A Tale of Two Systems

It was neither the best of times nor the worst of times.

I am not at all unbiased when it comes to the relationship between Israelis and the terrorists who want to murder all Jews, most Arabs and any Muslims who disagree with their fanaticism. Some might even argue that that sentence shows a complete lack of impartiality. It is true. I do not want my family, my country and my entire culture to be wiped off the face of the Earth. Strange as that may sound.

Some might even say that my portrayal of this is too extreme. But is it? One side wants to be left alone. One side wants to kill every last man, woman and child on the other side whether they are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, Baha’i, other. You know you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere when you want to blow up the Baha’i.

I may be biased but those do not sound like equally balanced goals. If my side wins then everybody gets their own state and people can live their lives in peace and Coca Cola. If the other side wins then most of the people I know are dead. So I am obviously biased toward the peace and lack of genocide option.

But let’s see if we can look at this objectively. Three Jewish teenagers were kidnapped and murdered. Then an Arab teenager was murdered. Four children are dead but is there any difference in how people responded to those murders.

The Jewish teenagers were kidnapped because they were Jewish. They were likely kidnapped so that they could be traded for convicted mass murderers or money. The people who kidnap teenagers for ransom consider kidnapping a legitimate course of action in their crusade for domination over both the land and its people.

The Arab teenager was probably murdered because he was Arab. He was either murdered in retaliation over the Jewish teenagers or he was murdered by Arab terrorists. Time will tell. People who murder each other in retaliation know that it is wrong. People who murder their own kind in order to incite hatred of another group think that such a thing is a legitimate course of action.

Israeli leaders held Palestinian leaders, especially Mahmoud Abbas, responsible when the Jewish teenagers were kidnapped. Abbas said that it was none of his business since Hamas kidnapped the children and he does not control Hamas. That used to be a convenient excuse for complete inaction, especially since Hamas and Fatah spent more time killing each other than they did killing Israelis. But now they are supposedly united. If Abbas is their anointed dictator as he claims then he is responsible for their actions. If he is not responsible for their actions then he is clearly not their united leader. I am perfectly willing to accept either option but no one should accept both.

Palestinian leaders held Israeli leaders responsible for the Arab teenager. Abbas specifically singled out Netanyahu, saying that the leader of a people is responsible for the crimes of those people, even though he has always absolved himself completely of any and all responsibility of crimes committed by his people. Say what you will about Mahmoud Abbas but the man has chutzpah.

Israeli officials acted immediately when the Jewish teenagers were kidnapped and the area was thoroughly searched. This prompted an outcry from leaders of the searched neighbourhoods who felt that their people should be left out of it. There was no offer from Palestinian officials to help bring the murderers to justice.

Palestinian leaders demanded that Israel immediately find the murderer of the Arab teenager and bring him to justice, even though that would require searching neighbourhoods and upsetting some of those people.

Israeli citizens sat back and waited to see what would happen when the Jewish teenagers were kidnapped. There were prayers and condolences but the officials in charge were allowed to do their jobs and find the children. There were more prayers and more condolences when the bodies were found. People called for the murderers to be brought to justice but there were no chants of genocide or ethnic cleansing.

Palestinians rioted and attacked soldiers and each other in the streets when the Arab teenager was found. There were chants of “death to Israel” and “death to Jews” and somebody somewhere is probably making a few explosives.

Some Palestinians danced in the streets when the Jewish teenagers were found dead and people publicly rejoiced at the murder of three children. Some Palestinian leaders praised the kidnappings and the murderers were immediately praised as heroes.

No Israelis rejoiced at the murder of the Arab teenager. Israeli leaders, as well as the families of the murdered Jewish teenagers, publicly condemned the killing. As did the United Nations, United States, several other countries. The murderer is seen as a criminal in Israel.

The memorial services for the Jewish teenagers included crying, public support for each other and families, lots of prayers and hugging.

The memorial services for the Arab teenager included flag burnings, rocks thrown, chants of death to Israel and the United States.

When a Palestinian child is killed, people say that children should always be left out of it. There is international outrage and all the American news outlets interrupt their endless coverage of Syrians and Iraqis killing each other. Everybody says that these children are innocent bystanders who should not pay for the actions of their fathers and grandfathers. I agree with that completely. Unlike the United Nations, the International Community and CNN, I also agree with that even when it is Jewish children who are paying.

One side of this conflict teaches their children that there are disputes and disagreements. The other side teaches their children that Jews are evil monsters and must be murdered indiscriminately at all costs, as should any Arab “collaborators”. Which is more damaging to both sets of children? A checkpoint is inconvenient but it will never kill your child. A bomb strapped to his chest almost definitely will.

I was just wondering.