The automaton-like condemnations of the mosque arson in Jerusalem were entirely predictable. They were very similar to the response to the mosque arson in Tuba-Zangarriye about two months ago. These incidents happen once in a while. Everyone immediately condemns them. Our government leaders and security forces make it clear that a small number of extremists were involved who will be severely punished, and that, it seems, is the end of the story. But the mosque arson must not be considered a one-time incident that took place in a vacuum and is unrelated to a broader zeitgeist. Perhaps a single arsonist worked alone in total contravention of the law, morality, halacha and religion. But it took place in a public atmosphere which caused ordinary law-abiding citizens to feel that the Palestinian Arabs citizens of Israel are not wanted in the Jewish state. Since Israel's founding, not enough has been done to promote rapprochement between its Arab and Jewish citizens and to equalize their rights. In the last decades, lip service was paid and a rhetorical attempt was made to talk about "affirmative action" and integrating the Arab population in the Jewish state's institutions. However, in recent years, mainly since the current government came to power, the trend reversed: Instead of recognizing the difficulty of Arab citizens of Israel, who define themselves as Palestinians, in living in a state with a Jewish identity, efforts are being made to distance them from it. Recently, the assumption that Arab citizens of Israel are not only a "burden" or a "problem" but an enemy of the Jewish majority has dominated public discourse in Israel. Jewish citizens of Israel see their Foreign Minister proposing a policy in which its Arabs belong to a future Palestinian state. They see one-third of their MKs backing a bill that would change the status quo, removing Arabic as one of the official languages in Israel. They are aware that both opposition and coalition Knesset members are demanding that Arab citizens declare their loyalty to the Jewish state, knowing full well that they will not want to do so. They enact laws that deny state funding to any institution that expresses the point of view of the Arab minority, that is that Independence Day is their day of destruction. They see their prime minister backing a bill whose aim is to silence the loudspeaker systems in mosques. They hear that dozens of rabbis (not one or two) forbid selling or renting apartments to Arabs. So it is obvious why Jewish Israeli citizens view the Arabs as their enemy. The proposed laws and the public statements of our elected representatives do not call for violence. Therefore it is impossible to blame legislators or public figures for violent acts like the mosque arson. But Israeli society and its leaders need to ask themselves whether labeling Arabs as a public enemy does not encourage growing numbers of the public to treat them as such.
We are all to blame for the burning of mosques
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