Simply unacceptable
My generation grew up against the backdrop of Kristallnacht, perhaps the only foreign-language term we were allowed to utter in class; this event was part of our curriculum not long after it actually happened. As such, we cannot stay complacent in the face of such a horrific act as setting a mosque ablaze in the Arab-Bedouin village of Tuba-Zangarriye.
We simply cannot accept this behavior, and we call on the government and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Border Police to hunt down the thugs who perpetrated this crime so that they are placed behind bars. We cannot just let them harp on the spirit of Yom Kippur when they ask for forgiveness for their crime.
One can atone for committing a sin before God, but we, as individuals and as a nation, have to engage in soul searching if we want to repent for sins committed against other human beings; this takes on an even greater urgency just five days before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
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Maj. Gen. Alik Ron (ret.) correctly stated on Monday that the culprits should have faced law enforcement much earlier, when similar acts -- vandalizing street lights in Arab towns or desecrating holy Muslim manuscripts -- were carried out in Judea and Samaria. Had we nipped this trend in the bud we would have averted what happened in Tuba-Zangarriye. But it is quite possible that finding those individuals in Judea and Samaria would have proven much more difficult than in other areas. This is their home turf, their protected fortress; they might have been provided shelter by people who, God forbid, see that they continue to be on the run from law enforcement after committing such crimes.
Anyway you look at it, this action must be met with a strong and unwavering response. Why? Surprising as it may sound to those thugs, it is because we are a Jewish state. If this is not self-evident in a Jewish state, then Israel is not a Jewish state.
Top public officials, from the president on down, offered very strong condemnations against this act. This is the prerequisite for restoring the rapport we have enjoyed with this Bedouin village, but more must follow to mend relations with this community. Well before Israel's founding, the Arabs of this village were active participants in the Palmach pre-state Jewish militia, spawning what would be a long history of aiding the Jewish revival in our historic homeland.
The way the settler community's religious figures react to this event is the real test. This applies to the Yesha Council (which represents settlements in the West Bank) and the national-religious rabbinical establishment, who must publicly denounce this act, as it runs against their core moral convictions and thinking.
But the settlers must go even further in distancing themselves from this act, as it is highly probable that the perpetrators come from among the hilltop youth, the young settlers who carry out acts of violence or set up illegal outposts, although one cannot paint all of them with the same brush and name the entire group as suspects. But these youths follow certain rabbis, whose voice must be heard. When they remain silent their silence is more deafening than that of other rabbis.
A mosque must not be vandalized and innocent human beings should not be killed, even if that is what Palestinian terrorists do, as in the case of the Fogel and Palmer families. The Israeli authorities must find the masterminds and the murderers, as well as their enablers, and bring them to justice, without any mercy. But Israel is not at war with the Arab community or with its religious institutions.
When rabbis write books that claim it is fair game to kill innocent gentiles, they take the name of Joseph, buried near Nablus, in vain. People who act like Rabbi Dov Lior (author of one controversial book) must tell their followers that is wrong to do so, in a loud and clear manner. Their failure to do so is interpreted as if the rabbis gave direct orders to inflict harm. As the scriptures tell us, the rabbis words are most crucial; their views are what will set the agenda.
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