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A Report From Jerusalem
My car being in the shop, I took the bus to Jerusalem this morning. At about 7:15 AM, waiting at the corner of Bar-Ilan and Shmuel HaNavi for the bus to the campus, I heard a police siren. One siren, and you think “traffic accident,” but when six or seven more follow it with drivers honking wildly as they force their way through the backed-up traffic light, you know something is drastically wrong. Whatever it was, it was not close by, but anxiety showed on many faces waiting there, most with cellphones open to call family or check the internet.
On the bus, the driver turned up the volume so we could hear the news, and thus I learned of the attack in Har Nof. That is a “religious” — in Israel, it means “strictly Orthodox” — neighborhood, with synagogues, seminaries for men and women, schools, and large families. My late in-laws used to live near where the attack took place; I have friends who live there now, and several women from my community go there frequently for Torah classes.
Sometimes I have the impression that people who do not know Israel think that we sit around all day hatin’ on the Palestinians. But here are some of the reactions to this incident that I encountered this day:
Our office manager: “Where are the peaceniks to condemn this? What will the Arab Knesset members say!? Just once I would like to hear these people condemn an attack.”
My Facebook friends: “We don’t yet have the names of the wounded, but prayers are needed urgently, lots of prayers…” Later on, as some of the names and statuses were reported, these became more specific — e.g., “Pray for (Firstname) ben (mother’s name) — it being Jewish custom to pray for those who are hurt or sick by using their given name and their mothers’ names, since women are more associated with healing. If someone dies, his or her father’s name is used instead.
A website called “The Muqata” — an Israeli site which often has the best information on attacks, and whose writer is cautious about presenting facts as known rather than rumors — provided updates throughout the day; he agreed with readers who requested to remove a photo of a wounded or dead victim covered by his tallit, and said he would not add the names of victims until all had been released for publication.
So far, we know that Rabbi Moshe Twersky was among the victims; his funeral will begin soon (in Jerusalem, funerals are held as soon as possible; my mother-in-law, for example, died on Shabbat in the hospital and her funeral was at midnight after Shabbat, on a beautiful cold and starry night). Rabbi Twersky is a dual US-Isareli citizen from an illustrious family of scholars, well-known in the United States.
So, is there rage? Yes, of course. But among the people with whom I live and work, it is not directed much against Arabs, but rather against the stupid headlines found in the world press. “Two Arabs Shot by Israeli Police” and “Four Killed in Jerusalem Synagogue” are bitter parodies, but only slightly worse than reality. Rage is also directed against the peace camp for refusing to see the reality, and against Europe and the West in general for never calling the Palestinians to account or demanding that their leadership be willing to compromise.
Where will it go from here? How will we feel tomorrow, wondering what new attacks will happen? I remember all too well the other intifadas, when I had to ride the bus to work every day. Along my route to and from the university, I could count at least a dozen sites of attacks where people were murdered, including Arabs and foreign workers, children and working people.
If you read Israeli blogs, you may find an abbreviation after the names of attack victims: HY”D — it means, “may God avenge their blood.” Take note: only God is capable of judging the deepest places of the human heart, and only God can exact vengeance that is fully just and fully merciful where needed. We can grieve, we can be outraged, we can exact justice through the courts, but only God can avenge the spilt blood.
Image Credit: By Sir kiss (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Published in General
Over the past few weeks, there have been dozens of low-profile, lone-wolf-style Arab attacks on Jews throughout Israel — particularly in Jerusalem. Stabbings, shootings, stone throwing, hit-and-run car attacks on pedestrians. These have, for the most part, gone unreported in the US.
My daughter is in Israel for the year. Just this past weekend, her program had a free weekend, and my she was torn: She wanted to spend time in Jerusalem with friends, but was concerned for her safety. My wife and I persuaded her to stay in Har Nof, because we believed it to be the safest part of the city.
The attack in Har Nof was pure terror. Beyond the horrible deaths and injuries, the attack was designed to send a message that Jews are not safe anywhere in Jerusalem.
