As you may have already read, video has emerged of Jewish extremists dancing at a wedding while cheering the murder of the Dawabsha family in Duma (including 18-month-old toddler Ali) and calling for more killings.
It is vile, deplorable and evil, and I condemn it with every ounce of my being. No ifs, whys or buts.
And I am not alone. The condemnation has been swift across Israel. Here is what one politician had to say about it:
“The shocking pictures that were broadcast this evening show the true face of a group that constitutes a danger to Israeli society and to the security of Israel. We are not prepared to accept people who deny the laws of the state and do not view themselves as subject to them. The pictures underscore how important a strong ISA is to the security of us all,”
That was Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, demonized by the Israel haters and some on the Left for being a “warmonger” and “murderer.”
Here is what another politician had to say:
“What we see here is terrorism. There are a few dozen people here whose purpose is not to kill (per sa), but to undertake means to undermine the foundations of the state. These people do not recognize Israel as a legitimate state, and really try to bring about Armageddon. We need to run the most harsh campaign against those people in order to catch the Duma murderers, and even more importantly – to prevent the next Duma, because if we do not act, Duma will happen again..We just have to find and catch the Duma murderers as soon as possible and take care of this thing”
This was Education Minister Naftali Bennett, also demonized.
And there’s plenty more from where that came from. Like Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud):
“The teens who danced at that wedding have lost their way. This is not our way. It is not the way of the people of Israel, not the Jewish way. The cold-blooded murder of innocent people is the most despicable thing, and dancing and praising the murder is equally despicable.”
And it does not stop with the politicians and man on the street. Our religious leaders have also been swift to condemn this. Take Chief Rabbi Lau:
“This is a rejection and repudiation of the values of the Jewish people, the Torah and the uniqueness of the Jewish people. Parents and educators must take on the mission, together with the law enforcement agencies, to do everything they can to prevent identification with such acts of terrorism and gruesome murder.”
You get my point. The reactions to the murder and deplorable conduct by a fringe minority are instructive.
We are not naming streets and sports stadiums after the murderers.
We are not handing out candies in the streets.
Nor have we posited that “One man’s hero is another man’s terrorist.”
Nor do we explain it on our shoddy treatment at the hands of palestinians.
Nor have our religious figures proclaimed it everyone’s duty to commit such heinous acts.
So while we continue to be stabbed and run over – acts praised by our so-called peace partners – we will continue to do everything in our power to avoid ever being dragged down to their level.
And quite frankly, we are not even close.
