In 1928 my grandfather,
my namesake, wrote in an article that the "character of a person is not
black and is not white; it is the result of the relation between
appetite and ability. Man has appetites and he seeks to fill them by
turning to the path of least resistance. If the resistance is too great,
the person says to himself that the benefit is not worth the cost and
he forgoes his desires. But because he sees a lack of resistance, he
says to himself: 'Here I can…' The most poisonous venom capable of
infecting the virtue of man is the phrase 'here I can.' Any place where
this term is valid, virtue is noneffective."
He came to this insight
from historical examples, such as the difference between the Belgians'
behaviors in their own country as opposed to in the Congo. Ergo his
conclusion that the idea of turning the other cheek should never be
adopted, under any circumstances. Restraint and failing to respond in
kind to acts of aggression was unacceptable in his view, because it not
only falls short of instilling the attacker with shame and restraint, it
actually does the opposite -- it encourages him to act more
aggressively because he feels that "here he can." In his opinion, this
was the reason behind the persecution and pogroms against the Jews in
the Diaspora. It is according to this principle that we must conduct our
stately affairs, if we want to stay alive.
The Palestinians have
become accustomed to thinking "here we can," and murder peaceful
civilians if they are Jewish, which is why such acts of slaughter are
not seen by them as murder or crimes against humanity. They justify it
with the whitewashed Arabic word "muqawama" (meaning resistance). The
most recent incident occurred, to our sorrow, on Passover eve, when
Israel Police Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi was murdered by a
terrorist.
It is impossible not to
connect this murder with the release of the Palestinian prisoners
(including of course those with "blood on their hands"). Therefore the
responsibility for the murder falls on the perpetrators, but the
creation of the climate among the Palestinians for such acts falls on
the entire Israeli government, which agreed to turn the other cheek to
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, so that he could do
Israel the honor of sitting down for empty talks only to eventually spit
in our face by implementing unilateral measures. All this in complete
violation of an agreement with Israel he signed personally in Washington
on September 13, 1993.
Israel now needs to
declare to the Palestinians, and to the Americans, that it is halting
everything and will turn back the clock on the prisoner release if
Mizrahi's killer and his handlers are not turned over to Israeli custody
within 48 hours; not with the intention of trying them for murder, but
for crimes against humanity for intentionally targeting civilians and to
serve justice to its fullest. We must not be mollified by Abbas' weak
condemnations, which will not even be issued unless the current rules of
the game are changed. At the conclusion of these 48 hours Israel must
begin applying escalating pressure to find and arrest all those
prisoners previously released due to whatever Israeli gestures,
including those released in the latest phase.
Only a measure such as
this will clarify to Abbas and his cohort that the rules of behavior
have changed, that "here they absolutely cannot" make innocent civilians
military targets, and that anyone involved in crimes against humanity
-- will rot in prison until the end of their days. Only when the release
of these murderers ceases to be discussed in any forum, will the
deterrence against such acts against our civilians begin to be restored.
As this war proceeds to
escalate, Israel must announce it is rescinding the Oslo Accords, which
were already nullified by Abbas by going to the United Nations. If you
recall, within the framework of the Oslo agreement, some 70,000 Fatah
fighters and leaders were permitted to enter the Palestinian Authority;
but this was a gesture of peace, which is why once the deal is rescinded
and voided these people and their families will be required to go back
from whence they came before Israel allowed them entry.
Because Israel's governments
since the signing of the Oslo Accords have exhibited weakness in this
regard, immense public pressure must be put on elected officials, on
ministers and on the prime minister, under the motto: "Here this is
forbidden!"
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