I may be permitted to add something about the incident later on – of a personal nature.
Then there is this.
“Rage is also directed against the peace camp for refusing to see the reality.”
I am not there so I don’t fully know the dynamic. But seems to me we need a bigger peace camp on both sides, not a reduction of the peace camp that is on the one side.
The self-declared Israeli “peace camp” seeks peace through appeasement. (Names can be deceptive; consider how “pro-abortion” became “pro-choice” became “pro-women’s health” in response to negative public opinion.) Achieving true peace may require violent force to dismantle the terror threat. There is no equivalence between aggression toward innocents, and resisting that aggression.
“Achieving true peace may require violent force to dismantle the terror threat.”
Can it be done? I am skeptical. There will always be a fringe element willing to cause trouble. You can change the tactical reality for a while (as for example dismantling the Gaza tunnels recently) but it is difficult to change the mindset. Sad situation.
Counterexamples notwithstanding, and I’m not saying it is what Israel should do, but appeasement is a generally underappreciated approach to dealing with hostile and evil forces.
“They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.”
Bull’s Eye, Vance.
Peace is what happens after one side wins and the other side loses.
Israel lacks the national will to win in such a way as to make the Arabs understand that they have lost.
As a result, conflict continues.
I could only weep when I saw the news this morning. Please know that there are many who pray for Israel’s safety. There is no explanation that is anything other than terror.
I cannot imagine facing the Creator with this blood on my hands.
I refuse to look at the Gazans demonstrating and cheering. I know the limits of my heart. I cannot unsee the cheering. I would not forgive easily.
I followed a news story in the Jerusalem Post. It opened with a bloody outstretched arm.
May the Creator bring to Himself those who fell today during their morning prayers.
I can’t seem to stop the tears. This is from Caroline Glick’s Facebook:
Sorry, I’ve been offline for the past week. I am just finishing up a speaking tour in Canada and the US. I was planning to reappear tomorrow. But then the massacre.
A couple quick thoughts before I get on my plane.
A few hours before the massacre in the Jerusalem synagogue, the EU published a six point statement about Israel and the Palestinians in which it attacked Israel brutally for building apartments for Jews in Jerusalem and said nothing about Palestinian terrorism and incitement to murder of Jews.
We have to understand that the current wave of terror is part of Europe’s war against the Jews. They support the murders. The more the Palestinians murder Jews, the more the Europeans support them.
They are paying for these attacks through the financing of the PA and anti-Jewish NGOS. They are funding the incitement.
Their new fashion trend of recognizing “Palestine” is communicating the clear message to the Palestinians that they should kill Jews and will be rewarded for it.
The second point I want to make is related.
It is not a coincidence that most of the murders are being perpetrated by Jerusalem residents.
The EU’s Obama administration-supported obsession with “de-Judaizing” Jerusalem is a major cause of the violence.
I will probably write about this for my column in Friday’s paper, so today I will suffice with saying that Israel’s ability to survive is tied to its ability integrate its Arab minority. The Europeans’ encouragement of irredentism among Israeli Arabs including Jerusalem Arabs is an attempt to subvert this foundation of Israeli society.
People are rightly wondering what the next step the government must take should be. Destroying homes of terrorists and kvetching about Mahmoud Abbas’s incitement is not enough.
The answer is clear. The Knesset must pass a law, a serious one, today if possible, prohibiting foreign governments from funding organizations that encourage Israeli Muslims to reject the legitimacy of Israel. The EU must be barred from subverting Israeli society. The blood of the Jewish victims is on their hands, and will remain there until we push them away.
My wife’s son is a volunteer with the traffic police. His unit was the first to answer the call. He was standing behind the policeman who was critically injured and he shot at least one of the terrorists.
We don’t yet have full details as they sent him to do traffic control at the funerals, probably to get his mind onto something else.
To our members in Israel or with family and friends in Israel, my heart is with you. Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad.
