It
is amazing what an enormous chasm there is between Israel and America when it
comes to guns.
From
Israel it looks to me like Americans are shouting at each other, no one is
listening to the other and, worst of all, the real issues that need to be
discussed are being ignored.
School safety
It
doesn’t matter what side you are on regarding the issue of gun control, we all
want our kids to come home safe from school. Even imagining the
experience of parents who’ve had their children ripped from them in such
senseless violence is gut-wrenchingly terrible beyond words. The trauma for the
children involved is a burden no child should have to endure. The problem is so
excruciating it is no wonder that many are crying out, “Something has to be
done!”
The
question is: What?
Take
all the guns away? Commonsense gun laws? Lockdown the schools and make everyone
who enters go through metal detectors? Train and arm teachers so they can
protect students?
I’ve seen this meme (right) floating around the internet. One of
my friends actually asked me if this was an accurate depiction. I was glad he
took the time to check because this is an example of using half-truths to
promote an utter lie.
Israeli teachers are not armed. They are certainly not trained and armed by
the State. There are no guns inside Israeli schools.
There are security guards at the entrance to Israeli
schools.
On field trips out of the city kids go with one trained armed
person who could be a teacher or parent and one medic.
The
main point that everyone seems to be ignoring is that, in Israel, we need guns
to protect our kids from terrorists, not from each other. This to me seems to
be the real issue. Why are American kids killing each other?
Instead
of focusing on the kids themselves, the issue being discussed is guns or gun
violence. But what about violence in general? What about safety? We know that
people hell-bent on murder find ways to do it. If there is no gun, there is a
knife, or a bomb, or a car. Guns can save lives and they can take lives. The
deciding factor is the person holding the weapon.
Israeli
attitudes are a world apart from what I am seeing in America.
In
Israel gun control is very strict and most Israelis are against easy access to
guns. Israelis tend to be dumbfounded by American attitude towards guns – we
see guns as necessary tools to be used to defend lives, nothing else. They are
not toys for collecting or weekend entertainment and hunting is not considered
a sport or cool.
When
it comes to security there is actual safety and there is the feeling of safety.
The two are not the same. It makes people feel safe to implement visible
preventative measures, such as metal detectors. These can be useful deterrents
to someone considering committing a crime however this type of measure, on
its own, does not actually prevent the crime. There is always a “technology
race” between the criminally minded and security enforcement in the search for ways
to circumvent the measures implemented.
Actual security necessitates dealing with the source of the problem,
not the symptom. Not the gun, knife, bomb or car – it is the person using these
tools for evil that needs to be stopped.
When
it comes to the issue of school shootings, I again ask – why are American kids
shooting each other? I don’t see how any child in American schools will be safe
until that question is answered.
I’m
utterly horrified to discover that the hashtag #NeverAgain is being used by groups in the USA advocating for
restrictions on the Second Amendment.
Conflating, gun
violence with the Holocaust degrades the enormity of the Holocaust. Were
there no other words to choose from? #NotOneMore? #StopGuns? #ProtectOurKids?
Why were those or other options not chosen?
This
is a real, live, example of rhetoric that is truly dangerous. This is what
Antisemitism looks like.
The
easy use of terminology that is known to be associated with one thing and one
thing only is a minimization and a cheapening of the Holocaust. This ultimately
leads to denial of the Holocaust.
But
who will stand against it?
I
hope and pray that no Jewish organizations, no matter where they stand on
American gun laws will adopt this improper and deeply offensive use of Never
Again. All other decent people should as well. From experience I know that I am
certain to be disappointed. There will be Jews who see the impropriety of this
language and will be afraid to speak up for fear of triggering a different,
even more vicious antisemitic attack. Others will be so wrapped up in the
politics of the here and now that they will feel that achieving the goal
justifies any means, forgetting/ignoring the long-term results that will
ensue.
For
those who like to talk about dangerous and inflammatory language – this is a
perfect example. Using this language enables the normalization of Holocaust
denial, Jew hate and violence against Jews.
Or
does that not matter? After all, violence against Jews, with guns or other
means, would not be categorized as “senseless violence.” That is violence with
a purpose.
Not
to speak is to speak. #NeverAgainIsNow