A violent act is never an only child. It comes in clusters or groups, one dragging the other behind it. A sin begets another sin. It can't be otherwise. The sages said: Pray for the welfare of the government, since if it weren't for fear of it men would swallow each other alive. The freedom of action that hooligans have is directly proportional to their "fear of government." The erosion of law and order does not stop with murderers and/or rapists or armed robbers and/or criminals. Sooner or later, lawlessness spreads to the entire population, creating a situation in which people swallow each other alive, from the person who sets fire to his adversary's apartment to the person who vandalizes a cemetery. When it comes to ideological and nationalist crimes, police tend go easy on the perpetrators. Their (correct) assumption is that the offender does not fit the profile of a professional criminal. They are in no hurry to complete their investigation. In March 1989, my Jerusalem apartment was set ablaze by hoodlums because I interviewed Palestinian spokesperson Faisal Husseini on television. Eight years later an acquaintance of mine was given a peek at the file. Had there been an investigation? Bollocks! Beyond the initial eyewitness accounts, when there was still smoke in the rooms, not a single report had been added to the file. As a result, political violence enters the city and takes over the street. When a solider was hit in the face by a settler, why didn't anyone from his community turn him in to security forces? Why don't rabbis tell miscreant youth that "each will die for their own sin" and that the innocent family members of heinous murderers have a right to harvest their olives? Sakhnin is an Israeli city whose demonstrating Arab residents wave Palestinian flags, and where Jews have ceased to enter. Messianic extremists need a High Court ruling to demonstrate on the fringes of the Islamic Movement's autonomous territory. What does it mean when Zvi Fogel, the man who heads the Tuba-Zangarriye regional council, was advised by police not to show up for work? This is nothing other than the rule of law retreating in the face of bullies. The same goes for Sunday's events in Jaffa and Bat Yam. You could feel the violent tension in the air. On Sunday afternoon I was driving toward the Christian cemetery in Jaffa when I came across a group of high school students from the nearby Arab school. As I approached the crosswalk, they slowed down and one started shouting, "Stop, do you hear me-!" At that moment I sensed this might not be the time to follow the law and wait till the last student had crossed. There had been no actual threat or violence, but there was something ominous in the air. The conclusion is clear. Whatever turn the Jewish-Arab conflict takes, it behooves the police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) to re-exert their control over our public space. They must operate within the law, but do so assertively and decisively. Any hesitation on their part will be interpreted by criminals as encouragement to proceed with price tag attacks and terrorism. It is also incumbent upon the Israel Security Agency to use all legal means at its disposal, including increased wiretapping and recruiting agents in Jewish and Arab communities, to remove the hooliganism from our midst. If they do so, it may also lend weight to a demand that befits the 21st century with its advanced technology -- putting an end to the suspect's right to remain silent when he faces an investigator at the police station. Like our newsletter? 'Like' our Facebook page!
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