A pornographic approach to violence
'How do you welcome a child murderer as a hero?" I asked in a recent Montreal Gazette op-ed, responding to Israel's prisoner exchange with Hizbullah. I noted that "depending on the tone, this question becomes an attempt to clarify, or an expression of outrage. Stated calmly, 'How do you welcome a child murderer as a hero?' can be a factual question - such as the one that faced Lebanese leaders this week as they proceeded to celebrate the freeing of Samir Kuntar from an Israeli prison, where he had been held since 1979 for murdering four-year-old Einat Haran, her father Danny Haran and a policeman. Stated angrily, 'How do you welcome a child murderer as a hero?' is the question Israelis are asking - and the rest of the civilized world should be asking, too."
The article was titled "A moment of moral clarity." I lamented decades of relativistic and self-flagellating propagandizing blinding Westerners from distinguishing between civilized and barbaric behavior whenever Westerners were in the right. Nevertheless, I insisted, the prisoner exchange illuminated the differences between the Lebanese and Palestinians who celebrated a child killer and the many Israelis who mourned the deaths of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.
Comments (1)Remember the terror victims at the Seder
Once again, we will celebrate our joyous holiday of liberation this seder with heavy hearts. Even as we revel in our freedom as Jews today, even as we marvel at Israel's steadiness amid the terrorist onslaught, even as we begin celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary, too many Israeli families are in pain. This year, as we think of three Israeli hostages in a Mitzraim, in dire straits, and think of an entire region, the western Negev, including the city of Sderot, held hostage, we must reclaim our symbols, remember our losses, reaffirm our commitment to Israel, to the Jewish people, and to a true peace.
In the bloody, unnecessary war the Palestinians began by turning away from negotiations toward violence, too many died, too many have been injured, on both sides. And too many seders now have empty chairs - missing husbands, fathers, brothers, sons; missing wives, mothers, sisters, daughters.
Remember civilians' extraordinary morale
In early January, a small ceremony that balanced out the drama of last week's Winograd Commission pronouncements took place in the Israeli Air Force personnel offices, at "HaKiryah," IDF headquarters in downtown Tel Aviv. An Air Force colonel awarded certificates of appreciation to seven civilians who crisscrossed the country boosting soldier's morale during the Second Lebanon War. (Full disclosure: I was one of those honored, having played a minor role in the initiative).
The main honoree was Haim Avraham. Haim's son Benny Avraham, z"l and two other Israeli soldiers were supposedly kidnapped but actually killed by Hizbullah along the Lebanese border in 2000. As soon as the fighting broke out six years later, Haim mobilized his wife Edna, their two daughters, Efrat and Dafna, two colleagues from the Ramat Gan Histadrut, and others of us who helped the family during the torturous years when the Avraham, Avitan, and Souad families traveled the world trying to ascertain their sons' fate. Haim and his family recognized their symbolic role in this new war, having lost Benny under eerily similar circumstances. Thirteen times over the next six weeks they visited the Northern border and military bases throughout Israel, dispensing 250,000 shekels worth of donated soda, cigarettes, books, candy, underwear, and aftershave to comfort soldiers. More important, they hugged the soldiers and cried with them, giving them the priceless gift of a morale boost from a family that understood exactly why Israel needed to fight.
About this blog Center Field
McGill history professor Gil Troy - a passionate moderate - looks at the American presidency, American history, Zionism, Judaism and Israel today.
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