Disproportionate chutzpa…writes Michael Kuttner
As predictable as day following night the reaction of the international community to Israel’s continuing search for the murderers of the three teenage students could have been anticipated. We were thus not disappointed or surprised when our expectations became fulfilled in all their hypocritical glory.
Michael Kuttner
Already even prior to the discovery of the murdered teens loud murmurings from the expected quarters could be heard expressing doubts as to the necessity for such extensive searches. Now that the victims have been buried, with indecent haste admonitions are pouring forth cautioning and warning Israel against taking disproportionate steps in the search for the terrorist perpetrators. Of course the terrorists concerned are lying low, no doubt being sheltered in the bosom of their fervent supporters and hoping that Israel will eventually give up the hunt at which time they can emerge from their rat holes and be feted by their compatriots as heroes.
If Israel was to follow the specious advice of the international community one presumes that instead of conducting intensive operations to smoke out the murderers other means should be employed. Presumably this would involve the IDF issuing an invitation for the terrorists to surrender and then waiting for their response. Perhaps we could promise them a luxury suite in one of our 5 star jails and provide them with a television so that they could watch the rest of the mondial in Brazil. Failing anything else I suppose an appeal to the United Nations would fall under the category of non disproportionate means as envisaged by those practitioners of double standards who are so concerned.
Let’s focus for a moment on those who are throwing such pathetic advice in our direction and determine exactly whether they themselves have practiced what they preach.
After 9/11 the US Government vowed to hunt down and bring to justice all those involved in this terror attack. This is exactly what happened and even under the current politically correct policy of appeasing Islamic terror the USA killed Osama Bin Laden. In fact during their disastrous and failed efforts in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq, US drones and troops managed to kill hundreds of innocent civilians in what was called collateral damage. These events were apparently not disproportionate in any way. There are plenty of other examples from Vietnam to Hiroshima which could be cited but you no doubt get the drift.
The UK during its long sordid history of colonial exploitation was involved in more than a few disproportionate acts. It’s actions in Northern Ireland and in the Falklands (both occupied territories) are certainly glaring examples of doing all it takes to protect citizens from terror tactics.
The French likewise have a history of taking off the kid gloves in the face of terror.
Europe as a continent is soaked in the blood of those who have suffered at the hands of those engaging in disproportionate force.
I am not even going to mention those other nations who we can classify as chronic human rights abusers of the worst kind, dictatorships and tyrannical regimes. The United Nations is riddled with examples of serial hypocrites whose actions are ignored and condoned.
There will be those who argue that the examples I have given reflect in many cases war time situations. Well, what is it that Israel faces and has faced ever since its re-establishment? In fact well before 1948 the Arab and Islamic world declared war on the Jewish People and would have joyfully taken part in the Final Solution had the Germans succeeded in capturing Palestine. Apart from Jordan & Egypt where “cold” peace treaties prevail, the majority of the Arab & Islamic world refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish State and a large number of these countries are still in a declared state of war with us. Therefore it logically follows that Israel must do anything and everything within the law to bring to justice the murderers of Israelis and also Jews killed in terror attacks overseas.
In our fight against the scourge of Islamic Judeophobia and terror we must be careful to act in a way that respects the rule of law. That means we must be forceful against any sort of terror act carried out by anyone, no matter their ethnic or religious origin. This is what distinguishes us from the barbarians who indiscriminately target civilians. Our condemnation of all terror no matter from which quarter is a direct contrast from those whose school textbooks, religious & political leaders, media and followers preach hate against Jews, Christians and infidels.
After the Olympic Munich massacre, Golda Meir vowed to hunt down those responsible and she did.
Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Director of the Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem has stated on more than one occasion that no matter how long it takes we must hunt down and bring to justice all those who committed war crimes during the Nazi years.
Just as there cannot be any amnesty for those who murdered Jews at Munich and during the Shoah likewise there cannot be any pause in hunting down all terrorists who target Jews today anywhere in the world.
We must expose the hypocrisy of the international community which only leaps into life when Jews are murdered. The time when Jews could be slaughtered with impunity are gone and the sooner those politicians who mouth inane advice internalize this fact the better it will be. Hopefully Israel’s leaders will grasp the nettle and take steps to forcefully deal with all those who plot, support and carry out terror.
Waiting for the world’s approval is a lost cause because past and recent history proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that putting our destiny and security in the hands of those who do not care a fig about Jewish lives is a recipe for disaster.
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.
Miriam Feldheim, the point I answered to was in regard to Jews and the Holocaust. At that time seeking justice by prosecuting the murderers through the courts, restraint and hope, being true to morality, were all insignificant things due to the nature of the reality people were forced to endure.
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You are all missing the point. The point is to seek justice by prosecuting the murderers through the courts, not to start and continue with another round of fighting and bloodshed. Shimon Peres expressed it succinctly on Facebook;
“As President of the State of Israel I call upon every
citizen, all citizens, with a serious request, now is a time for two things; to
respect the law and to avoid incitement. We weren’t born to hate, we weren’t
born to speak in a hateful language. A few days ago we all behaved as one with
dignity, even during our sorrow but together we called for restraint, we called
for investigation, we were careful with our words. It’s time to stop
incitement, it’s time to be respectful and to respect the law. It’s in our
hands. People who are engaged in incitement are not always aware where it can
lead, to more sorrow, to more dangers. It’s time for all of us to show
restraint, to show understanding and let us as human beings, all of us, be true
to our morality, to our hope to live together in peace.”
Seek justice, not revenge; peace not vengeance.
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Cornville’s analogy of little resistance shown by Jews in Europe during the Holocaust is inappropriate. The complex nature of gradual impact on the psyche of changed circumstance in relation to educational, professional and finally public prohibitions, as well as dispossession and relocation, over a fairly lengthy period of time is well known. Even the more singular and violent acts perpetrated earlier, such as Kristellnacht and smashing of Jewish shop windows, can be processed at the time as perhaps temporary, albeit terrible, events. It is this well thought out, psychologically clever Nazi ploy that dulled the capacity for resistance rather than a negative trait in the Jewish character. It is normal to at first believe ‘it can’t get any worse’, then enter a stage of denial, before succumbing when it is too late. It is normal when traumatised to ‘freeze’. That a few managed to recognise reality in time is true, and fortunate. Let’s not castigate Jews for what is a universally normal reaction to adversity in its initial stages.
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Good on you, Michael Kuttner. So passionately eloquent and succinct. There is nothing I could add, as you’ve said it all. I post this in support of your words, and to reinforce them.
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There is a negative trait in the Jewish character that refuses to defend oneself in the fact of diversity and terror. The Jews have become targets of their own free will and allow the enemy to strike at will with impunity. Here we have three Yeshiva students hitch hiking home in a very dangerous neighborhood. All three were unarmed, and most probably knew little about defending themselves. One of the victims apparently put up a fight of sorts. Throughout Jewish history, this has been the case. The Holocaust comes to mind. If the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto did not put up a limited defensive fight, and the Jews who escaped from Sobibor there would have been no resistance to the onslaught of the Nazis during the Holocaust. As a nation, Israel and the Jews refuse to fight and defend themselves. 40 rockets a day slam into Israel, and Israel turns the other cheek. Let’s assume that Australia has a rocket arsenal that can travel far enough to his New Zealand, and the Australians fire those rockets at will at New Zealand, would the Kiwis just sit by idly and say ho hum, or would they at least try and defend their homeland? Israel sits idly by and does very little. What would you do?
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