they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues—Matthew 10:17
In the Gaza War,* Israel successfully attacked its foundations. In the first days of the war, rich Jews denied poor ones entrance to their shelters and shocked the country, unleashing the Curse of Givat Amal. More than one month later, Hamas scored additional moral points when the rift it opened in the Israeli fabric extended far beyond their intentions. On August 14, Palestinian Member of the Knesset (MK) Tibi and former socialist MK Oron described an image of a disintegrating Israel.
Deployed, Destroyed, Enjoyed
Associated Press published an image that one of its photographers took in Jerusalem. It shows an Israeli secular-Jewish man sitting among Religious-Zionists. His T-shirt reads “Deployed, Destroyed, Enjoyed, Gaza 2014.” On August 14, it is being celebrated by Hebrew media. |
Jewish Heart |
Beyond fitting the topic of this article, there are two additional points of interest in it. First, it is in English and thus it was probably aimed to international media. Was the photographer intentionally invited to the event? Second, it shows the cowardice of the attackers. If that man were worth more than a penny, he would wear the criminal message on the front, on his rotten heart.
Sand and Sand
Binyamin Netanyahu speaks at the “Rabin the Traitor” rally in Kikar Tziyon, Jerusalem, October 1995 days before Rabin’s assassination |
More amusing was an interview given today by Haim Oron, a former MK representing the far Zionist-left, a former Secretary General of the Kibbutz Artzi Movement (the most-leftist kibbutz organization), a settler in Lahav (between Beer Sheva and Hebron), and former paratrooper in Paratrooper Nahal Battalion 50 (nowadays Battalion Peten 101 of Paratrooper Brigade 35). Approaching the age of eighty, not much is left of his disintegrating Zion. Few remember Mapam (United Workers Party) while Battalion 50 is a bastion of privileged memories. |
His personal history is a proof than the separation between leftwing and rightwing parties is artificial. Atomic microscopes can barely find differences among them. The brutal Shin Beth secret police was for eons a bastion of the Labor party. Those soft lefties! Ofra, one of the first settlements in the West Bank was created by a Labor Government (War-Bambi Awarded Palestinian Lands).
In Hebrew, “sand” is a synonym for “valueless” and “common.” In an elections campaign, the Shas Ultra-Orthodox party coined a catchy slogan “Right and Left are only sand and sand,” meaning that secular-Zionist parties are all the same.
Former MK Oron was called to serve his country one last time. In recent weeks, Jewish-lefties have become the target of verbal attacks by West Bank settlers, rightwing Jerusalemites, and traditional-Jews trying to find an expiatory goat for the obvious failure of Zion. Every day, Red Color alarms reminded them than their worshipped IDF was failing.
Oron gave a monumental interview of over 4,000 words to the premium section of Haaretz. “It is awful. The aggressiveness of the rightwing has increased in recent weeks,” he complained. This short sentence summarizes his long rant.
The Voice of the Shin Beth emphasized time and again the several links of the retired MK with the Gaza War.
His grandson was hit by an RPG in Beit Hanun, Gaza. He saved himself by cutting the flood of blood to his apparently amputated leg. He was a fighter in a sapper unit that accompanied a Nahal unit searching for tunnels. A rescue force was sent by Oron’s granddaughter, who was in a command center nearby. His girlfriend was an operations officer in an Air Force base nearby. |
No water to extinguish the fire |
One of Oron’s sons, a brigadier general, is a pilot who flew over Gaza on the same night.
How much of this is true? It does not matter. The disclosure the family’s war crimes shows how deep is the rift in the Israeli society, how desperate are its skippers to found a common ground for a society slipping into the abyss.
“Israeli leftwing does not need to prove its loyalty to the State,” was a message rephrased time and again in the article.
What about proving his loyalty to human morals? What about “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself?” Oron cannot even find the verse.
What about proving his loyalty to human morals? What about “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself?” Oron cannot even find the verse. Palestinian victims in Gaza, July 2014. |
Israel lost by points
The Gaza War was triggered by the kidnapping and killing of three settlers. Israel blamed Palestinians, despite all evidence showing that the kids had been killed by Jews (including the recording of the killer’s Hebrew voice by one of his victims).
Immediately, Jews kidnapped a Palestinian boy and burned him alive. This led to widespread protests in Palestinian towns within Israel.
One of the most-outspoken people on the issue was MK Zoabi, a Palestinian from Nazareth (More than one million Israeli citizens are Palestinians). On July 29th, she was suspended from the Knesset for six months because she denounced the crime too sharply to the delicate taste of her Jewish peers. Those lefties!
More cautious in his phrasing was MK Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Knesset since 1999, before that he had been a political advisor to Palestinian President Arafat.
Today he gave an interview to Yediot Ahronot, which was entitled by the newspaper “The People of Gaza hit the arrogance of the Government of Israel.”
“Palestinian factions hit the arrogance of the Israeli government and foiled it,” he said making fun of the Hebrew idiom for “target killing,” which translates as “focused foiling.”
In what has become the unavoidable conclusion of honest analysts, he stated: “Israel lost [the Gaza War] by points.”
“Israel lost the battle. Israel was always used to a decisive victory and Arabs to a prickling defeat. This time Israel lost by points both the military and the political campaign.”
His main point was the increasing disengagement of Israeli-Arabs. The latter is the code imposed by the State of Israel on Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. He complained against the incitement against Arabs by government minister, without mentioning Naftali Bennet by name. Recently Bennet lead a Nuremberg-style rally in Jerusalem.
“Jews had demanded ‘to support us,’ otherwise we will be enemies. The Jewish society wanted to train and control the Arabs in order to destroy our national identity. The incitement index during the Gaza War broke all records,” he added.
MK Tibi interview (Hebrew) |
Israel’s action shows that it is trying to scare everybody perceived as opposing it. It does that in Gaza, in the West Bank and also towards Palestinian-Israelis. Many of the latter supported the state for years; many IDF soldiers in vacations stopped at the nearest Palestinian restaurant for a last hummus before returning to their base. This is changing.
After running amok during many years, the military shoes of Israel are not good anymore. On the slippery entrance to the Abyss of Eternal Oblivion, the shoes cannot provide enough friction to oppose gravity. Finger by finger, the Israeli skippers drop their holding on the abysmal edge.
Mr. Roi Tov is one of the frequent contributors for The 4th Media.
http://www.roitov.com/articles/t.htm