D.F. would have acted with that goal in mind, it could have reduced casualties in Jenin and elsewhere to a bare minimum. It is the excuse of "humiliation" that makes me so angry, as if that is an excuse for targeting civilians in Israeli cafés, buses and malls. If the argument for such behavior is that all Israeli civilians are the enemy, then certainly the argument can be made that all Palestinian civilians are the enemy as well, and I don't read about Arab cafés and meeting places being randomly blown away. |
| We Jews have been humiliated for
centuries and yet that has never given us, practically or ideologically,
the right to cavalierly target civilians for death. In all of the destruction
that has taken place, how many Israelis have walked into a crowded Arab
mall, and if not blowing themselves up, have left car bombs or other explosive
devices for the sole purpose of sowing terror? Yet the humiliation card
is played over and over again with few responses from the media. The rage
that fills the Arab street is fomented by the same Arab leaders who fear
for their own positions. It is not just directed at Israel, it has now become
directed at Jews the world over. There is no distinction made anymore, certainly
not on the part of the Arab nations and their peoples, between being anti-Israel
and being anti-Jewish. We reflect that knowledge by our own increased need
for security in our Congregation - locked doors, the need to be buzzed in,
police numbers always available. This is not paranoia; this is just a sensitive
reaction to the burning of synagogues in France and the venom-filled marches
throughout Europe. |
The settlements are not now and never were the issue. The existence of the State of Israel is the issue. The other week, I heard some remarks on PBS (Palestinian Broadcasting Station) that astonished me (on April 11, 2002). Usually on PBS, one hears the standard Palestinian drivel, but this time, perhaps out of error, the broadcaster interviewed Frank Gaffney, currently the head of the Council for Security in Washington, D.C., a former Undersecretary of Defense during the Reagan years. When asked whether he thought Powell's visit to Arafat was a good idea, he said it was a terrible mistake. He said that everyone knows that Arafat cannot be trusted and to resurrect him in the guise of the only leader the Palestinians have, was not different essentially than Chamberlain's visit to Hitler in 1939. There, Great Britain sacrificed Czechoslovakia, a democratic ally, on the altar of peace, an act that led to the conflagration of the second World War, and should Arafat be resuscitated and the Israeli army pulled back, it would be the sacrifice of another democratic ally on the same altar, and would not bring peace. He said that the Saudi peace plan was little more than a red herring and that the Israelis would have to be insane to give up large portions of the West Bank (The West Bank are his words, not mine. I prefer Yehuda and Shomron). He further said that the real issue is the Arab mindset. The Arabs have not given up the option of war. One can see that in the maps given schoolchildren in the Middle East, in which the State of Israel does not even appear. In its place, that land mass (really a tiny sliver of land) is called Palestine. It is this that is at the root of what the media call the current insanity. It is not the humiliation, or the settlements. For what would the media propose? Would the media suggest that suicide bombers be permitted to roam about at will? Would the media suggest that in order not to humiliate the macho of Arab young men, that they should not lift up their shirts so hidden bomb belts can be uncovered? If this is humiliation, then it has been brought upon the Palestinians by their own behavior. What is the source of the conflict? It is the continuing Arab call for the destruction of Israel. It is the belief that violence pays and the more horrific the violence, the more results can be achieved. Throughout all of the history of the Middle East, for that matter all of Africa, it has been noted as politically worthwhile that when one terrorizes and destroys one's enemy, everything is permitted. The turning of innocents into murderers, the hyperbole, the lies, the deceit, the constant search for victimization and underlying it all, not just anti-Israeli sentiment or anti-Zionist rhetoric, but hatred of the Jews. |
| What is the source of this hatred as we are so close to Shavuoth? Let me suggest a Rabbinic answer. The Rabbis say Sinai (where the Torah was given on the Holyday of Shavuoth) is the origin of anti-Semitism. For the word Sinai and the Hebrew word, "Sinah" (which means hatred), are similar. We demand a standard far beyond that of the world's peoples. Where else would a government endanger its own soldiers to protect civilians? What other Army, as reported in the Israeli daily "Maariv", would take up a position in a third floor apartment, place the family within the apartment in a safe room and upon completion of their task, sweep up the apartment, put the furniture back, collect 1500 shekels for any damage done and apologize, because in war, one does unpleasant things? Whatever morals there are in Western society and in the Islamic world for that matter, have come from us. It is this moral demand for which we are so hated. |
| When Jacob, our forefather,
met Esau after a 21-year absence, the Midrash states that he had a three-fold
plan. He would try to bribe him to turn away his anger, he would prepare
for war and he would plead with G-d for safety and security. Times have
not changed. For peace, Ehud Barak tried to bribe the Palestinians. Since
their intention was not to make peace, the bribe failed. What is left for
us, as was left for Jacob, is to prepare for an ongoing, long-term engagement
to protect ourselves. Only when our enemies will know that we will not
go away, we will not be defeated, will there be a chance for
an accommodation? Let us pray to Hashem that this be so. |
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