Why should anyone care about Sderot?

With no end in sight to the 6 year long rocket assault on Sderot, Ari Shavit of Ha'aretz elaborates upon why those in Israel should give a damn:

It should not have been like this. Sderot is not Gush Katif. There is no debate. On the contrary: Sderot is a "Green Line" city. Sderot is a post-withdrawal city. Sderot is the righteous Israeli city after the occupation. Sderot is the future

Which leads us to Shavit's main point. Why should Israelis care about Sderot?

The attack on Sderot is a strategic attack on peace. It is an attack on the two-state solution. If the attack succeeds, there will be no chance of any future withdrawal. If the attack succeeds, the occupation will be perpetuated.

In Shavit's world,, one should care about Sderot, not because of the responsibility one Jew has for another - or even that of one human being for another, nor is he driven by the pursuit of justice. The sole reason one should care about Sderot is because if Sderot falls, so does the "peace process".

While Shavit makes the distinction between Sderot and Gush Katif clear, he fails to grasp a major distinction existing between Israel and the Arab world, which serves as the root cause for the tragedy that is Sderot.

If one looks at the "Palestinian Authority" map above, there is no green line. No distinction is made between Gush Katif and Sderot. No distinctions are needed for the simple reason that the entire Land of Israel (Palestine) belongs to them - to Islam.

If one looks at the nobility of Israeli society, what does one find? As Shavit puts it:

Sderot should have been the apple of the eye of all those preaching withdrawal in the past, and of everyone who still believes in withdrawal. Sderot should have been the city of peace writers and peace singers and peace industrialists. A "peace now" city. A city of Israeli solidarity. A city of mutual responsibility. A city where strong Israelis stand together with Israelis who are less strong in the face of Islamic zealotry.

Yet, what one finds amongst the vast majority of Israels elite is a group who questions the very right of the Jewish People to a Jewish State in the Land of Israel. After all, can it be said that Gush Katif is really anymore "occupied territory" than Sderot? Certainly there's no difference in the eyes of the Arabs. Which is why, if, as Shavit puts it, Sderot is Israel's future, then it's clear that Israel's nobility has already abandoned ship.

When Ariel Sharon said that the fate of Netzarim is that of Tel Aviv (April, 2002), he was not mistaken. Until the Jewish People recognize their absolute right to the Land of Israel and show that they are willing and able to enforce that right, there will be no peace. Not in Gush Katif. Not in Sderot. Not in Jerusalem and not in Tel Aviv.

The time has come for us - those who still believe in this fundamental and historic truth - to assume the leadership and responsibility of this country and to do so before Sderot falls.

Is every Jew really responsible for one another? (Kol Yisrael areivim zeh la'zeh?)

Drivers ignore dying man on road



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Shocking.

Disturbing.

Appalling.

These are just a few of the words that come to mind.

Can it be that Israeli society has become so cold, unforgiving and apathetic (as Avi Dichter, Israel's Internal Security minister, asserts)?

Before casting blame and making sweeping judgements, it's important to place this tragic event in the proper context.

On the morning of March 13th, 1964, 29 year old Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered just outside her New York apartment.

For over 30 minutes, 40 of Ms. Genovese's neighbors watched the brutal attack, doing absolutely nothing. Only 35 minutes after the attack had begun did someone finally call the police.

In order to determine if New Yorkers were in fact cold and heartless, or, if perhaps there was another explanation as to why no one responded to Ms. Genovese's cries for help, a series of experiments were conducted.

The researchers consistently found that as the number of bystanders increased, the likelihood that any one of them would help decreased.

This phenomenon is known as the "bystander effect".

If we are by ourselves when an emergency occurs, we perceive ourselves to be 100% responsible for taking action. However, when there are 10 bystanders, we each perceive ourselves to have only a tenth of the responsibility. The higher the number of bystanders, the less obligated each individual is likely to feel to intervene.

Another explanation given is...

If we are unsure of our own perceptions and interpretations, or if the situation is ambiguous, we look to others for help in defining what is going on. If others appear calm, we may decide that whatever is happening doesn't require our assistance.

When these findings are applied to Israel society, I believe that we can better understand why this tragic event occurred, and how similar occurrences can be prevented in the future..

Frankly, over the last two decades, as corruption and deceit infected many of the seats of power within Israeli society - particularly the government - average Israelis came to feel that they were no longer able to make a difference. Israeli society was now ruled by the law of the jungle - everyone for themselves and the survival of the fittest - and whoever didn't play by those rules would come to be viewed as friers / (suckers) - the absolute worst thing you can call an Israeli.

It is not a matter of Israeli society being populated by cold and heartless individuals, quite to the contrary. However, the foreign values that have consciously been imported from abroad (courtesy of Israel's ruling elites), such as individualism and materialism have come to replace the authentic Jewish values of self-sacrifice and of caring for the needs of the community.