So, the third Intifada has begun. The way it looks now I think Israel is going to have two very long and dark years awaiting any kind of support. As they seek to clamp down on these various terrorist organizations international pressure will mount against Israel on account of the collateral damage/Palestinian propaganda. I doubt Obama will have Israel’s back at the UN or in other international bodies. Israel is going to have to walk a tight line here to balance defense and deflect international scorn.
Thank you, Little My!
To all here and there: Rest in the bosom of Abraham for the fallen and may their names be for a blessing. Support and consolation for those who mourn. Safety for those at risk. Resolve and steadfastness – and willingness to see and speak truth – for all of us! My heartfelt prayer…
I am sick and tired of the Palestinian cause. Their cause is the most illegitimate from top to bottom. These are people who could’ve had a state 5 times over by now if they wanted one and peace. The Palestinians are the most powerful “powerless” people on the planet. They are the most oppressive with their “victimization.” The Palestinian cause is nothing more than a phony global pity party to justify hatred against Israel and her people. There are far worse off people than the Palestinians who don’t get an ounce of world sympathy or airtime for their true and horrific plights. The Palestinian plight is almost entirely self inflicted. The only Palestinians I truly pity are their children who are raised in a miasma of hatred and hopelessness. They are the ones who grow up to commit these horrific acts. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the state of Israel.
It seems the restrictions on Israeli citizens being armed is going to be lifted. A new hash tag: “A .22 for every Jew” is being promoted.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/16002
http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=263821&w=758&h=530
Muslims celebrating
I’m a law-n-order fight-for-what’s-right Calvinist in good standing. And I know that when I face my Maker I’ll have plenty of sins to account for. But I’ve become convinced that the pacifist, anti-war, pro-Palestinian Leftists will have a butcher’s bill when they come to account.
The appalling reality is that for vast swathes of people worldwide the Jew is a legitimate target; not just the Israeli Jew;not just the “Settler”, not just the “ultra orthodox” but all Jews. This is not a 20th/21st Century phenomenon of course but these days anything, no matter how wicked, will be justified on the basis of the “Occupation’. So in Jerusalem the Jew is targeted for murder. In Western Europe there is murder too but more so violence and intimidation, from the insidious to the overt, which are growing exponentially as the ancient stain darkens the map ever further.
Your thoughts on how this lack of will may be due (in part) to a lack of support from the U.S. ?
This is one more in a seemingly infinite series of incidents that demonstrate the Arab/Muslim mindset, namely, that they don’t accept the golden rule.
Arabs can live in Jewish lands, but Jews cannot live in Arab lands. Jews must protect and make available Muslim shrines in places the Jews control, but Muslims need not make available Jewish holy places in lands the Muslims control. When a Jew kills an Arab in self-defense that is genocide, but when Arabs murder Jews for no reason that is resistance. An Arab child is innocent, but a Jewish child is an incipient soldier and therefore a justified target.
EThompson–Yes, I think the present lack of Israeli national will is directly related to hesitation about the reaction of the President and, as always, the US State Department. Ironically, the more flagrant Obama’s enmity to Israel, the less this is going to matter to us.
The terrorists this time had worked in a corner grocery near the synagogue. As there are many, many such houses of worship in the area, I suspect that they selected this particular site because of the difficulty of automobile access for police after the attack, the difficulty of escaping through the front exit, and the large number of worshipers present every morning.
I also think that the fact the congregation consisted in large part of older English-speaking ultra-Orthodox immigrants who were unlikely to have served in IDF combat units or to carry handguns was also a factor in their choice of target. Even after the initial attack, it was unlikely that anyone would be able to shoot back, much less engage in hand-to-hand combat, or even to be able to run.
My husband and I are seriously considering beginning the onerous process of getting permits to carry handguns. It is a lot of runaround and a lot of work (mandatory testing and range practice) as well as a great deal of money and responsibility. Increasingly, it seems we no longer have the luxury of leaving this task to others.
I was never, ever prouder of my President than I was here: George W. Bush: Speech to the Knesset.