An Epigram to Israel's "Honorable" People
Thursday, May 17, 2018 | Tsvi Sadan ISRAEL TODAY
Hamas' mass infiltration attempt came up against the IDF's zero tolerance "iron wall," resulting in some 60 Gazans killed along the coastal enclave's border fence. Still, despite the declared purpose of this "peaceful demonstration," not a few Israelis were horrified by the number of Palestinian causalities, most of whom, they say, posed no real threat to Israel.
Among those lamenting the deaths of their enemies was Hebrew University Prof. Amiram Goldblum, a known figure among the left-wing "Peace Now" crowd, who wrote the following on his Facebook page: "You are called to sign a petition that calls for international intervention to stop the massacre of unarmed demonstrators who pose no threat to Israel, and to put our leaders on trial, first among them the Defense Minister. Every honorable person must react, now, to the massacre in Gaza."
I have no idea what causes honorable people to think that Mohammed who cuts the fence with wire-cutters, Ahmad who flies a blazing kite into Israeli fields, or Mahmoud who dresses up as a woman in hopes of kidnapping an unwary Israeli soldier, are innocent demonstrators whose only wish is to take their families for a picnic in the fields of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. But I do know that there are ample examples of humanity's crème de la crème who thought that sticking their heads into the lion's mouth is an honorable gesture.
It's no secret that many top Western intellectuals harbor admiration for the likes of Stalin, Mao and Che. Among this ilk is Nobel Prize laureate Aharon Chechanover, who, after being given a tour of North Korea reserved only for gullible dignitaries, instead of condemning this despotic regime, excused them by saying, "We didn't come to criticize … we only came to have dialogue." You can ask those who dwell in the North Korean gulags; they will tell you how peace-loving, considerate and humane is this tender-hearted Nobelist.
But since we are, after all, dealing with honorable people, it is worth reminding them that the confetti they suggest throwing on these poor and hungry Gaza "demonstrators" is as effective as the piles of confetti Chamberlain threw over Hitler's head.
It is also worth reminding these people that it's about time they stand behind their cherished "the other is me" slogan, that it's about time they learn to listen to what the "other" says so candidly, that he is fighting to exterminate the Jewish state and resettle the "refugees" back in the villages they abandoned in 1948.
To the credit of these honorable people, it could be said that by calling the attempted mass-return of "refugees" back to Israel a "massacre" they have at least positioned themselves on "the other is me" path. But now they must truly walk that path, perhaps by demanding the evacuation of Kibbutz Erez to allow for the inhabitants of Dimra to return to their village, upon which Kibbutz Erez was built. And if they are the ethical humanists they claim to be, they can avoid fixing one wrong by creating another by simply asking those now living in Kibbutz Erez to convert to Islam. Then there will be no need for them to become refugees themselves. Of course, if these honorable people were truly serious, rather than mere provocateurs, they'd lead the way by being the first to convert.
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