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| An Israeli Arab beaten to a bloody pulp (Times of Israel) |
Alas, that isn’t possible. Af Al Pi SheChatah, Yisroel Hu. One cannot get rid of their Judaism. No one can revoke it. Once a Jew always a Jew. Even if you are a mass murderer. Or worship the idol Moloch by sacrificing your own child on a fiery alter.
Last night in Bat Yam, a Tel Aviv suburb, a crowd of extremist Jewish Israelis beat an Arab to within inches of his life!
There are no words. In my heart, I would like to believe that it is not possible that these people were Jews. That somehow these were non Jews posing as Jews.
But they were Jews.
This event has been widely condemned by all segments of Israel. Including Israel’s Prime Minister and the Chief Rabbinate. As it should have been. But that is far from enough. This was a hate crime. The people that did this should be tried for at least battery and attempted murder. With the stiffest possible penalties applied. And then thrown into the clink among violent Arab prisoners for the duration of their sentence. That might serve as a just punishment. If and when they survive that, I would exile them from the land. Never allowing them to set foot in Israel again!
This kind of violence cannot stand. It can never be allowed to ever take place again. An example must be set by Israel’s justice system that will ensure it.
It is understandable when tensions are running high with people fearing literally being blown to bits at any moment by a Hamas rocket that they might do irrational things. One can understand if not excuse someone taking out their fear, anger, and frustration in angry protest. But to take it out on an innocent person in this fashion is cruel and inhuman. And clearly un-Jewish.
It would be one thing if the fellow they almost beat to death was a proven Hamas terrorist with blood on his hands. Vigilantism is also not right - but at least understandable. But he was not a terrorist. He was an Israeli Arab. As for claims by witnesses that he was trying to ram his car into the crowd - it has been reported that a video exists showing him simply trying to bypass the protestors.
One of the things that needs to be done is to understand what motivates these people to do something like that. Where do they get the idea that anything like this is even remotely justified?
I have no answer. Other than to say that these Jews are psychopaths who have absolutely no conscience. There is no philosophy, religious or otherwise that can justify this kind of violence.
On the other hand, there are some people that believe there is such a philosophy. I don’t know if any of the Jews involved in that beating last night were followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane. But it wouldn’t surprise me if they were. Because this kind of behavior was exhibited by one of his followers - a respected doctor - in the past. One might recall Dr. Baruch Goldstein – an avowed follower of Rabbi Kahane. One fine Purim day he decided to go to Ma’aras Hamachpela- located near Chevron where he lived - and slaughter a group of Arabs that were praying there.
Anyone that thinks that Goldstein was universally condemned for that has another ‘think’ coming. He is actually considered a hero by many right wing extremists claiming that he was preventing a mass slaughter of Jews by those Muslim worshippers. A shrine was actually built in that area (since torn down by the government) to which his followers made pilgrimages in order to honor his memory. I don’t think it is a stretch to believe that some of the people involved in that beating last night in Bat Yam were followers of the late rabbi.
An ideology that assumes Arabs are vermin unless proven otherwise is the kind of racism that will generate the horror that happened last night. It ought to be outlawed with stiff penalties for its dissemination. It is not a matter of free speech being unprotected in a free society. It is a matter of forbidding yelling ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater. Vilifying others to the point considering them worthy of such a beating is something that ought to be stopped cold. Right now!