Israel cannot lose this battle
In a show of unbelievable nerve, the family of the terrorist murderer Abed al-Rahman Shaludi argued with police about the funeral arrangements for their son, rather than apologizing and expressing regret that he intentionally ran over and killed little Chaya Zissel Braun and Karen Jemima Mosquera Barrera.
When Jewish hooligans murdered an innocent Palestinian teenager, some Israeli leaders went to the mourners' tent to pay their respects. The reverse has not happened.
But what is the point of complaining to them about this bloody summer that is coming to an end? We do not live by their rules. There is also no point in teaching them a lesson of morality. Morality will not take root in the barren desert of Hamas.
All that remains is practical discussion. Not among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' upper echelons, who are working to fix the relationship between the two nations, but in day-to-day interactions and conduct. In this realm, Israel has several lessons to share as flames continue to rise in the background.
The principal lesson is about personal safety and protecting life. Every Arab mother in sovereign Israel and in Judea and Samaria will know that her son, masked and throwing stones, is the target of border police and police activity (within the framework of the law). There are no exceptions. Not on the Temple Mount, not in Silwan, and not at light-rail stations in Jerusalem. This is the basic and most important rule of all. More police officers. More detention cells. Israel cannot allow itself to lose this battle.
On the other hand, Israel is making mistakes in some of its daily actions. Separating Israelis from Palestinians on buses? It's true, the motive is not a racist one. It is meant to provide security to Jews returning to their homes in Judea and Samaria alongside Palestinians. But, in the Western-democratic consciousness, this step means the deterioration of Israel's image to that of states like Alabama and Mississippi in the dark days of segregation.
The very image would shock the democratic world, even if that is an exaggerated response. It's no coincidence that a man who understands diplomacy, like Dani Dayan, did not push for separate buses when he served as head of the Yesha Council. But, after Habayit Hayehudi pressured non-stop, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon was forced to accept the idea. As if he doesn't already have enough problems in America.
Jewish-Arab relations from the river to the sea are a bleeding wound that must be treated. The appropriate approach was presented on Sunday by President Reuven Rivlin in Kafr Qasim. It was a tribute to Israel's glory and the Zionist movement, to the legacy of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Menachem Begin, and to the president's father Joseph Rivlin, who translated the Quran into Hebrew.
The Kafr Qasim massacre during the 1956 Sinai Campaign left a scar that has yet to heal. Despite the fact that Judge Benjamin Halevy, who presided over the trial of the massacre, already said that illegal military orders have "a black flag" above them, waving in warning, it is worth repeating for future generations. The president also did well to say that the Arab citizens of Israel are not constantly on the brink of exile.
Rivlin was especially right to say that this is the land of our forefathers. Our homeland. We have no other land. These are hard facts that not every Milky pudding consumer seems to understand. Rivlin said these things not at the opening of a Knesset meeting in Jerusalem but in the middle of Kafr Qasim. It's good that he expressed the feelings of both sides. It is a shame there is no one like him on the other side standing up and saying similar things in Arabic.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו