Terror Is Horrid – But You Won’t Guess What I Find Harder To Deal With
I must have been in shock. Because I only just now broke down and cried. This video finally broke through the protective wall I have around me. And if you watch it, as I hope you will, you will probably understand why it is so powerful.
But truth be told? I think my protective psychological defenses have less to do the with constant backdrop of imminent danger than something else that I find harder to deal with. Yes, the fear of a terrorist attack drones on in the back of my mind like the hum of the air conditioner if it’s running smoothly, or supermarket music if it’s not too loud. It’s noticeable if I pay attention to it but I don’t necessarily have to.
What I find much harder to deal with is the cacophony of voices telling us to appease the Muslims if we want peace. Telling us that some imaginary “occupation” is why Muslims are killing Israelis (and tourists who happen to be around when they go on their killing spree). I don’t really care about the voices coming from outside the country . . . each to his or her own opinion. I watch what is happening in Europe and wonder if they are beginning to understand what kind of neighbourhood we live in.
While I am apprehensive of the kind of pressure Europe or the USA could apply in order to bend us to their will, I am less bothered by them than I am by something else.
What bothers me most is the appeasers among my fellow Israelis.
How easily you, some of my fellow Israelis, use the word “occupation”. How quickly you have forgotten that the green line is nothing more than a ceasefire line with Jordan and never was an international border. How quickly you have forgotten the terms of the Oslo Accords that the PLO signed with Israel of their own free will. How the PLO agreed to divide the land between the green line and the border with Jordan into three administrative areas, setting up a system for sharing security matters while handing over administrative responsibilities for Palestinian Arab affairs to the Palestinian Authority (meaning that there is no occupation and there is no apartheid). How you refuse to believe that the Muslims want us to give up Tel Aviv and Haifa no less than they want us to give up Judea and Samaria. Have you not looked at THEIR map of Palestine? It is from the river to the sea. They don’t hide it. You ignore it.
What hurts me most is that I have to keep my mouth shut most of the time because my friends and family define themselves as leftists and I am looked at askance when I start to voice my own truth. So I struggle to pretend that I have nothing to say. I’m not very successful at that, I admit. Sometimes something comes out and I immediately regret it.I’m not about to give up family or friends (even though some friends have given me up and I know more would if I didn’t keep my mouth shut as much as I do).
So defensive walls have gone up. And not because of terrorists who may jump up after ordering drinks and cake, or who may ram a car across a sidewalk, or who may suddenly pull a knife from beneath their shirts. No, my defensive walls have gone up because there are those among my own people who stalk proud flag-bearing parades looking for Jews who they expect to act badly, ready to film it to show how we deserve what we get. My defensive walls have gone up because some of our own leaders claim that we deserve what we get and those I care about seem to agree with this. My defensive walls have gone up because I cannot voice my own truth among those I love and care about (and I am left to wonder how many take the time to read what I write).
And then along comes something that breaks through my defenses. When I see what could have been my daughter or son-in-law running hunched over with what could have been my granddaughter, protectively held close against them . . . running from the shooter who doesn’t care about their political views.
Screen capture from featured video.
The shooter would take what they are willing to give over and shoot them anyway.
But I can’t say anything like that to them.
[Feature Image Credit: Screenshot from Twitter]
We are way too quiet
I wish I knew how to be less quiet without alienating those I love.
Sheri this is beautiful, and so from the heart, and so true. I know that isolation. Thank you for putting this in words.
Isolation recognizing isolation – makes it a little bit less lonely. Thanks for being there.
I am a Jew always surrounded by gentiles. My friends are small town people in CT. They are not familiar with Israel or the terrorism that occurs on a daily basis. I try to educate them and maybe I over do it but I don’t care. They have to learn, especially because they have never left the state of CT and they don’t read. They support Israel but I go on and on. I am not politically correct, and I am opinionated.
Always happy to come upon not-politically-correct people. It’s a relief.
Erratum:
handing over administrative responsibilities for Palestinian Authority affairs to the Palestinian Authority -> handing over administrative responsibilities for Palestinian affairs to the Palestinian Authority
You’re right – that would be better.
We must as a nation, must hold steadfast and be forever vigilant in the face of worldwide adversity.. Israel will overcome all of this, Hashem says so.
Yes!
Seems to me that many Jews in Israel are merely ethnic Jews rather than spiritual Jews.
What I mean by that is that the secular humanistic values of the West are more important to them than their Jewishness.
That what lies behind their decision making.
Thank you. Chris
You are partly correct – for Jews the secular humanistic values of the West are of utmost importance. However, it would be more accurate to state that these secular humanistic values are an intimate part of Judaism itself. You might be interested in a recent book to come out on that topic – Back to the Ethic. And there is the added complication in that spirituality in Judaism can be separate from religious Judaism.
Chris, I am the author to Back to the Ethic. The Jewish people gave the ethic that underpins all western counties. God wanted an ethical people. People who believed in the sanctity of life, the need to care for others outside family, clan and tribe. We made the concept of tolerance possible. Sadly too many people have taken tolerance to such an extreme that we are self-destructing. I would also suggest that we become spiritual Jews when we wrestle with the words of Torah, when we question and learn. The Jewish people need to take pride in the fact that we gave the west its ethic-humanistic values without which there would be no West-no democracy.I believe that first we teach the mind then touch the soul.
Thank you for this. I share your pain. I remember being a ” leftwing, progressive, secular”Jew, and actually feeling ashamed of Israel, Feeling how horrible we were to ever hurt anyone , as I thought Israel was doing. Now I just feel ashamed of myself for having been so foolish and so lacking in any kindness for my own people. But it helps me understand the people of whom you speak. If I could do teshuvah, so can they. May your words (and all of Israel Diaries) reach many such souls and wake them up.
Thank-you.