It was the last day of June of this year
when our hearts were broken. We finally
found Naftali, Gilad, and Eyal. Their bodies
were desecrated, violated, ripped away from their parents, their siblings, their
community, and from us.
Why?
What was the point? What was the
objective?
There was no military advantage in killing
them. There was no political gain in
murdering them. There was no territorial
advance in snuffing out their young lives.
It was pointless violence.
Bibi was right in questioning what manner
of human being does such a thing. And his
answer was that no human being would do such a thing. An animal—yes. But a human being, no. What manner of human being launches hundreds of rockets aimed at civilian targets
with the intent of killing as many people as possible? No human being would do such a thing. Animals—yes.
Not a human being.
We, as Jews, have our own problem with those
who would act violently. But when our
own acts violently and sins, we arrest them, we try them, we convict them because
they are a bushah, an embarrassment to us and to everything we hold dear. We do not celebrate the deaths of the
innocent, we do not sing songs of triumph to Allah when the innocent are
murdered, we do not hand out candy upon hearing news of bloodshed. What manner of human being does that? No human being would do that. An animal—maybe.
We have been bombarded for years already
with all sorts of reasons why Israel is the culprit in this continuing
conflict. And actually, because we are
decent human beings, and because we believe in justice, and because we cherish
western liberal values that embrace the importance of each human being, we take
those criticisms seriously.
But the time has come for moral
clarity. The IDF has scored 1800
hits, that have resulted in 170 deaths. The ratio between deadly fire and
actual deaths is probably the lowest in the annals of warfare because of the
humanity of the IDF and the fact that its strikes are targeted. The Israelis give warning to those within the buildings, the homes, but Hamas
encourages people to stay, populate the roof top, act as a shield. What manner of human being asks another human
to be a shield for a bomb? No human being
would do that. In this case, not even an
animal would do that.
The media keeps reminding us, forever
pointing its own bloody finger at Israel, that innocent lives have been
lost. And innocent lives have been lost. That’s what happens in war. All war.
It doesn’t matter which war. It
happens in all war. That’s why there’s great benefit in solving a problem diplomatically. But the fact of the matter is that as far as
Hamas is concerned the problem is not one of settling borders. It’s one of the Jews having moved into the
wrong neighborhood. And until the Jews
leave, the neighborhood will see no peace.
Guess what… the Jews are not leaving the
neighborhood. We will not practice
restraint when our children are murdered or rockets fall on our cities. We will not practice restraint because under
those conditions, no decent government committed
to protecting its people would practice restraint. Now is the time for moral clarity. And if few others in this world have the guts
to stand up and tell the Palestinians that their leadership has failed them
miserably, and that their military strategy is immoral and unethical and
irreligious, and an abomination to all civilized people wherever they may be,
then thank God for Israel who will. This
is no time for equivocation. This is a time
only for moral clarity.