We are taught in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers, 5:22):

Whoever possesses these three qualities belongs to the disciples of Abraham our father: a generous eye, a humble spirit, and a meek soul.

But he who possesses the three opposite qualities--an evil eye, a proud spirit, and a haughty soul--is of the disciples of Bilam the wicked.

So, what is the solution?

I believe that each and every one of us needs to take upon themselves a sense of personal responsibility for making the Jewish State of Israel the best it can possibly be.

True, there are many challenges within Israeli society, and we can't possibly overcome all of them with our limited abilities and resources, but, returning once again to Pirkei Avot, 2:21:

It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task. Yet, you are not free to desist from it.

So much for being a hardcore settler...

Back in November 2006, Peace Now came out with a report which claimed, among other things, that Ma'aleh Adumim, the largest Jewish community in Judea and Samaria - just east of Jerusalem, with a population of 30,000+ (and growing), and where I happen to live, was in fact built (86%) on private "Palestinian" land.

In all honesty, I was elated.

Why, you might ask?

Simply put, even though Ma'aleh Adumim is techinically over the "Green Line", as far as "settlements" go, it's kind of lame, as Ma'aleh Adumim is unquestionably a part of the Israeli consensus regarding the future borders of the State of Israel.

However, that all changed once the Peace Now report came out, and overnight Ma'aleh Adumim went from being this nice, quiet city just outside of Jerusalem, in the hillside of the Judean desert, to being a bastion of ultra-nationalist, hardcore settlers, building their homes on the stolen land of peace-loving, innocent "Palestinians".

Finally!

Once and for all, I was able to walk with my head held high amongst my peers, many of whom are living in "outposts", caravans, and "settlements" far more "provocative" than Ma'aleh Adumim.

Until today, that is.

Unsurprisingly, the aforementioned Peace Now report has been debunked.

IDF data show flaws in Peace Now report

In November, Peace Now claimed that 86 percent of Ma'aleh Adumim was built on private Palestinian land. After successfully petitioning the court to see the database, the group reported Wednesday that data show that only 0.5% of the settlement is built on private land.

"The first report they released had major mistakes," said Capt. Zidki Maman, spokesman for the Civil Administration in the West Bank.

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but it seems like I must return to being the mild-mannered, "just outside of Jerusalem," consensus Ze'ev.

Eizeh basa!

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Rejecting the Will of the People in the "Only Democracy in the Middle East"

Believe it or not, there are still a large number of Jews living in Israel who have not lost their sanity - unfortunately for the Jewish people and State, very few of them are presently sitting in positions of power that would allow them to shape the policies and character of the Jewish State of Israel.

New poll shows 68.4% of Israeli Jews fear Israeli Arab uprising

68.4 percent of Israeli Jews fear a civil uprising on behalf of Israeli Arabs and 63.3 percent say they won't enter Arab towns in Israel, according to the results of the 2006 index of Jewish-Arab relations released on Monday... Furthermore, 64.4 percent of Jews polled said they feel that Israeli Arabs pose a security risk to the state through their high birth rate, and 83.1 percent said Israeli Arabs are a security risk due to their support of the Palestinians.

These results are consistent with the results from the Index of Jewish-Arab Relations of previous years - with only one difference, namely, with each passing year, more and more Jewish in Israel realize the grave threat that the Israeli Arabs pose to the continued existence of Israel as a Jewish State.

One need not be a Talmudic scholar or brain surgeon to understand these results.

In truth, it is much more difficult to comprehend how anyone could believe that Israeli Arabs would feel at home in a Jewish State that has a Law of Return that only applies to Jews, a State Flag that is adorned by the Star of David, a Menorah as the State symbol, and in which the words "A Jewish soul yearns" are sung in the national anthem, and most importantly, who view this land to be rightfully theirs, and that we are, as such, unwanted occupiers.

No Arab, Israeli or otherwise, with even a shred of national pride and dignity is going to forsake the claim to his Homeland for HDTV and a car (even if, to my dismay, such an offer appeals to a great many Jews).

The Israeli Arabs themselves have made no secret of their true feelings regarding Israel continuing to exist as a Jewish State, and yet...

Ignoring the true will of the People of Israel, the government of Israel continues to plan future expulsions of Jews from their homes in the Land of Israel, and sits impotent in the face of the ongoing Arab war of destruction against the Jewish State.

On the bright side, when the time finally arrives, when the Jewish State will be blessed with true Jewish leadership, those leaders will find a nation prepared to support them in taking whatever steps are needed to ensure that the State of Israel flourishes as a Jewish State, as it was intended to be, and which the Nation of Israel clearly wants.

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Judaism
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