I Will Not Accept Unearned Guilt For a Crime I Did Not Commit

I did not murder this beautiful young woman, Shiri Banki (may her memory be a blessing)
I did not murder this beautiful young woman, Shiri Banki (may her memory be a blessing)

Apparently, due to the fact that my paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors and my maternal grandparents fled the Farhud (Arab pogroms) of Iraq, and due to the fact that I have a Jewish education, I am responsible for every act of terror perpetrated by Jews, whether against Arabs, gays or any other minority in Israel.

How do I know this? Because Jewish columnists and bloggers make me feel as such. The horrible slate of murders that have plagued Israel — the heartbreaking murder of a 16-year-old gay activist by a sick ultra-Orthodox man (who should’ve been more closely monitored by police) and the tragic murder of an Arab baby in an arson attack by suspected Jewish terrorists (although no suspect as of yet has been named) — have prompted a flurry of embarrassed Jews who are quick to say: mea NOT culpa! – on both a personal and collective level.

The Times of Israel (TOI) has been especially filled with breast beatings, with editor David Horovitz writing: “But if it was Jewish terrorists who struck overnight — and the spraying of graffiti in Hebrew at the scene of the awful crime would appear to leave little room for doubt — then we Jewish Israelis most certainly need to be shocked.”

MK Yair Lapid, in the publication’s featured blogs, writes: “We are at war: He who burns a Palestinian baby declares war on the State of Israel. He who stabs young people at a Pride March declares war on the State of Israel.”

They don’t rush to disassociate themselves from other crimes, such as when Jewish mobsters kill a rival in a car bomb, or when some abusive Jewish husband shoots his wife, and not to mention when an Arab hacks a Jew to death. Should every single Jewish Israeli be as equally shocked by such murders? Should there be a “shock” police to monitor Jewish Israeli reactions to heinous, high-profile murders, to ensure a collective repentance in the eyes of the world?  Is any Jew who commits a hate crime “at war” with the State of Israel? If so, should they not also be tried for treason? In my view, any person who violates the Biblical moral absolute “thou shalt not murder” is at war with humanity and especially the victims, and it is humanity and the victims that the State must protect, not its own reputation.

I understand that since the recent murders are perceived to be religious or nationalistically motivated, and since they receive constant press attention, Jews feel an urge to prove that they are that acts of a fringe and do not represent the State of Israel or Jewry at large.

I take that for granted. We live in an overall good country with law enforcement and a system of courts that ideally prosecutes and punishes murderers no matter what the motivation – and the State of Israel would be at fault if it didn’t declare this “tacit” legal war against criminals and would-be criminals. While some Jews interpret the Torah in ways I find primitive, racist and chauvinist, the overwhelming majority do not make murder a religious policy. I find this to be self-evident.

A Jew need not be doubly punished for a crime because he also “murders” the prestige of the State of Israel and the image of Jews at large. He should be punished because he is a criminal, plain and simple – just as a non-Jew should be punished for a crime.

Some of my Facebook friends have argued with me that Jews must distance themselves from terror committed by Jews to inspire Muslims to do the same toward their terrorists, to show that we are “different.” I resent even the suggestion that acts of terror committed by Jews are analogous to Islamic terrorism. The scope, frequency, and ideology, plain for all to see – unless they just want to hate — cannot even compare. No need to defensively rattle off statistics, which just plays into the haters’ hands.

So I am not responsible for heinous crimes committed by my fellow Jews just because we are members of the same race or happen to grow up reading similar Biblical stories and statutes. They are not my brothers, and I’m not their keeper. I don’t feel a need to bombastically condemn those murders more than I condemn murder in general, unless I’m more personally involved with the victims. It should be taken for granted that I find such acts despicable – not because I’m a Jew but because I’m a human being – and expect the perpetrators to be tried and, when found guilty, punished.

