Passion in Jerusalem
On blood spilled and blood counterspilled
The winds of passion stir in Jerusalem. Three days ago, the bodies of three Jewish teenagers were found near Hebron, brutally murdered. Two days later and an hour’s drive away, the body of an Arab teenager is found in the forest, his body charred. As I write these lines, we seem to know who the killers of the three Israeli boys were — two members of Hamas in Hebron. At this stage, we are yet to know who the killers of the lone Arab boy were.
I write the next few lines on the assumption that his murder was committed by Jews as a revenge attack. I say this with caution as the case is still fresh and the facts are yet established, but as things stand now, it does appear to be the likely cause. I will be glad, of course, if I were to be proven wrong.
Let us be clear in saying both incidents are equally abhorrent. There is no excuse or justification for the targeting of civilians.
Over the years, I have debated middle east politics with many friends and foes. My most frustrating opponents are the moral relativists who seek to equalize all wrongs. These anglo-saxon Chardonnay socialists mount an argument that reaks of arrogance and ignorance. The following quote for a New Zealand publication is rather typical:
The kidnapping and execution, whilst clearly a crime, cannot be separated from their wider context. “Tensions” — a catch-all phrase for military occupation, sporadic fighting, and protests — were already very high between Israel and Palestine. Israeli settlement of the West Bank, illegal under international law, has continued apace in recent years, with talks between the two nations stalling.
What this statement says in less than subtle ways is that a military presence and the building of residential homes in disputed territories (which incidentally is probably not illegal under international law) coupled with failed diplomatic efforts justify three children being kidnapped and murdered.
There is no excuse or justification for the targeting of civilians, I would say
They seem to forget this point in the the grey wish-wash of relativist post-modern surreality.
Others reply with numbers, the number of houses demolished, the number of Palestinians arrested, the number of children dead — and true, the numbers don’t look good for Israel. After all, it is the mightier side — but numbers alone tell a misleading story.
A quantitative assessment alone loses the ability to make a qualitative assessment of right and wrong.
One cannot compare Israel’s bombing of airports and power plants in Lebanon; the assassination of terrorists and the demolition of rocket launchers in Gaza; or the widespread arrests of Hamas operatives in the West Bank with the deliberate murder of the innocent. The murderers of these boys — all four of them — did so purposely. The Palestinian sniper who held his breath, had the two year girl in his crosshairs, then pulled the trigger and shot Shalhevet, did so with the aim of killing a child. Israeli actions that have killed children did so as an unfortunate, unintended consequence — a mission failure.
In all those debates I engaged in, I could always proudly state that Israel never stooped to that level. Israel never targeted an innocent child and killed them, purposely, aimfully and in cold blood — as the Palestinians have done time and again.
While many innocent Palestinians have died, none were victim to such moral repugnance. Today, with the death of Mohammed Abu Khdeir it seems I lost my mooting point, a mother lost her child, and we as Jews lost our clean hands.
This act was an act of terrorism, as was the act against the three Jewish boys — and has as its aim and purpose the infliction of ‘extreme fear’ (ie. terror) on a population. They are not ‘militants’; they are not ‘freedom fighters.’ These acts are inexcusable.
Israel will now be judged by its reaction. And so far the indications are promising. The absolute majority of Israelis and Jews would be horrified and sickened to the core to learn that one of them could commit such a barbaric act. The perpetrators will be sought, caught and brought to justice. Israeli leaders, from the Prime Minister down, have spoken out against the latest act, with Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Bareket saying:
This is a horrible and barbaric act which I strongly condemn. This is not our way and I am fully confident that our security forces will bring the perpetrators to justice. I call on everyone to exercise restraint.
And this from the uncle who just of one of the Israeli teenagers kidnapped, who just buried his nephew a couple days ago, upon hearing of the death of the Arab boy:
“If the Arab youth was murdered because of nationalistic motives then this is a horrible and horrendous act. There is no difference between (Arab) blood and (Jewish) blood. Murder is murder. There is no forgiveness or justification for any murder.”
Muhammad’s father, Hussein, said Jews had come to express their condolences to the grieving family:
“They share my pain. What else can they do?”
Since I wrote these lines, a few things have become clearer. It now appears Abu Khdeir was killed and burned by Jews in retribution for the murder the three kidnapped youth. Israeli police have arrested 6 people, 3 of whom are minors.
Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to the father of Abu Khdeir to express his horror and promised that the perpetrators will face the full force of the law. “The murder of your son is heinous,” he said “and cannot be accepted by any human being.” The day prior, in a speech that was unequivocal in its Nature, Netanyahu said:
“Murder is murder, and incitement is incitement — and we will treat both with severity. I do not distinguish between terrorism and terrorism, nor between incitement and incitement.”
“That is how we are different from our neighbors. Their murderers are hailed as heroes and public squares are named in their honor” — Netanyahu
Israel society was introspective about the fact that one of its kin committed such an act. In article by David Horovitz, senior editor for a leading Israeli publication, he states:
“We Israelis knew we had nothing in common with those Hamas killers who so callously ended the lives of three innocent Israeli teenagers; we were wrong”
As it united days earlier in grieving for its three abducted children, it united in its abhorrence of the violent acts against Abu Khdeir. Such condemnation came from the leaders of the most right wing parties, from the Rabbis on the far right of religious Zionism and from the settler movement, including its rising star, Rachel Frenkel, the grieving mother of Naftali, one of the three Israeli teenagers murdered.
I find there are those in each camp who will forever see their side as white and the the other as black. And then, there are those on the outside who see it all in a monotone of grey — that moral equivalence that strokes all with the same wide brush, unable to distinguish between good and evil. It is for the benefit of those lackluster ideologists that I will spell it out just once more:
The intentional murder of civilians, be they Jew, Arab or Christian is fundamentally and inexcusably wrong. End of story.
Everything else is debatable.
