Shalom not quite the same these days
Despite us greeting each other with “Shalom”, it is not a quiet or peaceful time in Israel, but the greeting does reflect our hope and prayers for the future. To achieve this we will need a meeting of minds and hearts not only with our neighbours but with those we live amongst and among ourselves.
A common history and belief binds people. This has become a huge problem, as we the Jews have a long history supported by the written word, many historical excavations and artefacts, and documents, together with the oral history that is passed down the generations.
Our Arab neighbours together with the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs do not share our vision of the past and have carved themselves a different history.There are some overlaps, but since the establishment of the PLO in the late sixties, a new oral history has been passed down and is now printed in the school material.
The result of this new narrative, which is widely taught in schools across the West Bank, which are funded by UNRWA, and includes statements such as “Jews are pigs and apes”, has caused young children to believe that dying for a nationalist cause and killing Jews is somehow an honourable act. The religious dictum tells them they will go directly to heaven as martyrs.
The cruel reality, however, is that we are seeing children as young as 13 becoming cold blooded murderers and their community celebrating the deaths of not only the victims but also the perpetrators.
It is only weeks since 7 innocent people including a child of 14 lost their lives while at prayer, followed by a terror attack carried out by a 13 year old who had been bred on so much poisonous hatred that he thought his Mother would be proud of him. If she was proud and happy for her child to die a pointless death and commit murder, the problems are even deeper than we imagine.
The Pay to Slay payments awarded to the families of the terrorists further encourages attacks. A bill to strip the terrorists of their citizenship has passed its final reading and is now law, so those who commit these atrocities will not be able to return to Israel once their sentences are served.
The world community that marches and demonstrates in support of these attacks together with those who fund the school books have blood on their hands and are complicit in the murders. The media in the West that fails to report attacks in Israel as terror and somehow finds a justification add fuel to an already burning fire, that Israel desperately needs to extinguish if there is going to be any future for this region. Twitter showed a woman speaking at a pro Palestinian rally in Manchester, this week, saying whatever acts are committed in the name of Palestinian nationalism must be supported and never criticised!
While we were in shock watching the horror of a natural disaster unfolding in Turkey and Syria, tragically, another poisoned individual thought it proper to ram his car into a group of people in a suburb of Jerusalem, killing two small brothers aged 6 and 8 and a 20 year old. The father of young boys remained unaware and critical while these poor innocent souls were buried. 4 others were also injured. These attacks are heartbreaking and do nothing but widen the political gaps and push peace and coexistence away.
At this time Israel had sent a rescue and relief team to Turkey and supplies to Syria, an enemy state, in a bid to help the rescue efforts after the earthquake. The Israeli team was successful in recovering up to 19 people alive from the rubble. There was credible intelligence that the team were in danger and it is they were advised to return early due to a risk to their own lives, but it seems they are still there. The IDF have set up a hospital in Turkey and are actively saving lives.
Meanwhile, back in Israel the terror attacks continue. A border policeman was accidentally killed by his own guard after another 13 year old attempted to kill them on a bus. Another guard was injured at a checkpoint in Jerusalem.
Internally, the government is not that popular. Even the popularity of Bibi will wane if these attacks continue, as he was elected on his promised ability to maintain security. Many think the hard right composition of the coalition adds further tensions to an already explosive situation.
The PA has stopped all co-operation with security services as Israel has been going into Arab areas trying to smoke out the terror cells, making arrests and at times killing fleeing terrorists. Security in Jerusalem will need to be beefed up. Legalising outpost settlements as a revenge for terror attacks is not a good policy and it will appease very few of the voters.
Demonstrations against the sweeping judicial reforms proposed by the government continue in Tel Aviv, attracting tens of thousands. The proposals are tearing society apart and casting a dark cloud over Israel’s democracy. The government has indicated they will water the proposals down, Hopefully they will back down as these proposals are giving a legitimate excuse for people to demonstrate and they are being used a weapon against the elected government . They must find a way forward that does not threaten the fabric of society. Certain reforms may be necessary but the implication of them must be through dialogue and agreement rather than mafia like tactics that threaten the reputation of Israel worldwide.
Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon has taken great pleasure watching the fracture in Israeli society widen and is now bold enough to start to threaten violence if the Lebanese gas development is delayed.