13 thoughts on “I Will Not Accept Unearned Guilt For a Crime I Did Not Commit”

  1. Well, as a white American of any subspecies, I have been held responsible for Dylann Roof’s church massacre. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the current NY Times #1 “nonfiction” bestseller, holds me responsible for all police shootings of black men (but I get a pass on other police shootings). I suppose as a near-psychotic Zionist, I’m almost as responsible as you are for the terrible events you mention. Live your life and don’t sweat it; as the song goes, you can’t win, you can’t break even, and you can’t even quit the game.

  2. This post was unusually irrational. It is nice that you have all of these feelings, but there are facts on the ground that we need to work with. It doesn’t matter what 3rd party observers “should” expect, all that matters is what they DO expect and why. Many 3rd party observers are just misguided people who see pro-Palestine propagandists post pictures of Israelis “celebrating Gazans getting killed on the beach” and thus have an incorrect view of Israeli society.

    Whether or not Jewish terrorism is different from Islamic terrorism is irrelevant to the fact that 3rd party observers view them to be equally bad. Therefore, distancing ourselves from acts of Jewish terrorism makes us appear different to 3rd party observers (except for the biased ones, of course). This of course, works in our favor. Your “but my feelings” strategy does nothing for us. The world doesn’t revolve around your ideals and emotions.

    1. Apologizing for something you didn’t is acceptance of guilt. Unless you believe that an entire society is responsible for the actions of a few and believe in collective punishment, this is a big mistake.

      I don’t say we should hand out sweets like the Arabs do but let’s wait a bit before the breast beating.

      Muhamed Al Dura affair comes to mind. The chances are that he was not killed by gunfire from IDF but from Arabs gunfire. Yet we apologized for this. This started the second intifada.

    2. Orit Jean Arfa

      The post was quite rational actually. The people who go into hysterics to defend a crime they did not commit are those who are emotional.

      1. I already explained via logic why your post was irrational and emotional. There are tactful benefits to condemning Jewish terrorists, which of course, I laid out in my post. You didn’t address a single point I raised. Your entire response can be summarized with “um no you lol”

  3. As I have been saying on Twitter since these events….it is antisemtic to portion blame to all Jews for the actions of one (not to mention there isn’t even a suspect yet…Jew or otherwise). It is further an aid to all antisemites if we behave with such a cpllective guilt…that TOO is also antisemitic. By all means we can empathise in such situations but THE Jews are not responsible. There are bad among just as there are good. This acceptance of collective guilt is antisemitic and nothing less. to behave like this also changes nothing on the other side in that we can breatbeat guilt as much as we like but they’ll still cheer ALL jewish deaths and still glorify their terrorists. We simply have to know that we are better than that and should take pride in all the good things Jews do and have brought to the world. so there is POSSIBLY a nutcase killer among us…well isn’t that the same in the USA and UK etc etc???? Just as one swallow doesn’t make a summer nor does one bad jew (if proven) make us all bad. STOP FALLING FOR THIS ANTISEMITIC GARBAGE….BE PROUD JEWS

      1. Woooosh. You missed the whole point as evidenced by you saying Jewish terrorists. THERES NO SUSPECTS YET…. Jewish or otherwise. Innocent til PROVEN guilty. Until then you can only condemn terrorism. Not Jewish terrorism.

        1. Wooooosh. You missed the whole point as evidenced by your lack of relevant reply. In your post you said even in situations where the attacker is confirmed to be Jewish. I referenced those situations.

  4. “It should be taken for granted that I find such acts despicable – not because I’m a Jew but because I’m a human being”

    Aye Orit, but here’s the rub…

    Yes it SHOULD BE. But in fact it is not taken for granted. Because you are a Jew; as am I, and because you are Israeli; as am I. When the haters and the “useful idiots” view us as EQUAL human beings, to be neither demonized nor judged by a double standard it will be as it SHOULD BE.

    We have yet to reach that simple level of sanity.

    Welcome to the fight. Keep your head up. And be proud.

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