Sunday, April 02, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
Following the terror attack in London there was
an outpouring of sympathy. Suddenly there was extreme media focus, a wave of
articles and “hate will not divide us” statements. People worldwide, including Israelis, expressed their solidarity with
London, using #IamLondon type hashtags and lighting up buildings.
How pretty.
It is truly sad how while time goes by and news stories change the underlying lessons remain unlearned. Looking back, I could not help but think of what I wrote following the horrific terror attacks in France (in 2015) the only difference is the location. Replace the word “Paris” for “London” and you have the message that needs to be said today.
It needs to be said over and over. Maybe, eventually people will learn.
I am not London and neither are you.
Here’s why.
Liberté,
égalité, fraternité
Following the horrific terror attacks
in Paris there has been an outpouring of solidarity.
The
Israeli Knesset (parliament) flies Israeli flags at half-mast and lights up in
solidarity with France.
World landmarks have been lit up with
the French tricolor, including the Israeli Knesset and the Tel Aviv city hall. Facebook
is full of tricolor tinted profile photos, memes about praying for Paris
and the hashtag #WeAreParis.
How cute.
While the enemies of liberté are busy
terrorizing people into submission we are busy playing with colors.
According to the Islamic State:
“Soldiers of the Caliphate set out targeting the capital of prostitution and
vice, the lead carrier of the cross in Europe — Paris.” The entertainments of
Paris are abhorrent and immoral and part of their duty to God is to shut them
down. And in a single night 8 individuals succeed in doing exactly that. No
more Eiffel Tower. No more Louvre. No more Disney Land. People afraid to go sit
in the cafes or stroll down the Champs Elysées.
What a stunning victory for the
Caliphate!
In stark contrast to the single night
of horror in Paris, Israel is constantly bombarded by terrorism and attacks on
the personal liberty of her citizens: freedom of movement, freedom of religion,
freedom to live… Interestingly our nation is never brought to a standstill.
While under attack Israelis continue to search for cures for cancer, find ways to irrigate the world and maintain our
status as a cultural
hub for the world on par with New York, London, Rome or Berlin.
 |
| Tel Aviv city hall lit up like the French flag |
Égalité is certainly a noble
sentiment. All people are born equal. All lives should be equally valued.
Should, but are not. The current outpouring of solidarity with France sends a
message not only to the victims of the attacks on Paris but also to the victims
of all other acts of terrorism around the world. It seems that French
lives matter more.
Nigerian lives don’t matter. It
couldn’t possibly be because the victims of Boko Haram’s terror are black,
could it?
Yazidi lives don’t matter. Who are
those people anyway?
The extermination of Christians in
the Middle East doesn’t matter. American Christians are too busy arguing about
what’s printed on Starbucks coffee mugs.
Jewish lives certainly don’t matter.
Especially not the lives of Israeli Jews. Our very existence is somehow wrong.
Judea was named after the Jews that originally lived there but today Jews
living in Judea are, according to Europe, according to France, illegal and thus
the murder of Israeli parents in front of their children is somehow acceptable.
The Western world likes to
differentiate types of Islamic terror and excuse it. “Over there” terror
originates from poor living conditions / political motivation / who cares what
happens in Africa etc. It is only when terror hits close to home that it becomes
something inexcusable that must be fought. There is no égalité.
Except in the eyes of the Islamic
State. All kufar, all infidels are equal. All must submit or die. It is true
that not all terrorist groups agree with the Islamic State. Some even fight
each other (for example Hamas and IS). There is the historical doctrinal
argument between the Sunni and Shia and the strategic arguments between
different terror organizations on which enemy to fight first and correct battle
tactics. The end-game however is the same. The desire to live under sharia law
is the same. And they all shout “Allahu Akbar” before killing their enemies.
Égalité. There can be no equality
without fraternité. That is why brotherhood is such an important ideal. Without
the understanding that all lives matter, no life can truly matter. It’s very
nice for all of us to announce that #WeAreFrench or #JeSuisCharlie. It’s sweet.
But when, for example, there is no equal fervor for #JeSuisJuif the gesture
becomes meaningless. There is no solidarity when the sentiment is one sided.
The people of Israel truly ache when
someone else suffers. We know suffering. We feel for the bereaved Parisians. We
pray for the swift and complete healing of the wounded. We wish that no one
experience the terror and misery that we know so well.
We also wish that someone cared about
our suffering.
We do not need anyone to protect our
liberté. It would however be refreshing not to be condemned for protecting our
liberty. We wish to be treated equally – Israeli lives are just as valuable as
French lives. True fraternité would solve everything. We must stop
announcing #WeAreFrench or whatever the hashtag of the day is. We are all
kufar.
If the nations of the world, those
who believe in freedom, united against our common enemy, stopped finding
excuses for terrorism and acted on the belief that all lives matter, people
worldwide would be much safer.
Colors as a sign of solidarity are
very nice. Cute but nothing more. Playing with color filters on Facebook or
lighting up buildings has absolutely no impact on the people planning to
fundamentally transform our culture and/or exterminate our very existence.
Without fraternité there is no
égalité and we will all lose our liberté.
Without unity, those that are unified
against us will win. It’s as simple as that.
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